• Philosoraptor [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    Dumb as shit. I encourage all my students to take a skip day (or just to stay home for a day whenever they feel like they need a break). High school seniors in particular should be encouraged to make decisions like adults, and also to chill the fuck out. It’s good for them.

    • DragonBallZinn [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      This, oh my God. The public schools in the US are a complete joke, but by far the worst offender is the fact that high schools don’t try to encourage teenagers to see themselves more and more as autonomous adults, and trying to really get the message that they will be “free” soon, and what it means to be free and to start making your own decisions. I really could have used this type of training as a neurodivergent.

      • bigboopballs [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        I’m in my 30’s and I still don’t feel like an autonomous adult agony-deep

        this society is absolutely wretched about allowing people to have agency in their own fucking lives. the housing / cost of living crises gotta be fucking a lot of people up.

    • WhatDoYouMeanPodcast [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      The valedictorian at my high school seemed like this impossible standard to live up to with his frightening intelligence. He went to a nice college and got his PhD thereafter. He was attractive, athletic, and ambitious. He’s a friend of mine. I saw him struggle to find employment after his post doc recently.

      Like consider how his unbroken streak of scholastic excellence in post-secondary education didn’t translate to worldly success. Meanwhile my ass getting mid grades, doing drugs (often with the valedictorian after high school), and being interested (not even fascinated, I just thought it was neat) with being a CIA agent managed to convert that into a job at Langley. I took a 2 year detour because I thought I wanted to be an ESL teacher! He ended up finding a job and it pays modestly better than mine with less upside potential because I have a sales component (I get a commission for convincing my handlers that a leftist’s posts are good enough to inject them with nanobots and cringe takes).

      So ultimately, my point is that even if you were to have aced every single test and piece of homework in highschool the value of your scholastic success pales in comparison to making decisions like an adult. You’ll make more money, you’ll have better relationships, you’ll feel more at peace. I value three things in terms of career success : 1) are you qualified/can I afford it? It can’t JUST be a confidence game. 2) find a problem, solve a problem. Use whatever resources you have at your disposal, but solve something for someone. 3) imagination/ambition. How could this be more awesome? and grades in high school aren’t on the list