Education, education, education...
I love learning new things and applying my knowledge to situations that can help/improve myself and those around me. With the proper education, we can become doctors, lawyers, physicists, engineers, and so on. I am one of many that will walk to the ends of Earth to explain the value of education.
Yet, I dropped out of college.
Why did I do it?...
Here's is the timeline of my thoughts and behaviors when it came to my goals, ambitions, expectations, and what I learned. Though not all of it is related to formal education directly, it's all still relevant when it comes to how I became what I am and why I think the way I do about it.
Kindergarten - 8th Grade (August 2001 - May 2011)
First, a quick preface...
In school, you could say I was a tad odd. I learned how to read at a very young age and excelled at everything without even trying. I was a "sponge" when it came to learning. I don't mean to sound pretentious, but luckily, I just happened to have been a very quick learner. Many teachers would even refer to me as gifted. I didn't quite understand what that meant. I "felt" very normal looking from the outside in. I believed that though I was smart, I would have been damned if I were one of the smartest ones in the room. I used to believe I had the same thoughts and concerns as many others. I thought everyone cared about things like emerging technologies, science, breakthroughs, the possibility and science behind becoming Batman, a ninja, a vampire, the flash, etc.. (very geek stuff, I know). It turns out that the one of the few things I seem to have shared with the majority of those around me though was instead what I thought about school...
When it came to school, I was taught, like many, that a formal education was essentially a person's "path to salvation" when it came to a person's success in life. You go to school, go to college, get a job, raise a family, and the cycle continues. That's what life was. Because I was good at school and literally almost never had to try, I felt I was on the right path and that's just the way things were.
Here's what I did have to try at though:
Making friends and sustaining relationships.
For the life of me, I've spent way too much time thinking about this.
People were a difficult concept to grasp. Why did some kids tease me growing up? Why did some kids like me? Why did some girls dig me? Why did other girls (mostly the ones I were into) not dig me like that? Why couldn't I let my parents let me do what I want? Why do people behave the way they do? Why was it difficult for me to correctly communicate with people?
That's what was on my mind.
By the end of freshman year, this is basically where I stood:
Goals:
- Figure out how people work.
- Figure out how I work.
Expectations:
- I would figure out how to get the people I wanted to like me to like me...
(A very self-oriented goal and a tad childish but what do you want? I was like... 14 at the time...)
What I learned:
- People are very different. We all have our own genes and upbringing that leads us to think the way we do. The best thing I can do when it comes to "being likable" is surrounding myself around those who are similar to me in some way and always be willing to provide others (in most cases) a helping hand.
- How to become a good opportunist and altruist.
Ambitions:
- Become a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Sophomore Year of High School (August 2011- May 2013)
Sophomore year, I took my first official psychology class. I was excited.
"I was going to learn new things about the subject that I'd never learned before!"
Overall, I ended up being quite disappointed in the content of the class. Much of the material taught was stuff I had already taught myself. The teacher was enjoyable, however. One of probably the 6 teachers at my high school I genuinely liked as a person. BUT THE CONTENT.... Smh. It was either permissible to me or something I'd already known. Got an A in the class just because I involved and knew what was up.
I then understood that's just the way I approached my classes and I could not help it. I was either completely disinterested in the subject or already knew it... if I was interested in it.
My grades started to no longer feel fulfilling and I began questioning what I wanted. I started seeking other things that felt more fulfilling to work on.
There were two clubs I joined that gave me that sense of fulfillment. The first one was the school's improv troupe.
My desires quickly then changed:
Goals:
- Learn the psychology behind humor, happiness, and sadness.
- Be able to use that knowledge to be able to invoke these emotions in people just by what I say.
- Better understand why I'm thinking like this (is this normal?)
Expectations:
- I would become a super witty guy who understands how to captivate a crowd.
- I become someone people aspire to be or inspire others to do more. I feel everyone should become the best version of themselves. If you do that, then you're like me and I'm like you.
What I learned:
- Quality humor is the exploitation of life's absurdities
- Personality psychology and cognitive psychology.
- First principles thinking --- Creating new ideas became very easy for me because of this.
Ambitions:
- Changed my mind from knowing what I want... to not knowing at all. I decided to just let life push me where I belonged. I'll just follow the opportunities...
Junior Year of High School (August 2014- May 2015)
This was the year I joined DECA (a group for emerging leaders and entrepreneurs). I read about my personality and entrepreneurship seemed pretty badass... Seemed like a good fit. The advisor for the group was also a teacher who was part of the six I actually liked.
Life was going well... until the ACT came around and threw a wrench into everything. A test that could possibly effect the rest of your educational career? That's some rock hard bullshit feces right there.
I took this terrible thing 3 times. I was aiming for at least a 30. Why? Primarily because my parents wanted to see that score out of me. I was not worried about the cost of college due to some other factors so it was literally just that. The first two attempts were a few points off. But then comes the 3rd attempt...
I was on the third section of the ACT and I was on fire. I had never felt more confident in my performance on the test the first two times.
