
Why you were never meant to fit in at school
by Penelope Stephens
Did you fail at school?
Yeah, same.
But now I have more freedom (and make more money đ€«) than the Valedictorian.Â
The school system is not made for everyone - especially not creatives.
But no one tells us that. They just tell us we âwonât make it in the worldâ.Â
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In high school, I was the ânaughty kidâ.
I couldnât concentrate, I found EVERYTHING boring and I was restless all day, every day.
If you told me to do something, I wouldnât do it.
I just wanted to write or dance and certainly not be in a chair all day looking at chalk boards.
I was so under-stimulated with what they were teaching me.
Fractions? SnoreâŠ
History? But only the boring bitsâŠ
Business? No, we donât teach that.
Creative writing? Nope, write about what others have said about this 200 year old book. Not your own thoughts on it.
WTH?Â
So school was not for me.Â
I was lucky that I had hobbies outside of school that kept me from pulling my hair out, but those daily 6-8 hours in a dusty old room learning about the dullest things imaginable⊠it was my hell.Â
When I did find a book analysis or an art project exciting, teachers always thought I cheated. (I legit once had a teacher accuse me of plagiarising a photograph I took for an assignment. She failed me for it).
Why bother fr đ
So I barely did bother.
Surprisingly to myself (and probably my teachers), I did alright enough in my final exams and got into the course I wanted. (Which I found to be fairly useless).Â
Honestly, itâs so weird because now I love to learn because Iâm choosing what I learn.
I can concentrate for hours because I do things I find interesting.Â
So maybe school wasnât for you either.
And thatâs maybe why youâre here reading this story.Â
Maybe youâve been told youâre stupid, fidgety or ânot going to make it in the worldâ.Â
Ask yourself - can a dolphin climb a tree?Â
No. So maybe youâre a dolphin in a society of mostly monkeys.Â
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Your worth shouldnât be defined by the school system, your teachers, your parents or anyone else telling you that âyou wonât make itâ. Â
Just because someone has told you something about yourself doesnât make it true.Â
Just because you donât fit in at school or canât work a 9-5, doesnât mean youâre âdefectiveâ.
Youâre probably just a dolphin and not a monkey.Â
Donât compare yourself to the monkeys.
For monkeys, trees will always end and there will be no more to climb. Â
But dolphinsâŠ
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Dolphins can deep dive into parts of the ocean that havenât even been discovered yet.Â
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XOÂ
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