Interesting, I wonder how skewed my perspective of high school was by finding a community college high school hybrid program that gave me freedom and access to better electives. It didn’t hurt that community college tutoring was a huge bonus: provided hours of free tutoring per course and then rewarded with opportunities to get paid tutoring the subject if I did well. Meeting older community college students through tutoring was also very formative. Tutoring money as a 15/16 year old helped my independence and motivation.

Meanwhile, I could have easily dropped out, parents even suggested I could given the strain of me getting me to school freshman year similar male peers did at 13/14, so just I lived with friends and couch surfed through all of HS. As a youngster though I did not show much academic connection and was suspended each week in a charter school, failing 2nd grade, but never going to 4th grade after switching schools. After a parent teacher conference where my mom embarrassingly tried to fight my teacher I realized things might go easier if I took time after school or during lunch to just wrap up my homework. Through middle school the boys and girls club created an atmosphere where I could continue that behavior and get access to computers and printers for written assignments. It was still a hassle though. Without a few key teachers in middle school I probably also wouldn’t have kicked a bad habit of ditching school.