Why I Wish I Never Did Well In School

I don't know about you, but I did well in school, and it allowed me to explore things and take the classes I thought were interesting. I finally focused on the sciences, and found that engineering fascinated me.

School didn't steal your spunk. You just wanted someone to tell you, instead of using your achievement to open areas you may have wanted to explore. It's pretty much your own fault for not taking the classes you thought were interesting and finding out what you really liked.

Marie - good post. If you haven't already, check out Ken Robinson's TED talk called "Schools Kill Creativity." His argument is pretty similar to yours and very compelling. Check it out here:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creati...

Here are some related thoughts:

1. School isn't your problem. You lack spunk because you let spunk be taken out of you. The good news is that mojo is never lost forever. You can get it back - just let yourself experiment.

2. I had a teacher once that said "you need to know the rules in order to know when and how to break them". If you never had done well in school, you would be worse off than you are now.

3. School also doesn't just mean getting good grades. It means understanding the subject matter. If you understand the subject matter you can go off and make it do some work for you.

4. I grew up in a K-8 system that was very regimented. Everyone did the same exact thing, no matter what. In 9-12 I had some choice, but not much. In college I had even more choice - but there were some common requirements of everyone. I know classmates from college that took whatever class they could, fall, summer, spring, and winter semesters to get done ASAP. Those people didn't think about their education. They graduated in 3 years. It took me 5 to graduate, but I thought about what classes I wanted to take, even within the limitation imposed by the curriculum.

In the end it's up to you. A rebel with a cause (creativity) but without general society skills (knowledge you get in school) generally does not get far.

Yup, you have to "use you initiative", as I was always told when I first started work.

Nathan, I haven't seen that TED talk. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the link!

Liza, I think it would be great if risk was encouraged more in the school setting. That it was somehow rewarded. At the same time, as most of the comments say it always comes down to personal responsibility for your "spunk". Way to go on making the baby steps towards taking bigger risks. I'm on that same path, and I'm sure we'll be fine!

Dr. Pepper, I completely agree. I really liked this, "A rebel with a cause (creativity) but without general society skills (knowledge you get in school) generally does not get far". Spunk is one piece of the puzzle that wouldn't mean so much if I didn't have anything to be "spunky" about (the knowledge from school). And I KNOW you're right about taking my spunk back, but you do not know how BAD I want a syllabus right now. Or a set of blueprints to navigate the whole private practice thing. Thanks for the comment!

Kat, you're very right. I just need to start doing what I know needs to be done right now.

Sgt. Major, if I wasn't such a weenie I might actually consider it.

Marie made a great point about posts that get put on Brazen Careerist.

I still don't think that Brazen Careerist makes it very clear that the posts here are chosen from other blogs.

Additionally, if you write for a blog that occasionally places one of your posts on here, then you need to take this into consideration when you write. Think of your blog entries as a presentation. And the first rule of presentations is "Know your audience".

Oh, I so feel ya :) But it's important to realize that you are going through a period of transition and you can "learn spunk". It's a post-school culture shock. And I think people who did bad in school are not necessarily creative. In the end, those who did well in school, those who learned to navigate that particular system learned the skills to navigate, period. So, you'll learn the new system in no time. Enjoy the freedom!

I wished I never attended schools (back when I was a kid). I disliked schools and studies, I am glad of where I am today but now when I look back I wished I had done better, I wished I had liked my school. Other than chemistry, maths school teaches us the very basis skills that mold and refine our character and gives us the tools to help us in our later stages.

Knowledge is power that's what we were taught. How much of the physics/chemistry that I learnt in school I apply today in my daily life - NONE. But it probably laid the foundation of what came later on, it has taught valuable lessons that we all use UNKNOWINGLY.

Personally, I think this is more of a personality thing then a school thing. I did well in school, I got my a's, I took the AP's, all that. I did what teachers told me. When they said jump, I said how high. But given all that I still have my spunk and my initiative. That's just part of my personality and part of the way that I do things. In fact, I'm moving out to New York to start my own division from scratch. I just think school, with all of the group projects, team-work, and everything else, has just crafted all of that spunk and organized it. Without school, I wouldn't know what to do with all my energy, and would be doing things that are inefficient and unnecessary. I think that it might be more that your personality is to rely more on something else, rather than take initiative. And school is a good thing to place blame on.

