Trending Now
Life sure is strange, isn’t it?
I remember teachers in high school telling us how certain things were going on our permanent records and how our grades would be a big factor in our future success.
Yeah…that was exactly 100% true. But I guess they were just trying to get us motivated, or something.
Successful folks took to AskReddit to talk about how their bad grades affected or didn’t affect their future. Let’s take a look.
1. Almost failed.
“I almost failed my last year of high school. I have no idea how but I managed to pass.
I’ll always have a little resentment for this. My parents forced me to go to college and I didn’t even know what I wanted to do. I enjoyed animating at the time, I just didn’t know if I wanted that as a career. The only class I thoroughly enjoyed was Drama.
I liked acting, I was in ALL the school plays. So… I went with trying to become a teacher to teach that course. It went alright until my YouTube channel was doing GOOD. My animations were skyrocketing and I realized I wanted to that instead of school… but. My idiot mind didn’t handle it well then I got kicked out of University at my 2nd year.
So I spent a long time animating… then my channel got shut down for no reason. F*ck you YouTube. Then my fiancé left me after that
I was in a dark place for a long time. But out of the blue my buddy asked me if I wanted a job in a components shop for Aviation. They said they “needed an idiot to wash parts” and… I wasn’t working. I needed money so I was like “yeah!” And I showed up the next day.
I showed up an hour early regularly, I was genuinely interested in what was going on. I think both my manager and my boss noticed. I liked being there. I think my first week there as a temporary employee I did overtime. Like on a Friday I worked till 9 lol. So they obviously saw I was a brand new ace in the hole. After 4 months they hired me full time and now they’re sending me to school. I got my level 1 AME license done and I’ll be going for level 2 next January
It became a dream job after I arrived and I’m so happy to be where I’m at. My grades didn’t matter. They just saw I was a hard worker… and now. I have my life together again.”
2. Loving your job.
“Got tired of high school, so I quit and did different jobs.
In my mid 20’s I started doing web design courses and found out I really loved it. Used all my savings (and got some help from my mom) to put life on hold for a few years and went to finish my high school degree, start college and get my degree to become a web designer.
At 29 I got a permanent job at the place I interned and get to do design work and front end development in a small web agency and I love it.”
3. Couldn’t stand school.
“Dropped out of high school, got my GED, tried college but realized it just wasn’t for me.
I joined the US Army and while I was enlisted I realized that I’m just going to have to figure my own way because I can’t stand school. So I made my own way, learned to code 25 years ago and have done very well for myself. My brother has a similar story but he didn’t even bother trying college.
He’s followed his dreams and made successful careers out of his hobbies. Just because school doesn’t work out for you don’t think less of yourself and don’t underestimate your value.”
4. A mess up.
“I was a “Mess up” in HS – summer school every summer, barely graduated, not even a C average.
Took a crack at the State U; got put out in short order. Got fired from a string of jobs because I was nineteen and I had a lot of attitude. Got a job in a factory building machinery. Had to go in the Army. Drank, worked as bartender and bouncer.
Finally graduated the State U at 36; started law school at fifty, downtown office now. Life is far from perfect but it’s vastly better than it was in my youth.
Don’t give up on yourself, don’t sell yourself short, don’t buy into negativity! You are not “struggling” – you are on a journey!”
5. No regrets.
“I’m in IT.
Got sh*t grades all through high school because I didn’t apply myself and took 8 years of online classes to make it through college with “Get a C and get a Degree mentality”.
In the long run it didn’t really hurt me, but it did make my path to get to my current position a little more convoluted. I ended up joining the Army since my prospects were slim initially and was able to get entry level experience and turn my security clearance into a nice start in the civilian world once I got out.
If I had to do it over again I might do things different, but I don’t regret any decision.”
6. Parents didn’t help.
“I was a sh*t student in high school, but managed to pass.
In college/grad school, I think what helped me do a lot better was the fact that my parents weren’t involved. I am 100% a believer of this. My parents were “involved” in my work all the time — making me tell them about my tests/quizzes/projects so that they’d always know to ask about my grade in it later. They always knew.
