I'm 17, going to be 18 in under a month. I dropped out of high school, cost my parents hundreds of dollars in legal and home schooling fees. I'm currently going through a by-mail course to get my diploma, and at my current rate it'll take over a year to get it. That is, if the dipolma's actually worth anything, as some of the high school by mail diplomas aren't. I'm working a minimum wage part time job as a dishwasher in a friend's resturant. I don't have a car, or a liscense, and I tense up to the point of freezing when I'm placed behind the wheel to learn. My family is moving into a trailer because we're going bankrupt. My father has health issues, and my mom has had six brain tumors, to the point where I don't think the parts of the brain that controls her reasoning and impulse control are functioning properly. I can't afford college, and doubt I'd be able to make the commitment if I could scratch up enough funding to go. I live in a small town with no job opprotunities, and I have few to no skills besides being a smartass if such a job did become available. If my dad dies before my mom, I'm financially fucked as I'd be responsible for her as she can't take care of herself. I have arthritis and a bad back. I'm seventeen, and I have arthritis and a bad back. I'm not attractive, so I can't get by on my looks, and any girlfriend I ever get is almost garunteed to be either blind or stupid.

You know what I find most interesting about all this? With all the dead ends, with the chance of being screwed for the rest of my life around every corner, and an even split of people telling me "It's not that bad" and "Kill yourself"...I'm content. I've gotten to a place where I can look at all the possibilities in life and not care how bad it might look. There are people that have it better, but there are more people who have it worse. And in the end, I could die at any minute, and it makes all the chances in my future seem meaningless when you look at them in that context. I could die before I finish typing this. I'm sure most of you would appreciate that, because you wouldn't then be tempted to read it. It really drives home that all I have is the moment, and it makes things so much more beautiful. I have a family. I have friends. I have a home. When you get right down to it...what matters aside from that?

And hell, at least I don't live in New Jersey.

That last part was an attempt at being funny. Don't assassinate me, please.

Just add the word "fuck" in there every couple sentences and when it comes up, yell it. Presto, a standup comedy routine. I'm not kidding.

nice brah you lost your ego, I still have shards of mine left, which isn't good.

I'm an ass. Umm...in all seriousness, I'm sure you'll find a way to get out of the hole. You are still young so don't count yourself out yet. Both of my parents are high school drop outs...and I think both make like $100k/year.

I like to think my comedy appeals to a higher degree of intelligence than randomly spewing mindless laugh words.

Tits.

Seriously though, given enough time a ton of opportunities will present themselves. Just don't get your hopes up, keep your eyes open, and you'll be fine.

Learn a trade?

ahahahaha, dumb ass

edit: seriously, you're retarded for dropping out of high school

...and?

Whyd you drop out, anyway?

yeah, you can literally sleep yourself through public high school and still graduate

Combination of depression, anxiety, questionable possible maybe bipolar disorder, I was a teenager, I was bored, and I couldn't respect anything the school stood for. The principal was a condecending prick who didn't give a crap about anyone's problems, just his "job". I only dropped out because while I was having my problems(month or so), he was threatening me with court. Through a smile. So I went to 'homeschooling', which was basically just signing up to not go to school because my mom started having some more tumor problems. By not respecting anything the place stood for, after I dropped out, a 16 year old got drunk at a party and drove off a bridge. He was honored like a hero by everyone, because he had friends and he was on the football team. A school shooting was threatened, and the school announced publicly, by the news and sending home fliers that what they would do is for one day, and one day only, search students, and if you didn't want to show up, you didn't have to.

Now, if you were the kid who wanted to do the shooting...wouldn't you wait till the fucking day after to bring the gun?

Oh, and fun note. They suspended the kid who reported the threat that was carved in the girl's bathroom. I later decided that any high school where the average intelligence of an administrator is lower than that of a student isn't the greatest place to go to high school.

Seriously, you can be on the god damn honor roll if you know how to glide.

wow thats a horrible reason for a horrible decision "my teacherz are stupid so i droped out"

you should honestly think about taking up smoking pot, it helps a lot of teens get through high school so they can at least become assisstant managers at McDonald's if they choose to not go to college

Did you miss the first part of what he said you fucking cunt? Seriously, you are a piece of shit.

I hear trailer parks are nice.

No I don't.

Trailer boy.

SEP: spreadin' the hardcore reality of '07.

Write songs about blowing people up, sex with transsexuals and burning out on marijuana and PCP, make your new album a reference to poop, and dye your hair while thrashing on a guitar you barely know how to play.