But then it HIT ME
I suddenly stopped.
I looked around at the room. Everyone's head was down. I then looked at the proctor giving me the obvious look that I better keep my head down... if I don't want to be accused of cheating. I then started to laugh.
What was I doing? There were a million of other things I could be doing if I wanted to be to get what I want and push my life to where I want it to go. This is not one of them. WHAT AM I DOING HERE? (*Begin existential episode*)
The proctor then came over and gave me a warning.
I abided.
However, I did give up on the rest of the test and just filled out bubbles to whatever answer seemed "good enough". I got the same score that I did the first two times. Talk about ironic, right?
Later during the year, a unique opportunity had presented itself while I was in my marketing class. A new program had been recently added to our city called the Young Entrepreneur's Academy (YEA). With the way things have been going, this was something too serendipitous to pass up. It was to start the next school year and be held once a week in the evening. So I knew it was not going to be anything too intensive. But I did think to myself, how can I get by senior year mostly working on my business and programming skills. I am a tech entrepreneur after all.
I quickly figured out what I needed to do:
Goals:
- Do what I want with little to no fucks to give about others' opinions. (<- Very good read)
- I was going to start a business focused on modern tech. It's the trend, therefore, it's the move.
- Learn computer programming
- Graduate high school early
Ambitions:
- Be a tech entrepreneur, possibly a serial one.
Expectations:
- I had no expectations. I was really making it up as I went.
What I learned:
- I started to understand my strengths as well as my weaknesses.
- Stock trading (Which has turned into crypto trading).
- The programming language, Ruby.
Senior Semester of High School (August 2015- January Something)
At this point, I had already essentially "dropped out" in my mind. Academically, I organized my credits to all for me to graduate a semester early from high school. I took 2 summer classes to help get that to happen. I was already accepted to the college I was planning on attending along with a couple of other scholarships. I began organizing who'd be part of my company. Things were getting fun. I'd been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug along and had a bad case of senioritis.
What a situation to be in.
Goals:
- Finish school and work on my business.
Ambitions:
- Entrepreneurship (period).
Expectations:
- Hope for the best, expect the worst.
What I learned:
- That my path is going to be a long one. Good thing I started early.
Freshman Year of College (August 2016- May 2017)
Entering college, I had managed to:
- Graduate from YEA.
- Get "some" seed investment for Webblen.
- Have 2 other co-founders in on the venture with me
- Clarify myself and my company's goals and purpose
- Learn 3 programming languages.
I was only going to school to gain some extra connections. I never said this out loud, but it was the case. I joined a fraternity developed some pretty awesome friendships. Though many times it all felt very distracting, it was all worth it.
Goals:
- Build connections and work on my business.
Ambitions:
- Keep treading this path.
Expectations:
- Still hoping for the best while expecting the worst.
What I learned:
- I should probably look into getting a neuropsych exam. There's still questions about myself I have unanswered.
My Last 3 Months as a Student (August 2017 - October 2017)
At this point, I knew this school year was not going to last. My grades and academic motivation were beyond revival. My behavior and my thoughts on everything might have even started to become toxic to those around me. I was this kid running around this campus obviously against the system that students and parents are paying thousands for a year.
Scummy, right? :(
So I cranked out the first product for Webblen and reached out to a couple of local software development companies and asked for a job. Codelation basically accepted me as quickly as I walked in (I even hesitated before this one because I was scared they were going to disregard the hell out of me).
Plot Twist
Apparently, my name had been mentioned before and I had an interview one of my business partners had set up with one of their employees. Even more serendipitous, right? On top of that, I had the desired programming experience they wanted to begin looking for.
Got the job.
Dropped out.
After dropping, I got the results of the neuropsych exam I had decided to take (which many should do) and officially found my about my IQ (The number itself I don't care to share) and also found out I have ADHD (which explained a shit ton. I notice it even leaks into my writing style).
I've briefly mentioned before in another post that I'm convinced that more people develop/have ADHD due to technology (Very pertinent in younger millennials as well as generation Z), but AGAIN, I digress...
----- All I know is... I do what I want and I encourage you to do the same.
It's amazing how the world works sometimes. I primarily wrote this because it seems as though many people feel trapped with the life they have. That's never the case. You can always try your best to make it the best it can be despite any adversities you may face, whether it be yourself, your family, your friends, your society, or whatever.
My path is not your's and your's is not mine.
TLDR; My decision dropping out came about years of self-reflection and learning. My progress in personal development and learning was significantly hindered in school. I was not learning; I was just listening and doing. The current system we have is outdated like that. Now, I work as a software engineer at Codelation and as a co-founder of my company, Webblen; I also do have a couple of other side hustles. Since dropping out, I've been significantly happier, I've learned even more than I ever thought I could have at this age, and I've already built more than enough experience and connections to trump a degree alone in my field of focus.
Do what you want and get good at it. That's what's up.
In my posts, I often make reference to other sites that can either elaborate on a passing idea or define a relatively obscure term or phrase. I do not take credit for these.