Sure doing well in high school is typically a decent indicator for how well you’ll do further down the line in life, but it’s not the end-all-be-all of determining success. Hell, I pulled a 3.8 unweighted GPA back then and look at me now: I’m a blogger. Do you realize how little intelligence this requires? My job is to literally sit on the Internet and act like a turd all day ‘erry day. There are people on 4chan who do this for free and yet here I am, getting paid to do the bare minimum every day.
Actually…maybe that makes me a genius. I can’t tell, I’m not THAT smart jeez. But if you’re sitting there looking for validation on how you flunked your way through high school and are hoping that your future isn’t too bleak, you’ve come to the right place:
I was a straight-A student in high school, graduated in the top 3% of my class, and went to college on a full ride. Then I went to college and discovered my love for doing anything and everything except going to class. I live a very happy life, but I’m not in school and don’t have an awesome job or anything. No degree, minimal money in the bank, but still happy. Just not where everyone expected me to be in life, and probably a bit of a disappointment to my parents.
I got diagnosed with cancer shortly after I graduated from college, so I still live at home and don’t work or go to school. I’m going to grad school once I recover though.
Working in IT for a Straight C boss
I was a straight A student all through high school (which is probably where I peaked to be quite honest) – I graduated valedictorian, student council president, with extra curriculars up the wazoo.
My good grades got me into a great college, where we were all told at orientation “Get used to being average”. Ive never been average, so I brushed it off, thinking it didnt really apply to me.
Sure enough, despite all my hard work and non-stop studying, I was a B- student. That struggle really took an emotional toll on me and was the first of many times I felt stupid or felt that I didnt deserve to be where I was.
I ended up transferring after sophomore year because of the financial burden plus how out of place I felt in that environment. Am currently a senior preparing to graduate in May with a B+ average. After that, going back to school to get my MBA in Human Resources to begin a career I feel Id be well-fitted in.
Getting all A’s in my opinion isnt nearly as important as society tells us it is. In fact, getting A’s is what fucked me in the long run because I didnt have any prior experience not being the best and I could have been better prepared for that let down. Your health and your happiness are what’s important – no one should ever tell themselves that they’re worth less because they’re not a 4.0 student – not all of us can be, and I’ve just realized myself that that’s okay.
Wow. So many straight A students leading amazing lives. I had straight As in high school and college. I’ve been on suicide watch 3x in the past 2 months and have pending felony charges 🙂
Straight A’s in a private HS, went to a private college and immediately burned out. Thank god my GPA managed to stay above a 3.0, but I dealt with lots of depression and anxiety that led me to stop caring about school. I actually failed my last class of my undergraduate in Biomedical Engineering, so I have to re-take that when its offered again to get my degree.
Currently working for a place I interned with, who thankfully will let me take the class and work FT around it. Remember, life isn’t linear and there is no right path or best life.
Nothing. Unemployed, completely unsure what to do with my life.
School made me really really good at remembering random things for short periods of time, but I don’t see how that applies to any sort of job or hobbies. I’ve been out of high-school for 3 years, trying to go back to school right now and I’ve forgotten everything. If I’ve learned anything; It doesn’t mean a thing whatsoever to be a straight A student. You need some actual motivation/passion in something to get good at it, and school has nothing to do with that.
I made straight As my entire life. Had two big scholarships in college and graduated with honors, and again, made straight As the whole time. I also worked 2-3 part time jobs the entire time I was in school (poor folk gotta eat). I did all of it with the constant echoing motivation of “hard work will help you achieve your dreams!”
5 years after graduating: I’m employed at a mediocre job doing mediocre work slightly related to my degree for mediocre pay…in a mediocre city. For the first 2-3 years I was in the working world, I felt pretty betrayed by my lack of opportunity in what I wanted to do, but I’m pretty much over it now. I spent a lot of time being like, “Why am I still in Texas? Why am I not doing the cool stuff I know how to do and instead spend my days copying and pasting information off Google?”
I’m still working towards my dreams, but if I knew back then what I know now, I don’t think I would have been as studious or as motivated to make perfect grades. Granted, good grades has helped in ways you wouldn’t expect… Still, I was misled, a bit, by the “good grades = good life” rhetoric.
I’m not done yet, though, so maybe I’ll wind up doing what I really love to do eventually.
I was a straight A student in highschool but I was a trouble maker. I went to 6th form and failed because of my drinking, tried again at an actual college and failed because I replaced my drinking with doing extra drugs.
Became a criminial and did some really bad shit including, but not limited to, drug trafficking and murder.
Moved to the states to try college again, graduated with a 3.85 gpa and got my Associates degree. I am now a senior software engineer at a large multinational machinery manufacturer. I’m 27, 6 years sober from drugs and only go out to drink maybe once a month.
[Via Reddit]