Think of learning as a journey, not a destination. There are still lots of things you do not know.

Actually, you don’t have to go to school. Homeschooling is a good alternative if you’re still of compulsory school age. If you are old enough to drop out and are motivated, you could leave high school and attend community college (which is a much better use of your time) and later transfer to a four-year university. Some states have designed alternate programs to reduce the time spent in high school and fast track students into college, simply because the last 2 years of high school and the first 2 years of college are redundant. The Province of Ontario, Canada actually eliminated an entire high school grade in 2003.

Most people will tell you that you need to graduate high school first in order to go to college, which simply isn’t true. They will also say that there are things you still need to learn, but you can learn them just as well on your own or in college. And to the people who said you need to stay in school so you can, “form a coherent sentence with a proper grammatical structure,” I say this: If the past 10 years (at least, if you’re in high school) of grammar instruction haven’t taught you how to form a sentence properly, then a few more years is not going to magically do it. Especially since the last few years of high school english tend to focus more on literature, not grammar.

And I see precious few high school graduates nowadays who CAN put together a coherent sentence. Or do math, or have a good grasp of history, or read above an 8th grade level, or think logically….

*ADDED – Gazpacho:

Actually, your point about learning a trade is a very good one. My brother-in-law’s FORMAL education ended at the eighth grade, however he is one of the smartest people I know. He loves learning and has done an enormous amount of personal exploration in many different subjects. His favorite is quantum physics. This is a man who will tell you he is terrible at math, which is why he hasn’t taken the GED test. And yet he has built his own (very) successful flooring business (which, as you pointed out, relies heavily on math skills) and is well respected for his work.

I am going to repeat part of an answer I gave to another young student; going to school is your job. It is your job because the government says you have to go to school til you are at least 16. I hope that you don’t quit school. When you graduate, you will either go to college, tech school, or get a job. The kind of job, and pay, that you get, will depend on your level of education. One of the other posters mentioned how lucky we are to live in the US. Our system isn’t perfect by any means, but I would certainly hate to live somewhere like China. Look at school as a chance to learn many things besides basic math, science etc. It is also a chance to learn how society works. A school is a tiny example of a city. You have people of all races, abilities and cultures attending. You have elections for class offices, clubs for people with different interests, etc. You have good teachers, and not so good teachers (think : bosses!) You are not just learning the subject matter, you are learning about life. No, school isn’t always fun, but neither is life. You learn to adapt, to make decisions that will affect you the rest of your life. Try to do the best that you can now, and you will have a better life as an adult – I can promise you that. Good luck!

Are you smarter now than when you were a kindergartner? Of course you are!

Think of how much you’ve matured and grown since that age. As stated so well above, life is a journey. You’ve got more ground to cover, maturity and education-wise. The more you learn, the more able you’ll be to become productive and independent. People don’t go through life riding on their IQ.

Just like a true athlete has to train and hone their skills before turning pro. Having strength and agility isn’t enough.

Guess what, you’re only part-way across the bridge of life. No time to jump off now!

I’m going to repeat a previous answer: you need to go to school so you can form a coherent sentence with a proper grammatical structure.

If you’re so keen on hating school, think about what dropping out would mean… it would mean you finding a menial job that pays only minimum wage and you working that for the rest of your life. What you purchase with your salary: rent and food. You couldn’t afford much else.

The smartest people I’ve ever met are the ones who think they know the least. They recognize that there is infinite knowledge in the world and they will never know enough.

I hope you find some love of learning.

Because all a high school degree qualifies you for is to get a job in a fast food joint or mop the floor. Even if you join military they have to train you with Basic Training before they will let you in.

The more advanced our technology and world becomes the more information and knowledge we need just to contribute. High School is a requirement and the state requires that most of the people going there pass. College is optional and the professional world’s standards rule here. Colleges turn people away and love to flunk out students. They even design some courses to be hard to weed out those that won’t make it in the real world for that major.

The same thing happens in Basic Training. Basic could be made a lot easer, but they want to make sure you can function during the stress of combat. In the real world college is hard, much harder than most high schools. That’s because they are training people to fill a professional role. They are not trying to meet some artificial state standard.

It is possible to graduate high school and hardly know how to read. In the professional world if you can’t read you will be laughed out of the interview. The minimum standards of High School used to be enough to prepare someone for life and to get a job, but that was 60 years ago. Today you need to bring more to the market place, you need to be smarter, you need to know more and to have more skills. You also have a larger pool to compete against.

