Am I lazy or is just..........

[Perfection]

School and education are two different things, Admiral.

But they're often closely linked

 

[Maniacal]

I do work best in school. As at home there are to many distractions. Home is my fun zone. And that's how I like it.

 

[The Last Conformist]

In HS, I never did any homework (well, almost never, to be completely honest), so the question doesn't really apply. Here at uni, I tend to work better when I'm not at home within easy reach of my computer and bookshelves.

As for dropping out of college to study only the interesting courses, well, that's what I've done the last two years, without dropping out. Our uni system is fairly flexible.

 

[Fifty]

Procastination is just a tool used by smart people to attempt to differentiate their specific intelligence as "better" than that of others, when everyone involved has good gpa and test scores. Usually goes something like this:

person 1: I have a 4.0 and got perfect SATs
person 2: Oh ya?! I did all that, but I never study or do homework and I'm lazy!


It's one of those male contests like "who has a better car", but for dorks.

 

[Uiler]

School and education are two different things, Admiral.

Yes, but what we are talking about here is getting that certificate at the end. Now, it is possible to get that certificate without school if you are motivated enough. But honestly, look at the parent poster. He already admits that he only does work *in school* and never at home. You seriously think that he has sufficient motivation to get that certificate without school?

What people are really talking about when they talk about Bill Gates (who incidentally came from a rich family with connections that greatly helped him initially in his business) and co. are people who didn't need that certificate at all. That is a different situation from dropping out of school and studying to get the certificate which is your situation.

Personally I think there is too much emphasis on academic education where a lot of students would be more suited to vocational studies and apprenticeships. Forcing a guy to study "Of Mice and Men" when he would be much happier and more productive learning how to fix pipes as a plumber is wrong. Different people have different strokes. But you don't drop out of school just *because*. That makes you a drop-out. You drop out of school with a good plan. I don't see any burning desire in the opening post to do anything different, a dream to start a business, to fix cars for a living or just to travel the world and get experiences like trying to work out just *what* those people in Country X served you in that seedy looking cafe and maybe you should wash the bowls first with your bottled water because they don't look so clean, just "school is meh". If he is not doing any work at home it means he has plenty of time to be looking for some interest. If he's just spending the time playing computer games and watching TV, well let's just say I don't think that's going to change much if he drops out. In which case it's probably better for him to stay in school where maybe he might learn something.

 

[The Yankee]

It's fine to be lazy in high school. I didn't drop out...but I caught senioritis pretty early. I wouldn't suggest being lazy if you were dangling by a thread of getting into a decent college or whatever, but certainly, spending seven hours a day half asleep anyway isn't going to stimulate anything. It's mindless work, so much of it...few chances to really learn. I did learning through reading the news and other things, following my interests, watching CNBC, so on.

As for college, unless you have a job, you'll be pretty lazy a lot of the time, unless you're the type that gets papers done early...which I'm not. I type papers over 10 pages the day before without a plan...it's worked for me so far even though I want to break that habit. Still, college is more carefree yet stimulating than high school or earlier, if you plan on going down that road.

 

[farting bob]

When i left secondry school last july, they handed out awards and i got the 'Most likely to waste his life being lazy' award, out of 300 students. I could make laziness a professional sport, but it would be too much effort.
Now i barely do any work at home, and if i do its usually last minute stuff. I managed to hand in a 10,000 word portfolio for some courseowkr a few months ago, with doing just 30 minutes of it at home. I dont even work hard in class either.

 

[tR1cKy]

When i left secondry school last july, they handed out awards and i got the 'Most likely to waste his life being lazy' award, out of 300 students. I could make laziness a professional sport, but it would be too much effort.

This is awesome!

 

[Drewcifer]

In school I just did enough to get by. Because I was good at tests I still got good grades but I never put my heart into it because I found it very hard to be motivated to work outside of class. It wasn't until I got out of school and into the working world that I really excelled at something I was supposed to do. The immediacy of the task at hand and the fact that deadlines couldn't be fudged really concentrated my energy - plus the fact that I enjoy what I am payed to do. School on the other hand was just an exercise in jumping through hoops. I learned a lot in school, especially in college; but rarely the things I was supposed to when I was supposed to. For example I got a C in my college Brazilian history class because I didn't have time to read the texts very well due to the amazingly fun things I was doing outside of class. But because those texts were interesting I have read and re-read them a couple of times since graduation and now have a pretty decent undertanding of them. I think that is the nature of true learning vs education. The desire to learn comes from within and often does not fit in with the way school is structured. Most likely you will be ok in the end.

