High School Rant

Shady Lane

my name is hannah
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Okay, I know some of you are probably going to laugh at me, but, yeah. I'm having a sort of rough time.

I'm in eleventh grade (for you non-U.S. folks, high school ends after twelth, than college). I can't stand school anymore. I've been pissed off at school before, but I'm getting to the point where I literally can't stand it.

My classes are hell. My Spanish teacher doesn't speak English and, after three years of hs Spanish, I don't speak Spanish at all. I'm the girl who's always gotten all A's, now I'm failing AP Chemistry and I can't even care. I go to a college prep school where not succeeding is not. an. option. I'm looking at super-selective schools and there's no. effing. way I'll get in with my grades.

I can't get my math SAT score above 620 (out of 800.) My writing is 770....but of course colleges don't even care about the writing part.

And then even with all this fuss about college and all my stressing about how my laziness and attitude are going to affect my opportunities of going to college...there's this huge part of me that just doesn't care. School is not my thing. I have a friend who loves to learn, and he's so exciting to go to college and grad school and then teach for the rest of his life. I HATE learning. I always have.

I just don't know what to do. My parents are freaking out at me about AP Chem, I'm never going to get into a good college, and all I want to do is curl up by myself and write books.

I feel like I have no options here.
 

DamaNegra

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Uh, I could help you with Spanish, and maybe some other courses if I can still remember what they were about. Don't worry too much about grades, as long as you pass and manage to get into college, no one's going to care what your High School grades are. I had a hard time finishing my last semesters of HS because of apathy, and am having the hardest of times making it through my first semester in college because of the same.

I push you and you push me, what do you think about that? Then maybe we'll both manage to slog through this.
 

dolores haze

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I hated high school: left at sixteen.
I loved college: spent five years getting a degree, because there were so many classes I wanted to take (oh, and I transferred a lot).
A "good" school is a weird term. One of the best schools I ever went to was a community college. One of the worst I ever went to was a highly regarded university. There are lots of different schools out there - I loved 2/5 schools I went to.
You don't have to go to college if you don't want to. Or you could go and study something you're really interested in. Or you could take a "gap" year, it's quite common in Europe. Once in school you could study and travel abroad.

Plus you're a talented writer. You have lots of options.
 

ErylRavenwell

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You're sixteen and you already have a novel published. I don't think your parents have realised how talented you are. "That no options" talk is for the fools, not for Miss Lane. You'll find a way. :)
 

Shweta

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There are college majors that actively help as writing research, Shady Lane. Could you get motivated to do one of those, perhaps? I got fairly demotivated in 12th grade (was total straight-A before that) but some college courses got me really excited, and (coincidentally, in my case) they've been useful for the writing.
 

Deleted member 42

Okay, I know some of you are probably going to laugh at me, but, yeah. I'm having a sort of rough time.

I'm in eleventh grade (for you non-U.S. folks, high school ends after twelth, than college). I can't stand school anymore. I've been pissed off at school before, but I'm getting to the point where I literally can't stand it.

Look into alternatives, like taking some undergrad English classes at the local community college?

Or umm . .. I sorta quit high school and started college. You might explore that possibility.
 

Silver King

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High school sucks. Big time. That's it in a nutshell, pretty much. It was only after I had slogged through there and went to college that I understood that those years were nothing more than a necessary evil, like diving into a wall of flames to reach that blue, clean water to get to the other side of what life and education has to offer.

Someone asked me once, or maybe it was something I read: "What is the first thing you realized when you went to college?"

"How much I didn't learn in high school."

