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

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

#1

Post by anonymous1618 »

I feel really selfish even asking this. My parents are helping in every way they can despite my complaining, I've exhaustively switched schools and basically tried every possible option other than homeschooling or dropping out (which makes it even worse to say that I still hate it, after all the effort they've put into fixing it). But I do hate it, I'm not learning, and I feel like I'm wasting time, and it's not just because of the usual reasons teenagers seem to attribute to hating high school: I don't think the school subjects are boring, or any subject for that matter (the logic I use is, if it were boring, no one would have discovered it; you can only dull down a subject, it's already interesting in its own light), I'm introverted and spend most of my time reading or obsessively working on hobbies like programming, and I absolutely can't stand wasting time. I've feel that I've had one "good" year of school in all of middle/high school, wherein I was extremely lucky to have a group of passionate teachers all at once. That year taught me a lot, mainly because it showed me that these subjects school had dulled down before aren't actually uninteresting. I haven't had a good year since, though, which has been frustrating to say the least, although I have had a few good teachers...

I was reading one of Paul Graham's essays the other day (http://www.paulgraham.com/hs.html), and came across one of those "dwarping" moments, as one of those passionate teachers I had used to say, in that almost every other paragraph were ideas I had thought about endlessly about before summed up concisely by someone more articulate than me. One of the ideas addressed, though, has been really tormenting me lately, because it's an idea I've had myself that I've been trying this past year to do but has not been working for me.

"If I had to go through high school again, I'd treat it like a day job. I don't mean that I'd slack in school. Working at something as a day job doesn't mean doing it badly. It means not being defined by it. I mean I wouldn't think of myself as a high school student, just as a musician with a day job as a waiter doesn't think of himself as a waiter. And when I wasn't working at my day job I'd start trying to do real work."

This sounds great in theory and helps me to some degree, but in some ways makes things even worse. I try and get through every school day and have decent grades and all, but each day is so monotonous and so many of the things we do are such wastes of time that it just drives me insane. Going home to work on something more I feel is more important that I actually enjoy and am challenged with, while obviously provides enjoyment, in another sense make this feeling even worse because it diminishes school even more. I do 'real work', but I want to real work at school too.

I'd like to think that I'm just the problem. Maybe I'm just taking my education for granted and this is just a "self-fulfilling prophecy" sort of thing. But, I spend nearly every moment outside of school learning, just because I love to do it. I want to love school. I love learning. Why don't I love school? I can't express in words how frustrated this question makes me.

I was just wondering if you guys had any experiences or suggestions to share about school. If anyone else has gone through this could or could give me some advice or just show how I'm wrong I would really appreciate it. I know it doesn't sound like much in the grand scheme of things, but I really don't want to waste the next two years of high school.

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

#3

Post by spoiledtechie »

Stay in school and wait it out. Don't drop out... If you must, find a way to program in school. Go to teachers and request that you can go off by your self because your making A's in their classes. Most will listen and understand.

Go to a computer room when you can and build something great. Even though something is boring in your life and its mandatory for our society, do it. If people describe it as mandatory, do it.

A little story: I knew a guy in my school that made his first million in 10th grade. He dropped out and never looked back. You sir, don't have that luxury unless you decide to start now and make your first million. If you want out, strive to achieve what you think will actually get you out and keep you from working for "the man" in any other job....

Also, if your a child prodigy, think about going to the NSA website and crack a few of their codes... They are always hiring....

I also suggest you watch a movie called "Good Will Hunting". It struck home for me. Maybe it will for you.

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

#5

Post by mannicken »

I'm a high school student myself (senior). I skipped massively (like 50% of the time I wasn't in class) in 10th grade, and after 10th just went to do Running Start. It's a form of dual enrollment and I'm going to community college now; I haven't set foot in HS (except to get authorization forms) in two years. College is different from high school.

Try something similar. High school is a massive, pointless waste of time. It's like prison. Get out of it by any means but be smart. Meaning: don't go apeshit and kill your classmates. If you do drop out, have a plan on how you can give people what they want so they can feed you and clothe you. May be you want to spend the rest of your days working in a Walmart, but probably not.

Anyway, don't stress over it. You're in a fucking America, you won't die of hunger :) And you'll die regardless of whether you went to high school or not, so don't worry. It doesn't really matter in the long run so enjoy the fact that you were born in this perverted (but fun) world.

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

#7

Post by ashleyw »

mannicken wrote: post #5

I'm a high school student myself (senior). I skipped massively (like 50% of the time I wasn't in class) in 10th grade, and after 10th just went to do Running Start. It's a form of dual enrollment and I'm going to community college now; I haven't set foot in HS (except to get authorization forms) in two years. College is different from high school. Try something similar. High school is a massive, pointless waste of ti…

"Any way, don't stress over it. You're in a fucking America, you won't die of hunger :) And you'll die anyway, so don't worry."

Awesome rule to live by!

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

#8

Post by wallflower »

It sounds like you expect yourself to have everything figured out. Life is simple but not easy. Believe me, most everyone I know does not have life figured out in the mid-twenties and early-thirties. Life is not a puzzle, it's life. You think, you have it figured out and then another challenge/curveball comes along (layoff/marriage/divorce/best friend dying/whatever).

As someone wiser than me once said, high school is probably the most structured experience you'll have unless you end up in prison. College is different (if you decide to go).

High school is a geographical coincidence. College is more your choice.

You only have two years left in your "term". If you drop out, your parents very well may decide to kick you out (as in, why should they support you if you're not supporting them [by not dropping out]).

Unfortunately, in this white-collar society, having a high school degree is almost a bare minimum requirement for being hireable (in some states, McDonald's will not hire non-HS/non-GED)

> I absolutely can't stand wasting time.

Please read this: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/04/13/stoicism-101...

> I'm introverted and spend most of my time reading or obsessively working on hobbies like programming

As someone who is much older than you and very much has considered the possibility of dropping out (e.g. quitting my job), please consider what you will do for income if you are not in school. Are you active in community/open source? If not, why? What kind of brand/reputation in the open source community have you built? Enough to do paid consulting?

> But, I spend nearly every moment outside of school learning, just because I love to do it.

You're like me. You're using absolutes. Contradicting yourself. I'm guilty of those self-lies too. No one spends every moment learning. Otherwise, you would be learning that which would have a greater relative impact on your navigation of this world (e.g. organizing introverts together, taking the lead, social and other-ness).

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