At the end of the day, it's all about you. Go out there, take initiative, and kill it, because no one else is going to do it for you. After all, isn't that what the American dream is all about? Take initiative, be risky, and do it big.

I did well in school. I also told me teachers off when I thought they needed telling off. When the rest of my class would say that stampeding noise was a herd of cattle, I said that it was a herd of wildebeasts. I kind of marched to my own band.

Main consequence was that I didn't get chosen for my high school's national honor society (which was an automatic for the top 10% of the class). So I learned that relationships were important and you can't tell authority figures off.

I never saw the need to follow rules as very important and still don't really. But as I got older, I got better about breaking rules when it was beneficial and not when there were negative consequences.

Did you know that the other Liza isn't this Liza?

Dr. Pepper, making my own syllabus? Brilliant. Seriously.

Scott, I NEVER think I'm going to be on Brazen because I rarely write about anything other than my cats. The one time I stray...

Elisa, that poster is wonderful! And remembering that it is the playing field that changed rather than the rules is really good for me to hear. Thanks!

Ulyana, that is such a good point that the people who did poorly in school aren't exactly creative, so the problem doesn't rest in one's ability to kick school's butt. I hope learning spunk is possible!

Chuck, I like the simplicity. If only someone could tell me what the new rules were, I'd be golden. Heh.

Rahul, you're right that a strong education builds a foundation that is absolutely necessary. Even if I do think it stole my spunk.

Samantha, amen! And I have honestly taken how easy school was for me for granted (and no offense to any Psych kids out there, but it typically isn't the hardest program in the world, so I had it kinda easy to start with). I think the difference between you and I is that I went through school somewhat in a daze, just doing it because it's what you're supposed to do. And your grades woke you up and made you WANT the education in a way I didn't experience until probably grad school. Thanks for the comment!

Peter, so I'm not going to lie. I freaked out when this post ended up on Brazen because I thought, "Everyone is going to think I'm a wuss!" But I have to say all the comments telling me to just get out there and "kill it" and take my spunk back have been super encouraging. I've been taking timid baby steps towards my dream and today I feel like I had a huge energy boost bc I was thinking "I can be spunky!" I feel like I made the decision today to quit waiting for someone else to guide me. So thanks!

Grace, exactly! There is a balance in there between the stability and the spunkiness. It is a good thing to remember.

Dead Hedge, I like this because you are a real life example of what lots of people have said, "Know all the rules and then figure out which ones you can break".

Paul, LOVE everything about your comment except that it said what I wanted to say so much better! Ha. Seriously, exploring the floors is scary AND necessary.

Liza, I knew it wasn't you since you didn't call me out on the "spunk". You make me laugh, ha.

So surprised that no one made fun of me for using "spunk". Really? You guys are classier than me :D

I think that the best institutional learning came from uni for me. I figured that you could only get your butt kicked so far. After that if you didn't want to hand in an assignment, it was on you. you'd get a big fat 0 for it.
Same principle applies to life I suppose. You want something, you go after it. there will be help to guide you along. It won't come in the form of syllabi but it's there.
good luck starting up and taking off!

Of course, if you didn't do well in school, you probably would have been stuck in the "slow" class, that Bill Cosby talks so much about. Talk about limiting yourself and your options!

I always equated success in college with the ability to jump through the hoops. I wasn't the best at jumping as a freshman. Sometimes I just walked around them, or ignored them altogether. Then I challenged myself to become the best damn hoop-jumper possible. And I was. I learned what the professors wanted, and I gave it to them. I learned all I could, and put myself through hell to be the best possible student. I was stressed all the time, lived in the library, and saw the sun rise over my laptop screen and giant mug of coffee on more than one occasion. I was so happy to be done with it when I graduated. Now I miss the hoops, the stress, and the sense of purpose. Since graduation, I have applied for over 40 jobs, and I'm still waiting for something real. I feel so insecure without knowing where I need to jump next, sometimes I just want to curl up on the floor and stay there until I get a call for an interview. I always thought I had spunk, and maybe I did before I turned myself into Allie the Wonder Jumper, but now I'm lost, and its terrifying trying to find my spunk again. Marie, I know exactly how you feel.