I Hate school.

The Core RPGC Main Forum
1

I’m going into my senior year, come September, and I’m glad to say it’ll be my last year of secondary school. I hate HS with a passion. I crammed subjects in so I could graduate early, in January, yay. I plan on taking a year off after that (or a year and a half, I guess it’ll be) to just chill, and work, and be done with school. Save up. Well, i wanted to go into an animal/vet tech program after my break, and I have found out recently I totally screwed myself over by taking the wrong subjects. Actually, I had no idea what I wanted to do after HS, so now that I’ve decided, it turns out I need all of this shit to enroll. That includes a bio credit, a chemistry credit, and another math credit. Math and science are my weakest subjects (math especially) and I have to try hard to make average grades. It’s recommended that we take Math in our senior year, but I didn’t want to, since it’s been a hassel thus far. So ya know, we don’t need to, but they encourage us.

So I’m really pissed. Partly at myself, and partly at the school administration. We received NO encouragment nor “wake up calls” during my school years. We weren’t told just how critical and important our HS choices are. Not one damned lecture about how we can fuck ourselves over by taking another course. Not told that this could effect our chances getting into college. How do we find out? Accidently. At least I did. I learned what I needed to know by discussing a course load with a guidance councillor and he just happened to mention what I needed to graduate high school. Yes, I’m very aware that it is a student’s responsibility to manage their schedule and to make their own decisions, but a little bit of pressure and explanations would have been nice. Apparently they did this at another local high school, but the students at mine were NOT spoken to. I realize I am almost an adult, and no one can make my decisions for me, nor take responsibility for me…but some student/guidance one-on-one would have been nice, along with some basic knowledge and information regarding local colleges and what we plan to do after HS and how to get there.

So yeah, screw that. I’m not risking my chance of graduating early by taking on another frigging three classes. I’m going to do correspondance study-learning on my own, at home, and getting my classes that way. At my own pace. I am SO mad that I didn’t have at least one school official by my side helping me decide and helping me choose classes. No one asked me “What do you want to do after high school? Do you know what classes you’ll need?” because no, I didn’t know, but I do now, and I’m not changing my schedule now. God bless the internet, or else I would have had NO idea what sort of average, and classes I’d need to apply at a college/community college.

GRRAAAAAAAAH.

2

Dude, that fucking sucks. AT our school they MADE us talk with the teachers to find out what we were supposed to need for everything. Sounds like your teachers really screwed you over. Dunno what to say except just keep going at it and don’t give up. :frowning:

You sound like you need to vent. Punch this punching bag. It’s about the same density of the human brain and has less legal ramifications. >_>

3

Man high school is such crap. :stuck_out_tongue: People don’t know what they’re doing, they’re just kinda like, “if you can figure this experience out, that we don’t even know what it’s forcing you to do and become, then good job! you must be a successful person…I think.”

The problem is just that the choices you make in high school ARE so critical and important. What is that? That’s retarded! I mean, this is supposed to be a time in a person’s life when they should feel free to explore, to MAKE mistakes, to fail on occasion because failure is so IMPORTANT, and that’s how the counselors and shit make it seem cause they don’t want to FREAK you out. But inevitably, people get this rude awakening that the administrative academic system really doesn’t care all that much about them, and that it’s really just in the business of staying in business, and it’s really frustrating. Heh, I know all about it. It’s so fucked up, how your chance-taking mess-making years (which are so FUCKING crucial, urgh!) can in the present academic environment have such a bad effect on what you do later in life.

4

Heh thanks Pierson, you lucky bastard :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

And yay Maz at least someone understands. I feel the same way about the freedome and failure thing, at this point in life. I didn’t mean to come off as the pampered little high school student bitching about her sooo stressful life, because I know it pales in comparison to college. But at least in college I make my OWN decisions…and it’ll be a path I want to take, regarding my career. So I embrace that. I’m just waiting for some elite college student to totally own me right now >>

5

Same thing happened at my school, though it doesnt help me much. I dont know what i want to do with my life yet. I dont een know if college is in the picture, and the counselors make me feel bad about that.

That really sucks eva, hope everything works out.

6

Well, sure, that statement is nominally true, insofar as every kind of choice is a “problem,” but also kind of useless. High school didn’t somehow make up those critical and important choices; those choices are posed by life, they’ll exist regardless of what school does, and school can’t just postpone them for you somehow. This society has already done that as much as possible, what with people in their early twenties still living with their parents.