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

You pay for real education - college and university. The price is you have to jump through the requisite hoops. How many good colleges are gonna give a GED dropout a fair chance?

In the end, looking back, it was boring but worth it. There's another reason to stay in - you can take AP classes for free. Pass enough of these and you can basically jump to sophomore standing. I'm guessing rmsharpe and Narz did not each make thirty to forty thousand bucks in their dropout years, so this is well worth it.

 

[Drewcifer]

I'm guessing rmsharpe and Narz did not each make thirty to forty thousand bucks in their dropout years, so this is well worth it.

They could have in time, easily. There are some blue collar jobs that pay very well, when I worked at a plastics factory one summer during college I saw that the mold makers made $60k to $80k a year (in the '80s). My degree has absolutely no bearing on my employability in my field and I do well, my #2 only has a half dozen years of primary education in a third world country and he made almost $50k last year, mostly because he is very good at what he does. That shouldn't encourage anyone to drop out though, there have been times when pieces of paper did me some good...

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

Of course circumstances vary. If you are working in a trade or a business what matters is skill, experience, maybe connections; the piece of paper is indeed just that. But if you are working in a science (medicine for example) the accredition is essential.

My own college is charging me 39k a year total so I can walk away with that all-important piece of paper. On the other hand, they are covering 45% of all my costs from tuition to housing, and granting me assumed credit in 10 basic classes in various subjects, because I showed them a strong academic record including good SATs and APs. I stayed in, it was a net profit to me.

Even if someone wants to go into business or entrepreneurship, it's not like college has nothing to offer. Frankly, it's a life experience: how many high school graduates have the sense or people skills to start a million dollar business. Not everything you learn is in the classroom

 

[Drewcifer]

Even if someone wants to go into business or entrepreneurship, it's not like college has nothing to offer. Frankly, it's a life experience: how many high school graduates have the sense or people skills to start a million dollar business. Not everything you learn is in the classroom

I don't disagree with that, most of the useful skills I learned in college were outside of the classroom but I wouldn't have gotten them I wasn't there. On the other hand someone with the grit and intelligence to start a sucessful business probably has it regardless of their school experience.

Edit: for a science career school is a necessity; in business it is all about skills and experiences and there can be many routes to that. College entepeneurship classes don't really teach much as they are too broadly based. The best way to learn to start a business is to know the specific skills needed for that particular business, most effectively you get that from somebody else letting you run their business in that field first; you also get to meet those who fund new businesses in that field that way.

 

[Tank_Guy#3]

I view it as schoolwork, thus it should be done in school.

 

[Tomoyo]

I always do my homework during school - usually during a class in which it wasn't assigned. If it's a huge project, I just *might* spend a few minutes on in the day before it's due.

 

[Syterion]

In the end, looking back, it was boring but worth it. There's another reason to stay in - you can take AP classes for free. Pass enough of these and you can basically jump to sophomore standing. I'm guessing rmsharpe and Narz did not each make thirty to forty thousand bucks in their dropout years, so this is well worth it.

AP Classes aren't free. Well, I guess they are, but taking the test is usually $80 or so.

 

[Atlas14]

Im lazy up to a point. If I see a steady decline in my schoolwork productivity, I usually quit procrastination and stop going outside after school/sports. I rarely go "above and beyond" schoolwork expectations though, partly because I am lazy and I would rather not be labeled as an over-achiever.

I do find that AP classes pay off since teachers know you are already smart and don't need to throw tons of busywork at you. They'd rather see you eager to learn more and come to class than be failed due to incompletion of busywork. Independent Study AP World History and Environmental Science, which I plan to study this year, are only part of my lazy schemes to escape too much schoolwork.

 

[Narz]

School and education are two different things, Admiral.

Yes indeed, I've learned more at the library and reading in bed than I did in college. The only college course that I have over 50% retention of was Acting. I had a great teacher and acting is more than just reading lines, it's about breathing, being clear, psychology, selling yourself, connecting with others, captivating your audience; in other words - real life.

In HS, I never did any homework (well, almost never, to be completely honest), so the question doesn't really apply. Here at uni, I tend to work better when I'm not at home within easy reach of my computer and bookshelves.

As for dropping out of college to study only the interesting courses, well, that's what I've done the last two years, without dropping out. Our uni system is fairly flexible.

But if you drop out and continue to attend classes you don't have to pay tuition anymore.

I would have done this but unfortunatly I was attending a small school (only about 1200) and everyone knew who I was so they basically kicked me out.

 

[phoenix_night]

Be smart and drop out and get your GED.

What's a "GED"?

 

[Narz]

General Equivelency Degree. It's basically the same as getting a high school diploma.