The Reality of School

Bullying, taunting and harassment. And that was from the teachers. Most teachers were pretty good. There is a handful who stand out as great assets and a couple who were assets minus the E and T. I won't encounter them again.

School is institutional. I never did well in those surroundings. That kept me out of the military and I'll never go to prison. It was in school where I learned to lie, cheat and steal. For what? Most of what I learned and coveted has the value of badges on various internet sites that have been crashing of late.

There is some learning in school. The problem with education is it is One Size Fits All. As strong as my memory is, I was never good at rote memorization. That meant my test scores were nothing special.

When I had high test scores my parents had dollar signs in their eyes. Their fantasies of endless riches fell away with lower test scores. I ended up making a lot of money on my own.

Living within your means is not taught in school. It has served me very well. Certain facets of education were good. I enjoyed research. There were not enough opportunities to research.

If a teacher made a subject interesting it resonated more than simply reading the textbook in a monotone. In the grand scheme of things, school is not important. Once I started working I made an impact.

School was a machine. Many who do well in school are not good employees. I admire the preparation and hard work of valedictorians. They are not necessarily the most successful on their jobs. There are different disciplines and showing up every day has led to success in the workplace.

And resentment. My company is weird. I never enjoyed reading so I could score a high grade. Do grades matter? Not now. It is time to put away childish things. The ones who perceive me as a failure for not doing much in school should look at what I am doing now. They who mind don't matter and the ones who matter don't mind.