international house: Don't give me a lecture about it or tell me "no, you're going to end up on the streets and working at McDonalds when you're older" or any other crap, because its not true. anyway.. Hello :) Um..I'm 15 and I am able to drop out of school at 16 which is near the end of this year. But I'm not so sure, its not that I hate school I mean I actually really like it because I get to see everyone and talk to them, but its just the work. Its not real hard but I just don't like it, whatever I do its just sooo boring to me and I get tired of it. I'm not exactly really smart or really dumb. I mean I'm average. I get average marks or higher and I do well in school. I've been trying really hard to do well this year so I can pass NCEA which is the system we have here for entering University in New Zealand. I've stopped watching less tv and being on the computer less to do more work and asking more questions in class, studying after school and I've even changed the time I sleep from 12-3am to 9pm so that I can concentrate in school more and be less tired. But none of that has helped me. Its also hard because when I try to study, the information doesn't stay in my head no matter how many times I read it, write it down, listen to it, do flashcards or any other way of trying to remember it. It just doesn't stay..I thought it was me not sleeping enough but I've changed the way I sleep and its still the same. Its not the way I eat either. I can't concentrate in class because everyone is just always talking to everyone else or me and I can only do things in silence or with some music, but obviously I'm not allowed music in class because its against the rules and teachers will find out anyway. Also some of my teachers aren't even helpful because most of the time all they do is write things on the board or give us books that are just suppose to magically help us with our internals and externals. When I do have a good teacher they just end up leaving to go overseas or somewhere because their that good. Like my maths teacher, hes moving to America after term 2 of school because he got a scholarship to teach at Harvard..and it sucks because I was learning stuff with him. I just don't know what to do, I mean I could keep on going. Stay at high school until I'm 18 and then go to Uni, but its just I'm suppose to be learning all the stuff at high school so its easier in Uni and the credits I need to enter Uni will be from High School. But how am I suppose to do that now when I don't know what I want to be. What Uni and what will I even do if I go to Uni? Nothing, because I don't know and its stupid to just take random subjects in Uni which don't lead to my job when I'm older. But the reason I don't think school is for me is because, I don't think it will lead me into doing anything when I'm older, I don't know what I want to be and its harder because I'm not good at anything at all and there's nothing that I really like either. I don't have some kind of passion for anything, or something I really want to do. There really isn't ANYTHING I'm good at, not one thing at all. literally. All I really wanna do is travel the world..but I can't do that without money and I need a way to earn that. But I guess if this helps..things I do like are music, helping others, talking to people, typing.., really just seeing people smile. But I want to be able to earn a fair amount of money as well.. There's nothing I can really do with music though because I'm horrible at singing, I don't play any instruments or know anything about it. All I really do is listen to it, I mean ALL the time. But I'm sure a lot of people do that and there's nothing really there..that can help me. Can someone just please help me out or give me some advice on anything, I don't want ridiculous answers, serious ones only please..at least try to read all this just to know what your answering :/ Also I'm going to the careers person at school for some help, but I'm 99% sure that it won't do anything. THANK YOU! if you answer seriously =]|||The option after dropping out would be working. The problem is that without a High School Diploma it can be very hard to get good jobs. There are exceptions of course, but they are few and far between. I've had coworkers who have dropped out of school. One was only 14 years old, not even the legal age of 16. I won't get into that fully right now, but she regretted dropping out, as she found it hard to support herself (because of the low wages) and daunting to go back to school. It sounds like you are very frustrated in school, but try to stick it through. It'll be worth it in the end, and make things much easier in the end too. Don't worry about Uni yet. No everyone goes to, or wants to go to Uni, and High School isn't just to set you up for Uni. High School is a good base education, and Uni is something you may or may not choose after. Work after High School, and/or work while you are in High School. Explore the things you are interested in. If you love music, why not try out an instrument, or try mixing tracks? If you like helping others you may like volunteering. You can also get good contacts through volunteering that may help you find jobs later on. You have strengths and it would be sad to downplay yourself. As for traveling, you're definitely right about the money thing. Traveling the world is a great goal and dream. Work while you're in high school, and work after school for a year at least, and I bet you will have enough to travel the world backpacking style. Travel can really expand your awareness and confidence. And you tend to learn a lot about yourself in the process. I've got a big wanderlust myself. You could even volunteer or go to school abroad. That would add a whole different experience to school, and get you traveling at the same time. Or you could volunteer abroad, it would combine your interest with helping people and travel together. One great website for this is Projects Abroad. I'm planning on volunteering through them in a year. They have 2 week high school summer programmes. Here's a link for it: http://www.projects-abroad.org/projects/鈥?/a> So in the end, don't give up yet. School may be boring and frustrating at times, but if you persevere it will pay off in the end. If you do drop out, your next option would be to enter the work world. But I sincerely hope you continue in school, work, and reach your dream of traveling. It's doable. You can do it!|||I don't want to read all that|||I say stick with high school until you graduate. At least you'll have a diploma and that will help you tremendously. Since you don't know what you want to do, take a year or two off. Go travel the world, work, just do something until you feel like you're ready to go into higher education. Don't just go to college just to get a degree in something that you don't know how you're going to use it later or don't know what you want to do.