All school, or anything else, can really do with this issue is offer its experience to you, so that you may use it to get some idea of what to expect. It may be the case that they didn’t do this as much as they should have. If so, that’s unfair; unfortunately, things like that happen often. But when things are unfair, that’s precisely when one should be more active and drag that experience out of them - one might come to the school staff of one’s own accord, early, ask them questions, talk to colleges (just by calling their offices or something), ask one’s teachers, and so on. If the high school officials refuse to help one even after that, <i>then</i> I would consider them seriously culpable.

7

Schools in Canada don’t know how to teach >_>;;

8

You got to choose what classes you wanted to take in high school Eva? Man i wish my school had more freedom like that and a larger diversidy in classes,my school was very monotonus.

Well all i can say is:I wish you luck this coming school year.

9

Schools in England suck as well. They ask you what you want to be when you grow up when you’re still in Year 7. That’s like when you’re 12 years old. >_<

10

My mother works with the Department of Education in Georgia, so I have all of this “what are you gonna do with your life” shit crammed down my throat every report card. I don’t try to excel in classes and in school because I don’t feel that it’s neccessary. I really like living life by my own whims, and while I don’t know what I’m really going to do with my life, like what I’ll really need to do what I want to do and whether or not I even really want to do that or not, I don’t feel like making these decisions is pivotol right at this very moment.

One big problem with my school is the gap between intelligence levels. For example, I wouldn’t say I’m an IB student, or even an AP student at all - I simply lack the drive to properly involve myself in these class requirements. But because I yearn to escape the monotonity of the on level classes and the stupidity of the students that take these, I am forced to take these higher level classes, even though I know that I can’t keep up. It’s not that I’m not smart enough, I believe I have excellent deductive skills (that I can connect things to each other and find the common link, such as is required in class. I can put things together so very well that in many cases I feel like I know something that I’ve never really learned. It’s kinda creepy.), which makes me feel smarter and more capable than I really am, but there is no inbetween classes. The school I attend is a Magnet school, which really doesn’t mean anything (especially here), and the Magnet classes are really just the on level classes in disguise. There is no real requirement for Magnet, you sign up, you’re in - so all these stupid people are in them. I don’t want to be with the stupid kids, I want to be with the smart kids, but I can’t keep up because I simply lack the self-accountability required to make myself do the work.

I hope that makes sense, because I didn’t re-read it.

But in a way, I feel your pain Eva, because I too am trapped in a school that doesn’t really do anything to help the students. I talked to one of the school counselors (which I also did later about a different subject matter that some people may know about), and they don’t know shit. I relayed my concerns to these people, and all they told me was that I should find ways to motivate myself better, which is bullshit because if I can’t be motivated, then perhaps I should be accomodated so that I can excel in my own way.

I really don’t know. But what I do know is that I need a few lessons in actual responsibility, which is why I plan to take a year or so off from proceeding to college in an effort to get myself together enough to take college level classes and do the reading and the work neccessary to do what I (think) I want to do with my life. A year or so of working and paying bills should do the trick. At least I hope so.

11

So, what are you going to do now for sure? The most important thing to do now is to set up a plan and stick to it.

As for me, I’m going to be 19 in a month and I’ve already completed 1 and a half years of college tuition. Let me tell you it’s not as exciting or as interesting as you may think. Freedom, perhaps, and a sense of change.

It’s not the solution to all your problems, of course.

12

SK’s got it, but the thing that bugs me is that the students have to be the one to make the intiation, at my school. We aren’t told how to make appointments, or who to see, and whatnot, which is the first problem. We have to find out everything ourselves and it gets tedius when you’re trying not to miss a class, but trying to find time during a break to actually get a word in with administration who do not, at all, know the meaning of impatient and busy students.

Schools in Canada don’t know how to teach >_>;;

A lot of schools are pretty good, it’s just the frigging staff. I’ve had some amazing and influential teachers in my lifetime, and I’ve had others, like recently that just can’t teach. Un experienced, too. Especially math teachers. I HATE it when I’m in a math class and then a student teacher from a university arrives and has to get experience and temporarily teaches the class. I can’t follow math easily and theres so much shit to that subject that it’s irritating when teachers are frquently switched, because everyone’s logic and methods are different. Being taught how to do trig and algebra for two months one way, and then totally abandoning that system for another, due to a young, new teacher just blows. I wish that they didn;t do that with math teachers.

You got to choose what classes you wanted to take in high school Eva? Man i wish my school had more freedom like that and a larger diversidy in classes,my school was very monotonus.

