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RE: Is there Ever a Time to Give Up?
I have a great respect for drop-outs, as I contemplated doing it for years myself... but I never did, mostly for the reasons you mentioned: drop-outs are said to become losers. So I pulled through high school and college, only to graduate in a mentally desolate state, disillusioned with myself, with the world, with academia, let alone being able to become a productive part of a work environment. Sure, in the end I managed to pull myself out of that hole, but I completely agree with you: Sometimes giving up, quitting, or walking away is what people need.
I try not to advocate "dropping out," but when I hear people tell high school drop outs that they will be " a failure," I have to jump in to let them know that the only thing that guarantees failure in life is if one gives up. Most outside circumstances will not dictate a persons success or lack thereof. It comes down to the individual.
I was recently at a hotel on business having breakfast and being attended to by a young woman. She was super polite and friendly. This hotel was near a major university and I overheard a gentleman sitting behind me pull the girl aside and ask her if she wanted or cared to have a better future. She said of course she wanted a good future - he said well maybe you should considering enrolling in our university. It was then I overhead him tell her he was a professor at the college and how a young and polite girl like herself could do so much more if she just went to college.
It struck a nerve in me so I pulled her aside after and told her I was a high school drop out, went to college 12 years later just to get my "piece of paper" and that if she didn't want to go to college to "be successful" she didn't have to. "Going to college" doesn't guarantee any sort of success. It does guarantee a lot of debt and becoming "owned" by the system.
Anyway - that's a topic for another time ;-) thanks for taking the time to comment.