I'd kill myself before I depended upon others to support me.

I held a part-time job for more than a year, until the store I worked at was shut down. I read constantly and spend 5-6 hours a day practicing guitar and studying music theory. I can put forth effort if I'm being paid, if others' jobs depend, to some extent, on my performance, or if I love what I'm doing.

There really is no good reason why I couldn't have made things easier on myself and passed high school, but I'm going to do what I can to try and procure a respectable life for myself.

Dropping out of High School is a terrible idea in under most circumstances.

I'd really love to know why you decided to go ahead with it; people must've advised you against it...

Good question. Because it takes someone with awesome psychic abilities to predict that a person who can't do anything he doesn't want to do will suck at life.

I'm dropped out of High School at age 17, Senior year. The only advice I know to give is to take initiative. Your best bet is marching straight to the nearest community college. Get a couple dozen credits under your belt and take it from there. University awaits. Otherwise, look forward to managing your local [insert fast food restaurant/Blockbuster Video/RadioShack] after 20 years of [supersizing orders/random pointless act]. I say this earnestly. I once felt like a waste of life as well.

I laid my own little story out here: http://www.gamingforce.com/forums/sh...0177#post20177

it was only one year left! Why didn't you just finish it off? One more year wouldnt have killed you <_<

Ok but you still never told me what I am going to have for dinner tomorrow.

Eesh, go back to school and finish up your degree. It's never too late to get back on track.

I took two years off after finishing highschool before I decided to go to university. I'm very glad I did. I finished my first degree in Psychology and Microbiology and then decided I wanted to persue my life's dream of music. Being older, I often feel like I wasted time on my first degree, that I could be farther along in my career of choice if I'd just made the decision to stick with it initially. But then I realize all the valuable skills I learnt in the first degree and I'd be at odds to trade that away just to be farther ahead.

What you do is you put the past behind you and get doing now what you always knew you should have done, no matter how tough it is. If you go to night classes and finish your diploma, I guarantee it will make things that much better.

Man you havent screwed up your life!! There's still time! Get a certificate at some tech school, and graduate from there, get a job, and you'll be fine financially! Dont give up man!

Throwing this in for good measure. I spent 6 months homeless. I roamed around unbathed, eating out of garbage cans and frequenting Barns & Noble. If you still have a home to live in, I'm assuming your parents', there's no excuse for moving on to bigger and better things, dude. Best wishes.

You can't argue that you need of education to open doors of opportunity. Maybe you can squeak in through the backdoor or when the bouncer is not looking but that's highly unlikely. Once you're in, it's up to you to make it through. If you think school is tough, wait until you get into the real world. I hate to sound like a parent but going to school and learning stuff is not nearly as tough as 12 hour shifts on your feet pushing buttons as a cashier at your local Piggly Wiggly or slinging food to customers who mentally push you around, all for a salary that can't make ends meet. I volunteer at a homeless shelter and as trite as it sounds, a lot of people I meet really wish they stayed in school. In fact that was my job, I was the in house "tutor" you can say and helped some on their way to their GED. Because they can put the same number of hours looking for a job as a high school graduate and not find anything, then frustration happens and all the misc stuff that leads to the need for homeless shelters. Not to say everyone is destined to live in one who didn't graduate high school, but the chances aren't exactly as great as people who at least finish some diploma.

I worked at the Gap as a full time job during my winter break (I usually work part time during the year) and while it's not nearly as bad as most people have it, it was seriously the worst 3 weeks of my life. 8 hour shifts everyday on my feet until 1AM, all for a measly $400 when all was said and done.

I dropped out of school because I seriously messed up with everything and I just decided to forget about it.

In my sophmore year, I got along with none of my teachers. I tagged along with a group of "friends" that were punk and rock and roll junkies who drank/smoked, cut themselves, went to rock shows, and w/e... guess I did the same. I ranaway, got suspended from school twice cuz of graffiti and fighting (was about to get expelled), failed all of my classes, and I had to deal with too much drama at home to even go to school so I ended up ditching a lot of school also. I ended up being put on probation till I was 18 and joining this alternate "boot camp" thing to get my GED.

My parents say I messed up my life and now I'm almost 18 and I just don't know what to do. I just got layed off from Wal Mart and have been unemplyed for a month.

Finish school or join the military. You are afraid of taking action. As long as you have the will to do better for yourself, you can do it. Decide what you want to do, find the means to achieve it, start on it, and follow through to its successful completion.

I thought you were doing college work at age 12.

Eesh, you're 18. I didn't even go to university until I was 20. You have lots of time, only the first chapter of your book has been written. The fact that you see there is a problem means that you are taking the first step to positive change. Now you just need to take the second step and begin moving towards the life / career you want.