Discussion High School diploma worth it?

[BornToFail]

Hi,
As soon as I turned 18 I dropped out of high school. This was due to trauma from homeschooling by my mother and general behavioral issues. I have autism, ocd, anxiety, and depression. Starting September 1st I started a alternative online school to get my credits to graduate. I have one year left, but am completely stressed out. I'm 20 years old if that is important. Is getting my diploma worth it? What jobs would open up for me? In the US.

 

[hungry_ghost]

What jobs would open up for me?

Every single one of them that doesn't immediately require a college education.

You need a HS diploma or a GED to even get into college, or tech school, hell even the military.

 

[BornToFail]

Every single one of them that doesn't immediately require a college education.

You need a HS diploma or a GED to even get into college, or tech school, hell even the military.

It just sucks, I need money to even CTB.

 

[jane]

yea if youre looking for a decent job, most of them require GEDs or diplomas unfortunetly.

 

[Hollowman]

It just sucks, I need money to even CTB.

No you don't

 

[wljourney]

Yes it is absolutely worth it.
If you feel stressed out and overwhelmed then give yourself some time and finish next year if you have to. But there really are so many opportunities that are simply not available without a HS diploma... it's really really worth it.

And one more thing:
I absolutely HATED high school.
I was bullied and dropped out in Grade 11 with miserable grades in science/Math/etc.
Did an apprenticeship. Enjoyed working and earning money, but knew there had to be more.
Found a college that accepted "alternative entries" for people without HS diploma.
Graduated top of the class. With a business degree. Half of it statistics and math.
Got another degree. Finance. All math.

It took 22 years until I learned "how to learn".
I had to find my groove and you do too.
Once you find your rhythm you can absolutely do this.
Allow yourself time and ask for help from a teacher you like.

 

[theboy]

If you are completely determined to CTB, the diploma will be of no use to you
If you want to give life another chance and you think that a degree can serve as an incentive to live, go ahead

 

[BornToFail]

Yes it is absolutely worth it.
If you feel stressed out and overwhelmed then give yourself some time and finish next year if you have to. But there really are so many opportunities that are simply not available without a HS diploma... it's really really worth it.

And one more thing:
I absolutely HATED high school.
I was bullied and dropped out in Grade 11 with miserable grades in science/Math/etc.
Did an apprenticeship. Enjoyed working and earning money, but knew there had to be more.
Found a college that accepted "alternative entries" for people without HS diploma.
Graduated top of the class. With a business degree. Half of it statistics and math.
Got another degree. Finance. All math.

It took 22 years until I learned "how to learn".
I had to find my groove and you do too.
Once you find your rhythm you can absolutely do this.
Allow yourself time and ask for help from a teacher you like.

Thank you so much, I'm still going to try to do it but I'm nervous as hell. Fml.

 

[wljourney]

Thank you so much, I'm still going to try to do it but I'm nervous as hell. Fml.

Try is all you can do.
And yes, the anxiety is real. It often feels like walking to the gallows. Sometimes it's just as awful as expected. But sometimes it's also not quite as bad as expected.
It's so so hard to remember the good experiences.

Do you have a teacher you like and trust?
Someone who you could explain where you are at and how you struggle?
They may have some ideas on what to do and how to support you better to guide you through this.

You never know. Sometimes there are helpers around that … you know… actually help.

 

[Disappointered]

I would say it's not worth it if you can find ways of getting into a college w/o a HS dip because HS is usually not intellectually fruitful in itself and the jobs you get that just require HS will be crappy, so that's hardly something to aim for. If it was me I'd say use an alternate entry point when you feel up to it but I don't know what your full situation is like, specifically your financial situation. The military is probably horrible but apparently they keep lowering the standards due to low numbers and have gotten rid of the HS requirement (might only be in some parts of the US, not sure).

If you can get into computers you can probably make decent money w/o HS but you might first have to get into a tech school or uni as a mature student or something. I know of unambitious stoners from HS who later did some sort of quick tech computer course and ended up happy with their work/money ratio. I guess they might have squeezed by and finished HS but they were really bottom of the barrel (academically, not intellectually and certainly not in terms of personality/character). I saw people going to uni as mature students and they almost always did well.

 

[Arrow]

Yes. It's worth it.

You're not gonna like this year of classes though, but that's okay. It's normal to not like school. It's okay to not like what you're doing, and it's okay to get stressed. Stress will happen, but stress is a temporary state. Keep at it and don't give up.

 

[Banshee]

Is dropping out of school worth it? I would yes and no.

It really depends on where you live and the work available in your area. I dropped out of school in the 12th grade (2008) and now, with no further education I'm making $142,000 a year working in the Oilfield, slated to make $211,000 a year by the end of 2024.

 

[hamvil]

If you are determined to CTB then nothing really matters. If you are unsure then get the high school degree. I assume you are in the states, so I am not really sure how it works there, but here in europe you need it for essentially any decent job even the simple one. Socially people will look at you in a strange way if you do not have one. I know it because my wife does not have it and she cannot find a job.

 

[Lily (Osako)]

It's worth it. My son was very sick for many years and stopped going to school in the 8th grade.
At age 19, he had until he turned 21 to make up for all of those years of schooling.
He buckled down, caught up on 5 years worth of schooling and got his welding certificate all in a year and a half.
He has severe depression, anxiety, and other issues.
To this day he is so grateful and relieved he did it.
It's not super easy, but it's not as daunting as it seems. As he says, " it sucked, but not as bad as I expected it to"
You can do it. You'll be happy that you did. You don't have too much to do to get caught up. You got this.

 

[Dead Ghost]

Of course it's worth it, what's not worth it is to dedicate yourself to studying a course you don't like. But if you can study it will be much better for your life in the long run, for your health... but above all studies that you can enjoy learning.

It is very important to have the right studies and it is very painful not to have them when everything is financial problems.

//

Es clar que val la pena, el que no val la pena es dedicar-se a estudiar un estudis que no t'agraden. Però si pots estudiar serà molt millor per la teva vida a la llarga, per la teva salut... però sobretot uns estudis que puguis gaudir d'aprendre.

És molt important tenir els estudis adequats i es molt patidor no tenir-ne quan tot són problemes econòmics.

 

[chloramine]

It's worth it. I didn't finish my last year of high school (mental health and family problems mainly) and it sucked. Most jobs require it where I live and even just from a social aspect it can be hard. I'm not in the US so I don't know how easy it is to get a job there without it, but when you're done you never have to worry about it again. It not being a consideration makes it worth it.

If it's too much right now it's okay to slow down (if you're physically able, unfortunately financial costs or something similar may be preventing you).

 

[Disappointered]

(there are also alternative high schools in most western countries that might make it less unpleasant to get through some assortment of courses that will result in HS graduation)