When you get past these trying years, you'll be among students who want to learn and instructors who will nurture your progress and treat you like an adult. If you stop now, you'll never appreciate the freedom that a good education affords, not in terms of money, but in countless ways you will use throughout your life.
 

shakeysix

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factory

i dropped out of college and worked in a factory for a while. i taped electrical wires for ford cars. it was hard, hot, tedious work but at lunch break i could always see a stack of my own handiwork. my major was spanish literature--pretty abstract. working with my hands was different than researching and writing a paper that might never get graded. and it drove my folks gratifyingly nuts that their brilliant daughter was a sweaty factory broad. maybe you should take a break if you hate school that much. find some job that you can do without a lot of thinking and focus on your writing. crazy thing--now i am a high school teacher. they say bad students make good teachers--s6
 

joetrain

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And then even with all this fuss about college and all my stressing about how my laziness and attitude are going to affect my opportunities of going to college...there's this huge part of me that just doesn't care. School is not my thing. I have a friend who loves to learn, and he's so exciting to go to college and grad school and then teach for the rest of his life.

what kind of colleges are you trying to get into? i had a bad junior year, severely effecting my GPA, but excellent SATs (as you have), and had plenty of good options.

however, i sympathize with your loathing for school. i was good at tests, but sucked at classes, and hated most every minute. i dropped out of college twice and have recently returned at 27 to study journalism. i'm happy that i left and happy i'm back. i moved around and learned a lot without school, matured and found direction. now college is just a detail in a strategy (learn to write better), not restrictive as an end in itself. i love that i traveled and learned a couple trades, and that writing is still my favorite. now, while i'm struggling to get paid to write, i can fall back on things that i enjoy doing and would do anyway.

all this is to say that worrying gets in the way. if you have a strong sense that school is not your game right now, then don't be afraid to act on it. you seem intelligent and motivated. point your momentum toward what seems most educational, college or working life, and fire away. you'll get to where you're supposed to be.

I HATE learning. I always have.

this could get in the way if i believed it. you've written a novel. i assume you read all the time. you've excelled in school. you seek out mature, educated company. you love learning; admit it. separate learning from school and, poof, it's the spice of life.
 
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melaniehoo

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Everyone has said it pretty well here. High school sucked. My senior year was the worst (more for social reasons) but once I got out of there and in college I loved it. I did well in school so I'm not going to try to misrepresent myself, but I went to a small college-prep boarding school (100 kids total) so I understand the pressure you're talking about. And my SATs were at least 200 lower than yours!

I hope you take a second look at college and what it is that makes a 'good' school. If you don't thrive under pressure, a so-called good school may not be what you want. Someone else mentioned they got more from a community college than any higher-level university. I went to a state school and couldn't have been happier.

And most importantly, you're already published. That says a lot about your ability and your character. I hope you find what's best for you and take the rest of the advice here to heart. :)
 

ZannaPerry

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Ugh, I hated high school and I know how you feel exactly Shady Lane. I tried to be there as little as possible without getting in trouble. Which, I failed miserably because the Dean of the school knew my name by heart and I graduated with a class of 900, and went to a school with 3000 kids. That's not a good rep I had. My whole high school career ended on my goverment final and if I didn't pass, well, I didn't graduate. If I received a phone call from my teacher, than that was bad news. If I didn't, meant I passed. Well......I received a phone call but only for my teacher to trick me and tell me that I had passed, and am moving on.

I was burned out my senior year. Heck, it may have happened in my 11th year. I was just fully sick of school, and my parents knew it. I practically gave up, and was holding onto a thread.

I have no shame in sharing this with you all, but school is very important, and I never took it that way. Hell, most of the people nowadays are talking that if you don't have a degree, you basically don't have a future. I'm still in school, but going at my own pace. I'm in my second year of college, and looking forward to next semester when I switch schools and will actually be going to classes that will help me move forward in a career I want.

Sure, I'd rather write for a living, but not now. Writing is hard to get into, and it won't pay my bills right now. So, tough it out, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease! You sound so smart, and know where you're going, and don't let anyone put you down just because you're going through a rough patch in your high school life. This is just a phase of your life that you have to do. So, just do it and then you will be real proud of yourself.

Hope I helped... :)
 

JoNightshade

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Questions: Are you trying to get into a technical major? What field are you thinking here? Because based on your interests you sound like you need to be in the liberal arts. I mean, you like theatre, writing, reading...

