I haven't missed high school once. I hated it with a passion, & was deleriously happy when I finished. I went from 6-7 hours/day of indoctrination & busy work to 6-16 hours/day of work I generally liked & got paid for.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bronco351
Well, I'm DEFINATELY not trying to send a message to younger people to drop out of high school. Personally, I think if you have a trade that you are EXTREMELY good at, well I say pursue it by any means necessary. The people that dont have trade skills, sorry to say that those are the ones that will be stuck behind a desk and pushing paper. Though some of them do make good money.

Don't feel too sorry for those paper pushers . Many of them make EXTREMELY good money. Being able to work smart and not hard does have it's advantages.

 

My uncle retired a year ago with a paid-off mortgage (10 years ago, & I think he still has the bank reciept for the last payment framed), a retirement income (401k & invested savings), & plans to tour the country in an RV. He was going to buy (with CASH) a new PSD F-550 as a hauler, but decided to convert a C7000 tractor into a tow vehicle instead.

A few years back, he paid cash for a new (leftover) Lincoln MkVIII LSC, which he still has.

He drove, then wrenched, big-rigs most of his life after 4 years in the Army as a motor-pool mechanic.

Not bad for a 6th grade education.

 

You can't even get into the army with that kind of education. And you certainly can't work on big rigs without going to a tech school.

 

You could when he started in life. Not anymore, though.

 

As a science teacher at the middle/high school level, I think it is important for many reasons. Bronco351, high school did have some worthwhile experiences for you. You learned about your interest in auto mechanics there. You honed your skills and built on the good work ethic that you obviously had. I am sure there were some hot chicks who you went on dates with in high school. That is good for social skills as well as uh, well you know. High school is supposed to be a place where students can build on their interests and/or explore many interests if they don't know what they are. I think high school served you well, along with a hard working ethics. As for being bad in algebra, if you woulda had a decent teacher who made math interesting and related it to your interests, you might have seen the uses in it. I know that you use algebra everyday when you are working on cars, as well as doing the books for your business.

It is not fair to say that people are uneducated because they dont think that they got anything out of high school or if they are not interested or "smart enough" to go to a four year college. It is not for everyone. There is nothing wrong with going to a vocational or trade school. Our society needs people who provide services that are learned in a vocational and trade school.

In closing, it's great what youve done with your life Bronco351. It sounds like you got what you wanted out of high school. Good luck to ya man.