In the 1950s you might have 4 people interview for an accounting job. If they can count and add sums on a simple calculator then they are qualified for the job. Today they need to be able to run a spread sheet, as well as a computer, they need to type and they have 40 other guys trying for the same job. It is tougher out there and you need the advantage of a higher education to make it.

Farming or doing one job on an assembly line doesn’t take much training, but so few people do that anymore. Even an assembly line worker requires a lot of skills. They aren’t putting the widget into the wadget all day, they are reading the computer to see what style of part they are making, they get it from a computer controlled machine and have to supervise the machines that assemble it, while keeping up on inventory to fill the zero inventory policy, as they worry about the new health and safety regulations and the fact that the Japanese our out selling them.

Add complexity to the world and you increase the need for advanced education.

If you have the lack of experience to ask a question like this then you need the education and training to understand how silly it sounds. I am not trying to call you an idiot, or insult you. I am saying that your question proves you don’t have enough knowledge about the real world to realize that the answer for your question is so simple to most of us it is obvious. When I got out of High School I felt ready to take on the world and that college would be a simple step. Boy was I wrong, I learned the hard way and it took me years to get my degree because I was stupid enough to leave school when my parents were paying for it only to have to go back and pay for it myself while trying to support myself. So get smart and go to school.

You need to go to school and finish so more work places will take you in. Also you can go onto further education and a university/college and study a certain field like medicine or engineering and then go into a job in that field which you cant get without finishing school. Also the chances of employment are alot higher. And its generally the longer you are at school including uni and college the more money you get paid.

Well school isn’t for everyone, I agree. Some people are smart enough to go into a trade like carpentry or plumbing ~ whatever at the age of around 16 and make a very good life for themselves and their families.

If I was to have a chance to start again, instead of being a highly overworked underpaid professional with a dozen plaques on my wall, I would do a floor and wall tiling trade so that by the time my peers had finished their university studies to graduate (6 years following high school) I would have 8 years experience, and my own team of very sexy apprentice floor tile layers… we would be in high demand, knowing just how sexist the construction industry is… and our team could win any project we wanted to perform.

Of course, the success of that business would require me to know how to price a job for profit, how to write a good business letter, how to get a discount, how to make sure my employees were very well protected from any harassment….. I guess the sort of stuff I have learnt in University… but you are a smart kid, so you say. You already know these things even without finishing high school. I am sure you already have a business plan of your own.. unlike mine, one where you won’t get sued by your female employees.

To satisfy the whims of a “great” government :). Yes, it is true that after elementary school the necessity of what you learn thereafter diminishes exponentially, but one must face the facts and participate in this ludicrous and oppressive game to increase the chances of employment and job advancement. I have even heard that much of what is learned at college is not even used in the actual career that you are preparing for. For example, to become a doctor you must learn mostly everything there is to know about ALL fields and this is to “prepare” you for a very specific field such as a doctor that specializes in ear infections. But alas, this is the world we live in and we must do what is necessary to survive so it is best to conform for now and do what ever it takes to make a decent living without having to wonder where your next meal will be coming from.

EDIT: Oh, and to those who are complaining about the issue of grammar and education:

Schools provide the tools for proper spelling and grammar usage in speech and in literary works, but whether or not the one that the tools are given to is going utilize them is another matter entirely. You can hear this for youself if you listen to a conversation between two high school graduates for no more than 3.5 seconds. The same goes for anything else; you can give a man a pair of dumbells but, again, the choice of whether or not he uses them resides with him and him alone.

I hope I have made myself completely clear.

Because when you get your degree you can have a better paying job. If you have a better paying job you can have a better life. Also, you get more respect from other people when you get a degree and a good paying job. That’s what you call reality my dear. You don’t know everything yet, even though you think you do. You need to finish your high school, go to college and get a degree, and get a good job. The rest is up to you.

Gee, I wish I could take you to China so you could appreciate your American Education.

In China, every three years, they test all students and every three years, the bottom 20% of students are eliminated from school.

When eliminated that child will end up working in a coal mine, fishing boat or a sweat shop. Early death, and miserable working conditions.

Kids take night classes (bush-yi-ban) to be tutored so they won’t be elimianted. So they spend 8 hours at school and then another 6 hours at night studying so thye won’t be eliminted from school!!

Those kids would sacrifie anything to come to the States!