So why are you concerned with your math score and AP Chemistry? There are a ton of high-level exclusive colleges that will admit you on the basis of your writing SAT plus an essay. I got accepted to Boston College because of an essay I wrote, and then gave them a writing sample to get into the creative writing program (if I remember correctly). And won't you look even better because you're coming from a college prep school?

Or, on the other hand, why do you need to get into a prestigious university? I got into Boston College but I ended up going to a cheap state university here in CA. They didn't even want an essay from me, which I found insulting at the time. Best decision I ever made.* I was a big fish in a little pond, and it was fantastic. I got the attention of all of my professors, they worked with me, we were friends, it was great. If I had gone to BC I would have been nobody.

I do encourage you to go to college, though. Especially if your parents are paying for it. Take advantage of any education you can get, because it will get you SO far in real life and it's so hard to go back and get later. Even if it's just community college.

About not liking to learn? Don't believe you. Sorry.

*ETA: Second best.
 

Fingers

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Just remember, you dont have to go to school, you get to go to school. There are a lot of kids who wont have that option. A free education is not something you should throw away no matter how bad you think school may be. Its only a year and a half more and then youre done with it. I was a high school drop out because school bored me to tears. I knew all the assignments, but never did the homework. I passed all the tests but without the homework my grades were crap. I went back to school when I was 36 and got an associates degree in manufacturing technology with honors. The difference between high school and college for me was that I was not being forced to learn. I went back to school because I wanted to learn. You sound like youre plenty smart. Stick it out and dont make your life any tougher than it has to be. I wish you good luck with this because the hardest obstacle to overcome sometimes is yourself.


yer pal Brian
 

astonwest

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Figure out what your goal in life is, and then do whatever it takes to achieve that goal.

My goal in life was to design airplanes. So, in school, I knew I had to get good grades in math and science and then go to college and get the appropriate degree.

Both HS and college sucked royally. But I stuck it out because I knew what my goal was, and I had to put up with the s*** to get through to the roses.

And honestly, I don't use but maybe 5-10% of what I learned in school...
 

Shady Lane

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Thanks muchly, guys.

Jo--I'm actually interested in Biology. So yeah...got to have those grades super-strong.

It's just this whole mentality at my school, and with my family. Dropping out of high school-NOT an option. They'd never let me. They went to college, their parents went to college, all their siblings when to college--except for this one uncle everyone whispers about and calls a failure behind his back.

*sigh* See ya guys later.
 

WendyNYC

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I understand your angst, Shady. Getting into college is much, much more difficult now than when I was going through it. My daughters are at a college prep school and you can just feel the tension of the upper school girls.

There are a number of small liberal arts schools that would *love* the fact that you write books. I'm sure you have a guidance counselor to help you with this, but if you are interested, I can give you a list of lesser-known-but-fabulous private liberal-arts colleges.

And don't forget that you can always do freshman year at one college and then TRANSFER to your dream college. It's much easier that way.

Wendy
 

WendyNYC

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And if you are in AP Chem, you must be a smart kid. Plus the fact that you have written and published BOOKS, for goodness sakes. I never had the focus to do that at your age. Stick it out.

It will all be over soon, and then you can move on to your real life. I hated high school too.
 

KTC

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Highschool. That's that place where they stickpin you to the wall so they can point out your flaws and tell you how much of an outcast you are and that you will never amount to anything, right? The place where you begin to develop that certain sense that all hope is lost and it doesn't matter what you do from that point on, life will suck you in and pull you under?

I'm glad that part of my life is over. It's good to realize how WRONG perception can be.

Hang in there. You're almost through. I don't know what to tell you about Spanish and Math marks. I had bad French marks but never much worried about it. By the time I was in grade eleven just showing up was a struggle for me.
 

ZannaPerry

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I remember in high school they told you that college is a lot harder, and that your professors/instructors/teachers won't give anything if you turn in a paper late, or you're late to the class.

Whatever. They could care less. You're paying for the class. You're going on your own free will, they are just there to teach you, and besides they're still getting paid for it. So, it's really no skin off their bones whether you succeed or not.
 

reenkam

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Or, on the other hand, why do you need to get into a prestigious university? I got into Boston College but I ended up going to a cheap state university here in CA. They didn't even want an essay from me, which I found insulting at the time. Best decision I ever made.* I was a big fish in a little pond, and it was fantastic. I got the attention of all of my professors, they worked with me, we were friends, it was great. If I had gone to BC I would have been nobody.