Wha really? Where do you live? Is it a public school? In my first year of HS (sophomore year…no freshman here) I was pretty restricted as to what I had to take, but with the next two grade levels, more options and classes open up, which is good, but we don’t exactly have any sort of interesting or original classes outside of the core sci, math, english and tech.

I don’t want to be with the stupid kids, I want to be with the smart kids, but I can’t keep up because I simply lack the self-accountability required to make myself do the work.

I know 100% exaaaaactly what you mean, considering I’ve gone through it for two years in HS. Not again, this semester, because I’m truely afraid of not being accepted by any form of post secondary school. I know I cannot get into uni at all, which is fine with me, but as for college and comm college, well I’m scared. I’m going to work my ass off in the upcoming 5 months. my knowledge of general admission is limited, but it’s enough to motivate me into trying harder :\

I talked to one of the school counselors (which I also did later about a different subject matter that some people may know about), and they don’t know shit. I relayed my concerns to these people, and all they told me was that I should find ways to motivate myself better, which is bullshit because if I can’t be motivated, then perhaps I should be accomodated so that I can excel in my own way.

I dunno what it is with some counselors. Mine, I sadly can’t switch from because we only have two, and one talks to students with last names of the first half of the alphabet, and the latter, the last half. So I have to talk to, whom I’m assigned with. And this man is quite unpleasant. I told him my decision to graduate early and he looked at me like I have 10 heads and asked me why ever did I want to do that? To get away from this idiot box and go out into the world to get work full time for some money, dipshit! He then proceeded to tell me I’d be missing out on all of the grade 12 graduation hooplah. Oh what a sacrifice. Like he really grilled me on why I wanted to leave early, as if it was such a terrible thing. If I’m going to work for it, I obviously know what I’m doing you moron.

So, what are you going to do now for sure? The most important thing to do now is to set up a plan and stick to it

After I get out in Jan, I’m gonna work at my own pace with correspondance. I’m pretty sure that graduates can take some courses (its working out of a textbook, no teacher, you learn on your own, etc) and that’s what I’m going to do. Just study, and get those three credits at home. If for some reason they wont let me (which they should) then I guess I’ll have to do college preps, or learn on my own.

As for me, I’m going to be 19 in a month and I’ve already completed 1 and a half years of college tuition. Let me tell you it’s not as exciting or as interesting as you may think. Freedom, perhaps, and a sense of change.

Anything’;s gotta be better than HS man :\

13

Wha really? Where do you live? Is it a public school? In my first year of HS (sophomore year…no freshman here) I was pretty restricted as to what I had to take, but with the next two grade levels, more options and classes open up, which is good, but we don’t exactly have any sort of interesting or original classes outside of the core sci, math, english and tech.

It was a private school and here were my classes:

10.Math,Bio,history,spanish,english,and religion
11.Change bio foe chemistry
12.change history for health,chemistry for physics,and math for pre-calculus

14

It’s true. But a society should postpone the importance of choices for kids, until it helps them to discover how to take absolute charge of their lives. Otherwise, if a school just puts all that responsibility on a kid’s shoulders without at all preparing the kid, I mean…of course they’re gonna freak out and not know what to do. It’s not their fault. There’s gotta be some sort of safety net while a kid is learning how to take charge of his or her life, and true, the plunge into the real world should be swift and complete, but only when they’re ready for it. Maybe it’s not a school’s responsibility to provide that safety net/life skills teaching, in fact, it probably isn’t. But it’s gotta be there still, regardless of “whose responsibility” it is. Raising children healthily to adulthood in a community is the responsibility of everybody. I’m being super-idealistic here, but a little bit of rage at the way things are is healthy. Just a bit.

In any case Eva, it’s really difficult. I don’t really know what actual advice I can give you, other than you have to make the decisions and do the things that feel essential and important and right, no matter how strange or unorthodox they are. And if something you’re doing, a course you’re taking at school, having to interact with an administrator, doing so much work for some college/career/future feels incredibly wrong and offensive to you in every way, then you’ve gotta find some way to either realize (not just rationalize, but really feel it) that it’s important (which makes it bearable), or cut it out of your life. I personally didn’t go to school for the second half of my senior year. It was kind of dramatic, lol, I travelled/hitchhiked all the way from Boston to Seattle alone without telling anybody to get away, but it’s cool now. Stuff can make you crazy though, and that’s Not Good. I just finished an English course for my school via email and still managed to graduate and get into the school I wanted to go. But like, the competitive atmosphere and all the hidden expectations were just too much for me to bear. It seems like you’re gonna be just fine though. Good luck. :slight_smile:

