As I approached the end of my Sophomore year of high school I was ready to opt out. There were some positive things at high school, like the Speech Team, which I loved, but most of my classes were literally a waste of time, and I was ready to move on. I started studying to…
My entry into public high school was difficult. It was a huge culture shock coming from an extremely conservative, sheltered, no-TV, limited-access-to-mainstream-culture background, to a rough (yes: gangs, drugs, weapons, violence…all the things), racially diverse (white, black, hispanic, asian, and significant immigrant populations especially from North Africa and Southeast Asia), economically disadvantaged public high school….
In looking back, I now I realize that much of my motivation in my early life was about escaping the pressure cooker environment that was my family home. Everyone was doing the very best that they could, but the actual parameters of the space and the situation were such that things were cramped and emotionally…