I want to second this. I go to a pretty prestigious university and basically everyone agrees that before coming here we actually used to be something. Now we're just one amoung a bunch of other people who do just as well, if not better. It just ends up making everything harder because everyone here is a workaholic, pretty much, so you can't even count on slackers to even out a curve on a test or something. Especially in classes like math and physics, sometimes a single point from a test can mean the difference between an A and a B+ (because only a certain number of people are allowed A's. Yeah, it's stupid). Then, don't forget the teachers that don't give A's in the class at all

I remember in high school they told you that college is a lot harder, and that your professors/instructors/teachers won't give anything if you turn in a paper late, or you're late to the class.

Whatever. They could care less. You're paying for the class. You're going on your own free will, they are just there to teach you, and besides they're still getting paid for it. So, it's really no skin off their bones whether you succeed or not.

College is harder in some ways, but easier in others cause no one expects anything of you, basically. But, it's true (at least at my school) that they won't give you anything for late stuff at times.

They couldn't care less, yeah. And that's why they don't give a crap when the paper you handed in 2 hours late can only get a B- as the highest grade. They get paided whether you fail or not. And in college parents can't complain.

Here there are classes where teachers won't let you in after the class starts. As in, even if you have class across campus and run to your next one after a midterm, if you walk into physics at 1:01, the teacher will actually stop class and tell you to leave. It's happened to people frequently and it's not fun because no one cares.

.......That doesn't really help your situation....but I tought I'd say something.
 

Christine N.

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Been there.
Hated High School, except for the drama club. There were certain classes I did like, but overall it was wretched until Senior year.

I didn't like learning until I was in my mid-20's. I graduated High School, took three years of college, couldn't stand it anymore, and quit.

When I went back to school, I was much more ready for it. The science classes seemed so much easier to understand. I think that part of my brain just took longer to develop.

So maybe you need to take some time away. Do your best, graduate, do some community college basic courses that will transfer anywhere, and then decide what you want to do. Lots of people tried to tell me to do exactly that, and I didn't listen. Wish I had. Get good grades in the community college courses and no one will care about H.S.

Sometimes you just need time to explore life, and to let you get in touch with who you are. I hate that we make kids decide on a life's goal at 16. I just turned 36 and finally decided what I wanted to do...after giving up on one career, beginning to write, and exploring teaching.
 

DamaNegra

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Sometimes you just need time to explore life, and to let you get in touch with who you are. I hate that we make kids decide on a life's goal at 16. I just turned 36 and finally decided what I wanted to do...after giving up on one career, beginning to write, and exploring teaching.

16?? Isn't it 18?? Well, at least over here it's 18. And anyway, that's why they give you a little of everything during HS, so you can start making up your mind. And that's why all the orientational courses are there, to help you make up your mind.
 

WendyNYC

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I want to second this. I go to a pretty prestigious university and basically everyone agrees that before coming here we actually used to be something. Now we're just one amoung a bunch of other people who do just as well, if not better. It just ends up making everything harder because everyone here is a workaholic, pretty much, so you can't even count on slackers to even out a curve on a test or something.


You might not want to hear this right now, but this is good preparation for when you graduate and start working and it's sink or swim time.
 

Christine N.

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Yeah, it's 18 when you get out of school, but they start 'career counseling' much sooner than that. They want to help you pick classes that are going to help you get into college for the program you want to pursue.

So they pretty much ask you what you want to do for the rest of your life in High School. You don't even know who you ARE then, much less what you want to do forever.

And I agree that we live in a culture of perfectionism, to the point where the drive to succeed can be dangerous. So many young people turn to drugs or suicide because they don't feel they're doing well enough.

This is all hindsight, of course. I saw none of this when I was in H.S. I saw so much better when I was in my mid-20's. Things made much more sense...life made much more sense.