15

It’s good that you have a direction to go in. You can use that year - year and a half to do some soul searching too. Find out if there are any other careers you like. See if you can volunteer in the field. I know I wish I’d done that. My dad’s an electrical engineer so I’ve had “math = good solid job” speech drilled into me for years. After getting into university, I realized maybe I should’ve taken other courses like accounting or economics to see what they were like. After first year I realized that there wer so many oppurtunities I didn’t see because I was madly trying to finish my courses with a high enough GPA to get accepted.

Bottomline is, find out what you want. Or else you’ll find yourself paying for courses you may not want.

16

I’d share my opinion on the matter, but I sure as hell know that no one is willing to hear the blunt obivous answer. The blunt obivous answer always sucks.

17

Eva, your school is ex-freaking-actly identical to mine. The only difference is, I did get those speeches. They don’t help. lol :stuck_out_tongue:

I mean, okay. I don’t need to have my fucking hand held through high school, but, it would help (just a bit), maybe (a little), to just have a chart that says:

[YOUR GOAL] ----> [HOW TO GET THERE]
IN DETAIL. Courses to take, Universities to go to, a price tag, everything. An organised way of saying “Take this, this, and this, keep a 95% average, pay $80 000, and you can be a doctor. :smiley: :smiley: :D”

Of course, for more obscure goals, you’d still have to ask, but we shouldn’t be kept guessing at what the fuck we’re doing if we know EXACTLY where we want to be.

Which I, of course, don’t. I still fantasize about fighting crime with a massive sword.

18

I feel what Eva and others are saying here. Heres my rant: I hated high school so much the last year i was getting a few panic attacks my last year and was always being late to school in the morning cause I really hated it for the social atmosphere. I was sick of the college route being shoved down everyones throat. Even sometimes in my art classes we’d go down to this little room and they would have college representatives selling their crap to you. Its like all the good students were buying into it and yet I feel like they didn’t really know anything about what they wanted to to take in college. Or maybe it was just me that didn’t know anything about what i wanted to do. To some people thats the normal course but they might not take the college experience seriously and think its the parties and shit. I mean uvm is one of the many colleges/universities up here and it was ranked the 20th party school? Counselors were always busy with people making their futures or being distraught with their girlfriends or boyfriends. I hated being a bother to them and it would be possibly two weeks before they could see someone. There were about 4 to 5 counselors for the population of a thousand kids in school. I most likely missed out on some of the help with future since i switched schools after 9th grade too. No one even told me anything about how i could go to this tech school for art either, probably would have been happier there. I knew about people that went there but i thought you had to have good grades in which mine weren’t . What little friends i had they were happy little frosted flakes too and knew very little about me nor did they care. Though i was down with myself, so figures no one would stay around me for long. High school doesn’t prepare you for shit unless you use the resources that are there or know which are the good resources. I had to be one of the people that needs my hand held to know what to do.

For all those who aren’t going read this post, it can be summed up in one pretty word you people love to hate: ANGST.

19

I hated high school. I was getting anxiety attacks as well. I’m a freaking survivor.

I reccomend you coast so you don’t have to have anxiety attacks too.

It gets good when you get out of high school, though!

20

I agree with your first paragraph. I mean, I’m very well aware that some things can only be done if you do it yourself, and nobody can really take the blame for screw ups in your life (sometimes) but there’s nothing wrong with a little guidance, or help, or preparation along the way. I’m old enough to take care of myself, but I still depend and rely on other people heavily, ESPECIALLY school administration. I just follow the guidelines to get my education, and get out, but I dislike the fact that they’re not upfront about it. I don’t blame you for getting away on the second half of the year :stuck_out_tongue: regardless of what it was. I can relate.

My dad’s an electrical engineer so I’ve had “math = good solid job” speech drilled into me for years.

My dad didn’t even go to college and he’s ALWAYS told me that. It wasn’t so much science, it was always math. That’s the only subject worthy enough to be taught in school, in his mind, and I feel ashamed coming home with only decent, 60’s grades in math. And that was trying my hardest.

And about the other comments…I’ve never had anxiety attacks in school (at least I dont think so…) but I’ve always disliked the social atmosphere as well. I greatly despise many of my peers just because of their blatant and most often, retarded attitudes in class. Call me judgemental, but whatever.