Hey, it worked for Green Day.

Hey, it works for Justin!

Join the Mobile Infantry and save the world. Service guarantees citizenship.

Yeah, there's always the military.

It's not a bad option, honestly. They'll take care of you.

After reading your reasons for this, you clearly know that was a dumb thing, I HATED school and had absolutely NO respect for authority but I ground through it. Just make sure to get the diploma dude, otherwise, you ARE fucked.


Elaborate. plz.

I know you wouldn't like to leave your parents in their situation, but you can't help much (from what I can tell). Why don't you go into the military or something similar? I'm serious. If you really wanna help your parents, send them some of your hard earned cash.

I wouldn't usually recommend it, but you seem to have rather a short amount of options.

Besides, muzzers are wimps, I'm sure you'll be fine.



I know EXACTLY what you mean. Complete cunts that (because of the mercy of Darwin) get themselves killed through their own idiocy, and because he was popular with the right people, he's not remembered as a complete bastard who accidentally killed himself.

One such idiot got himself and 3 others killed. He was such a thug. I hear the funeral was grandiose.

Bastard.

That happens 1-2 times a year in almost every school. It angers me so - the behavior that can be suddenly respected because of a death.

Ummm....Billie Joe was actually a pretty damn decent guitarist before Dookie....


Exactly. I hate a couple of my teachers who declare they are always right and a couple of classes bore me to death, but I still trudge through it. It's not a reason to quit something. It's life.

I know I screwed up on the high school thing. I said that. However, the by mail schooling is working better for me than public school. I can work it into my schedule around my job.

And with a few friends in the military, I'm doubting it would work for me. Aside from it being against my beliefs, my various health issues make it difficult to the point my friends have told me the military wouldn't take me.

Either way, thanks for both the kind words and 'dumb fuck' comments. I appreciate them both. Really, I do.

Would you like to know more?

I know. Not quite sure what happened with that.

citizenship is way overrated, civilian life is a-okay

Sucks to be you <3

A girl in my school was driving 80 miles an hour in her 1997 Cavalier on a country road in the dead of winter, with no seatbelt, and surprise surprise, she crashed her car after sliding on some black ice. She died, and for the rest of that year EVERYTHING, even things she wasn't involved in any way with, was "omg so sad we need to honer hurr." If she weren't so popular, I guarantee everyone would have just said "dumbshit." I know it sucks to lose a friend, and that when you're in that position it doesn't matter how they died, but seriously, look at it objectively for a minute.



The lowest common denominator.

Honestly, I don't either. It felt like he dumbed himself down or something.

don't you actually have to get your high school diploma to join the army these days?

You don't, but there's a test they make you take.

Beaten to the punch.

And also, while you may not live in New Jersey, Wisconsin sucks too

The ASVAB is easy. I got 99th percentile.

I'm listening to old Blink 182 and I can't find my wallet. But I trudge on through.

Hey, I like my trailer quite a bit. Three bedrooms and a big open living room/kitchen. No rent to pay, since I bought the place outright when I moved in. And I mean it when I say big living room, too. Much bigger than all my friends' apartments. We have two couches, a coffee table, and end table, a big-ish TV stand, a christmas tree, and two DVD racks in here and it's still very spacious with a big central walkway.

It's true that the "neighborhood" (if you can call it that) isn't the best. I've lived here like 18 months and still don't know my neighbors. They're mostly trashy anyway. Jamie and I just laugh at them and their crazy antics (live in a shitty trailer but own two fancy blinged out cars, etc.)

But eh. I live in a NICER place and spend LESS money than all my peers. And when I sell the place I'll probably get 90% of the value back out of it, which will be pretty much enough for a down payment on a house.

In fact, I'd almost say it's one of the smartest life decisions I've ever made. That and leaving GameDaily last winter.

Feels good doesn't it? We thought so too.

I don't necessarily mark it as a great decision because of the GD guys - they're a great group of people are were great employers, for the most part. It was a great decision because leaving put me in the excellent position I'm in now. In hindsight it's CLEAR I made the right choice... but at the time, when I actually had to made the decision, I was much less certain that I was doing the right thing.

Anything not involving GD is a good thing.

What exactly are you doing nowadays, anyway?

And yet you still post on 404.

EIC at modojo.com



xJames
Posts: 229

Justin is a good guy. From what I've learned from playing him, Entendu, Dante, and MWNN on Live, I can say most 404 people are actually pretty cool guys.

Pretty bad ass.