Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments High School....and girls

Here's my saga, for those who care to muddle down memory lane with me:
I went to a rural public HS in the midwest with about 70 per grade. It's fair to say I struggled socially, emotionally, and academically.

First hint of a problem was the last month or so of my freshman year. I stopped doing math homework (it wasn't due daily) and found that I didn't "need" to do it, but as I was a "good" student I ended up cramming it all in at the end so I would get credit.

Sophomore year was more of a bad year socially. I was on the fringe of the popular group, but not really accepted by any group. I actually dated a popular senior for a while, but as a result was harassed by some upperclass girls. In hindsight, I understand why I had problems relating to everyone else, LOL. I had a decent year academically, since I decided to take a full class load and study both French and Spanish. The French teacher let me work at my own pace. I also had art class and drama activities that I really enjoyed and a good English teacher. But, I stopped doing math homework again. When I pointed out to the teacher that I was getting at least 97% on the tests without doing any homework and didn't she think that meant I should be in a different math class? I was told that she couldn't accelerate me if I wasn't willing to do the homework. So I copied the work from a friend in another section (the credit was for completing the work, not doing it correctly). They still didn't accelerate me. I think I skipped a week or so of school toward the end of the year and just read books and played sick.

Junior year, things started falling apart. I had problems with the biology teacher who refused to teach evolution because he didn't believe in it. He also had no understanding of the material. We did not get along. It all started to seem like a waste of time to me. I think I skipped 50+ days my junior year. I looked at entering college with early admission, but my parents, who aren't the most pro-active people, didn't seem to be very supportive. I was 16 at the time, and my mother thought it was more of a mental/depression problem and put me on antidepressants. I gave it a try but they didn't seem to help much and I stopped taking them after a few months.

Because of the full class load earlier I only needed a semester more of credits to graduate, so I went back my senior year. I didn't even have a full class load and most of the classes were a total joke: Individualized Reading, Speech, Life Skills and I did others independent study. I graduated at semester and thought I had a job teaching dance lined up, but that fell through, so I ended up having to hang around until May graduation anyway, but it gave me time to work on some theater projects, so I can't complain.

In the fall I went to a small liberal arts college on an honors scholarship. I didn't do terribly well academically, but honestly, I just wasn't that into it. I think people did me a disservice by saying that "college will be better" and that you just have to get through high school, like it's a rite of passage, or war time or something. I built it up to be a life changing experience, but in fact I found that college was more of the same. The classes in general weren't particularly challenging or more interesting, but there was more reading and longer papers. People were still petty. But I did make some good friends in spite of the social drama. I dropped out mid-sophomore year. In hindsight, I might have been better served by going to the state university. I suppose I do have the "normalizing" of some high school social experiences, prom, learning how to handle mean girls, and there were some good parts too. But academically and career-wise I think early college entrance would have been good for me.