Have you ever taken a chance?

[MRT144]

I dropped out of high school after midway through the junior year (11th grade) after i realized that my current GPA was not going to get me into a state college. I had been taking AP classes but only barely passing them and had done relatively well on the SAT but still, this GPA crap was holding me back.

It was suggested that i go to a program at the local community college for high school students who were considering dropping out. I went through the program for about half a semester before i realized that it was a joke, and that i should just go to the college full time. As it turns out I discovered that I really liked making music despite only being a marginal piano player. I bought a keyboard and a new computer and had at it.

Well between dropping out of college twice now and going back twice ive decided that im going to work for 3-4 years, save up a bunch of money, build a little studio for myself, and then go to a private college with open admissions and get my degree in audio enigneering.

What i do with that is completely open though. Ive wanted to start my own recording studio, teach audio engineering on the college level, do work for clubs/concerts, and maybe even do scores for movies or video games.

The beauty is if i had never dropped out of high school i think i would have been aimless to this day and in the very same position that i sit in today.

I do regret it sometimes though mostly because of the social aspect of my life that has suffered. All my close male friends are at good universities now (Berkeley, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, UCLA) while im still several years away from earning my degree. Still close at home, but i feel so inferior to them. Two of my closest friends were the only people in the school to be national merit scholars. And here i am, loading boxes into trucks for $9.35 an hour.

I also only have had one girlfriend in my life, and several brief dating relationships...I really dont know how this would have been different if i had stayed in high school other than there would have been a pool of people i could relate more to.

anyway, i need to sleep as i have a job promotion test tomorrow.

[Pekka]

lightblue, Oh that's SUPER good news! Now, I'm going to check out UK schools. My only consern was that student visa thing. It's stupid, but it's lot of work and effort, and if it would fail because of one little detail, I'd go crazy and start killing spree .

[Pekka]

MRT144, don't worry dude.. we are survivors. We will be winners! I know it.. well at least about myself. I'm not a dropout or anything though.. You know, we can make a pact.. if one of us does good, he/she hires the rest of us and we all do good . And when we all succeed, we choose a country which we have a wild crazy 'we made it' party, with lots of alcohol and strippers.

[MRT144]

If one of us does good? We will do good. Even with the hardships of my decisions i still remain optimistic that i will do what i love for a living.

But yeah, ill bite. You get beer and ill get the stippers

[Pekka]

Yep, I'm optimistic too. I'm just frustrated that I'm not doing what I want, not moving forward. And I might have to risk something in able to make it happen.
I'll bring the beers then

[Urban Ranger]

Re: Have you ever taken a chance?

Originally posted by Pekka
So.. I'm thinking of just packing my stuff, just the essentials and go. Doesn't matter where.. but outside my country. It can fail miserably, but on the other hand, something might come up.. if you don't play, you won't win.

That sounds downright reckless.

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Pekka
Hey I got a question for PH. I don't know if you know, but you know I'm EU guy too, so do I need student visa or something if I come to study in the UK? I'm starting to send applications soon.. so I was wondering this.

I'm again trying to get my funding to university in US or maybe Canada, and I think I might have a shot here.
Only thing is I'm soooooooo stressed out and worried about student visa, because I got fined for smoking weed some years ago. Nothing serious, but the nazis in consulate will tear my ass apart, I'm sure. And it would be so bad, if I got accepted in uni in for example the US, everything worked out, financing etc, and then some guy decided I'm not getting a student visa because of what I did when I was teenager and had to pay less than hundred bucks. I don't even drink coffee or alcohol for christ sake . It was only misdemeanor, but I don't think they'll appreciate it.

I don't think you need a visa my friend, but the best person to talk to about going to a British uni from abroad is Buck Birdseed/Snapcase or whatever he calls himself here nowadays. He is Swedish and studies in York so he would be able to give you plenty of helpful advice...I will prompt him on AIM when I next see him.

Now lightblue is the kind of person I am looking for in my other thread with a damn decent suggestion...actually a really good suggestion. Could you tell me how you went about this conversion? The application, financed it, stuff like that? I have been considering something like this and my mother has said that she would give me financial assistance if necessary as she has seen how depressed I have been with the present status quo...

[Sten Sture]

Make sure you have some cash stashed! I quit my job a few years back and moved here, where it isn't cheap, and it took me a year to find a decent job. During that year I just about ate through all that I had saved. If I hadn't had as much in the bank, I might have had to go back, and missed out on the very good things that have happened since

Have a plan, and shepard your resources. But my suggestion would be to wait until you have completed some schooling, there is plenty of time for running about - I didn't really start until I was in my late 20s. Even still, you abolutely want to do some interesting things in your life, even if it is just living in a different country for 3 months or something.

[Ozz]

Re: Re: Have you ever taken a chance?

Originally posted by Urban Ranger That sounds downright reckless.

Depends where you go, My cousin did exactly that,
went to Papau New Guiena. No plan at all.
Got a job teaching farming (using horses) came back a headmaster (20 years later).

I got sick of IS/IT (it is so full of politics anymore) that
i quit doing it and became a freight train conductor
(for 5 years). I do IS/IT again now cause they bribed
me silly to come back. (my co-workers at the time
say i'm never work in IT again, cause I'd be behind
the times)

You should finish your courses and graduate, even
if you don't do what you studied for a living.

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Sten Sture
Make sure you have some cash stashed! I quit my job a few years back and moved here, where it isn't cheap, and it took me a year to find a decent job. During that year I just about ate through all that I had saved. If I hadn't had as much in the bank, I might have had to go back, and missed out on the very good things that have happened since

Have a plan, and shepard your resources. But my suggestion would be to wait until you have completed some schooling, there is plenty of time for running about - I didn't really start until I was in my late 20s. Even still, you abolutely want to do some interesting things in your life, even if it is just living in a different country for 3 months or something.

It's a lot to think about in one day. I am earning considerably more than I spend so I am saving money, but it is knowing what to do with it...

[Provost Harrison]

Look, the decision is final, I am not returning to my PhD, that would be going backwards and something I don't want to do now...

[Ozz]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
Look, the decision is final, I am not returning to my PhD, that would be going backwards and something I don't want to do now...

How long to finish?

[Provost Harrison]

In theory, over a year, but with the facilities, probably longer. And there would be a bit of friction between me and the department if I did return. As I say, it is a chapter of my life I want to leave behind...

[Ozz]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
In theory, over a year, but with the facilities, probably longer. And there would be a bit of friction between me and the department if I did return. As I say, it is a chapter of my life I want to leave behind...

If it was just 1 more term.

A year is too long to waste, doing something you don't
want to do. For a career you don't want to pursue.

You already got a degree, and anyways, nobody is going to call you doctor unless your an MD.

[Provost Harrison]

Yeah, very true. It still just feels like I am constantly falling flat on my face, and out of my depth...