One stretch of time in 8th grade, I remember just going ‘f*ck it’ and not telling them anything. After ~1mo or so, my dad called the teacher and she told him all my test grades — all of which were in the B-range; a lot better than usual, at the time.
There was no acknowledgement of being impressed with my independent performance. The big issue was that I never told them about these tests/grades. That was THE takeaway from that.
My parents always made it sound like a threat that when I finally went to college, they wouldn’t be able to monitor my studies. And at the time, it was scary. But in reality, it was GREAT! I made honors three times (each level of school) — all without my parents breathing down my neck!
Now I work in a hospital.”
7. Truckin’.
“My teachers told me I’d never get paid to sit there and stare out a window.
I’m one of the top respected truck drivers at work and people often come to me for advice and help.
Whether it be laws, permits, how to do something, or practical help on chaining or tying sh*t down.”
8. Figured it out.
“I struggled with writing. I had good ideas but couldn’t seem to get them onto the paper.
Later I joined an acting class and eventually got into drama school in London. Learned to touch type as a way of writing comedy sketches. Now I’m a professional writer. Turns out I have dysgraphia and dyscalculia.
Took me 15 years to work that out.”
9. Kicked out.
“Barely passed high school.
Got kicked out of university second year in. Always had trouble focusing and generally just don’t enjoy the monotony and wasteful nature of time spent at school.
Worked in a mall for 5 years. Was completely f*cked with 10k in cc debt and 15/20k on my student line of credit making 30k a year in Vancouver point 1.2k a month in rent. Was a very low point. I remember being rejected by a girl because she did not want to date someone working at a clothing store in their mid twenties. Really hurt.
Started a small business on the side promoting punk shows. Grew the business in to owning a night club in a few years. Sold the nightclub.
Used the business experience from that to get myself a very good 150k a year sales job that has nothing to do with the bar business.
I’m really not a smart guy. In the way that science and abstract math shuts down my brain. But without sounding self centered I do think I have a somewhat natural talent for people management.
Also at least in my current job, being an education outsider really helps. When everyone in a room is Ivy League having a more “unrefined” approach has been beneficial I think to our company. But I also had to brand it as such. First few months were hard but I pressed on in ways I knew I would be successful in and ultimately my results spoke for themselves.
Now in the company I’m known as an “out of the box thinker”. Which in my head I just laugh off as being the only one in management who was ever poor (and probably for generations with some of those guys).”
10. No thanks to the guidance counselor…
“I got fairly bad grades in high school.
My guidance counselor told me to join the army and be an infantry soldier because I’d never go to university/college or be successful.
I ended up getting a BA and now I’m an ESL teacher. Currently looking at options to get fully certified and step up the teaching game.”
11. Six figures.
“I was a terrible student in high school, bottom percentage of my class, had to take a summer class after graduation because I didn’t pass economics. They let me walk but I didn’t get my diploma until like, August.
I watched all my friends go off to colleges while I went to community college after getting rejected from a few schools I applied to. Eventually went to a four-year college and graduated in two years with ok grades, not great. I was an art major so my grades depended mostly on meeting deadlines and quality of the work.
Forward 10 years, I went back for certificate degree then started to work in my field (design). Now I’m working for a multi-national corporation and making six figures.
So being a crappy student hindered my ability to stay on a timeline along with my peers, but didn’t prevent me from a successful life as a working adult.”
12. Running their own company.
“School was a chore.
If on the occasion I bothered to grant them my presence I never completed homework, assignments or coursework. Scraped through my exams which was more luck than judgement. Rinse and repeat at college. In hindsight, I think my problem lies when I’m having something forced on me and I’m not in full control – nothing makes me lose interest in a subject quicker.
Now I run a busy engineering company and we make products for many blue chip companies. And the irony is, because I don’t have to, I now love learning and always have a science book on the go, naturally curious and get (a bit too) excited to visit museums.”
13. Doing just fine.
“Did very well in high school but sucked pretty hard in college. My HS grades got me a military scholarship that had very forgiving standards to keep.
Today I’m an airline captain and a military pilot with a 2.something college GPA. I just can’t math that good.”
Now we want to hear from you.
In the comments, tell us how your grades in school did or didn’t affect your future.
Please and thank you!
