Ask HN: I'm in 10th grade and I hate school. Any suggestions? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: I'm in 10th grade and I hate school. Any suggestions?

#141

Post by SapphireSun » Wed, Apr 29, 2009, 3:34 AM UTC

SapphireSun wrote: post #113

unexpected wrote: post #38

If you find school really boring, that's okay 99% of the rest of your high school population does too. What you should not do: 1) Dropout. 2) Make bad grades. 3) Skip classes. If you find school boring, at the very least make sure you dominate it. You're at an age where you have infinite possibilities before you- Kick school completely in the ass to make sure you don't close off all those opportunities. The kids who…

I've been thinking a lot about this as around senior year of collage, I have felt that I've been wasting my time with every moment spent in class. What I don't understand is why people feel it is acceptable to say "If you don't finish X task, then you are not as good." The trick was that when I started working in a lab or on startup ideas, I get the same dopamine rush that was spoken of in a previous. Working on clas…

I'm very sorry. I have a terrible habit of double spacing with each paragraph. I wish I could change it, but the edit button is gone :(

I'll try to be more careful in the future.

Re: Ask HN: I'm in 10th grade and I hate school. Any suggestions?

#142

Post by lambdallama1000 » Wed, Apr 29, 2009, 1:33 PM UTC

Hello. I was recently in something resembling your position, and I decided to homeschool from grade 10 onwards. In my case I took graduate courses in math at a local (top 20) university for free -- the professors allowed me to sit-in on the lectures and do the homework so long as I showed them I was prepared. I am in grade 11 now and have been studying Khovanov homology, geodesic dynamics, and compact Riemann surfaces in the past few months.

It has allowed an extraordinary degree of freedom. I have been able to check out large masses of (mainly) science fiction and history books, with indefinite renewals -- and have been able to find the time to read one or two books a day, even with my other commitments.

It may be possible to do so in public schools. In my case, self-studying was always an integral part of my education as there were no adults in my immediate environment who could really teach me additionally; I did not receive the attention from teachers for that (though my work was consistently exemplary), and I was disallowed from entering elementary school early. You may be similar.

My main tools have been a laptop, paper, a "Pentel Graphgear 1000 PG1013-E" (a prized possession), and two library cards.

Re: Ask HN: I'm in 10th grade and I hate school. Any suggestions?

#143

Post by sethg » Wed, Apr 29, 2009, 1:41 PM UTC

anonymous1618 wrote: post #60

antdaddy wrote: post #27

It would be helpful if you could provide more information: 1. how are your grades? define 'decent'... 2. do you have friends at school?

1. My grades are A's and B's. They've gone down recently out of apathy but they're still not bad. I know they're important to college, but grades are something I just abhor because I feel they really diminish the value of learning the subject. Like I said though, they're "decent": I've had no C's, and the lowest GPA I've had is a 3.17, which is mediocre, but it's tough to make myself care. Really it's just a matter o…

"Networking", as generally understood, involves going around and schmoozing lots of people, collecting their business cards, etc. If you're an introvert, like most geeks, this is torture. Instead of building shallow relationships with lots of people, I recommend building deep relationships with a few. Find a small group working on some activity you're interested in, one where you'll have to take on some role other than "alpha geek"--maybe writing for the school paper or acting in a play, or something like that. The small group makes it more tolerable to an introvert and the shared activity means you're not just socializing for the sake of socializing.

Re: Ask HN: I'm in 10th grade and I hate school. Any suggestions?

#144

Post by giftedadvocate » Wed, Apr 29, 2009, 10:59 PM UTC

There are lots of opportunities at www.cogito.org. If you're looking for more detail about how to manage your school experience better - I've found the list of 4Cs of School Success helpful at this link - (pp18-19) - http://books.heinemann.com/shared/onlineresources/E00632/cha...

Is there a way for you to stretch yourself within the confines of school? Are you allowed to test out of anything, study with a mentor, or maybe take some dual-enrollment classes?

Here is an interesting article by Tracy Cross - http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10479.aspx

I hope you can find a good fit soon. Hang in there. It's not fair to be marking time.

Re: Ask HN: I'm in 10th grade and I hate school. Any suggestions?

#145

Post by jgalvez » Thu, Apr 30, 2009, 3:53 AM UTC

I quit school at age 14, without even completing 8th grade. Best thing I've done in my life, despite the hell my parents and family gave me for that.

I got a book published (Flash programming book in Brazilian portuguese, not that much of a big deal), still at 14, and after that I've never been unemployed. Today I'm 23, I'm living together with my fiancee and I have all the means to go to college if I want to, without getting myself into any debt. But none of my employers seem to have ever been bothered with the fact that I'm not graduated in C.S.

So at least for me, I think, quitting school pretty much defined what I am and what I do today. If I had stayed in school I would be probably still financially dependent on my parents and would not have had all the motivation I had to move forward in life.