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I was a straight C student all the way up through high school. I was a horrible test-taker. I didn’t do very well on my ACT. I was constantly asked to leave class because the questions I would ask were so rudimentary that my teachers thought I was mocking them — when really (at least, most of the time…) I just had trouble following the lesson.
Not everyone learns the same way.
And I believe a significant portion of my adolescence was wasted by a school system that tried to wedge me into a tiny circle on a Scranton sheet.
I’m not dumb.
I’ve been playing Mozart and Beethoven on the piano since I was seven years old. I’ve won writing contests and debate competitions. I am about to publish my first book. I just learn better by getting my hands dirty — not sitting in a fake-marble desk chair listening to a monotone teacher in front of a whiteboard.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit I definitely did not give school everything I had — I gave up on school at a very early age. Mostly because I felt like school gave up on me.
The school never asked, “
How do you learn?
” Instead, school told me
how
I should learn — and when it didn’t work, school called me Dumb.
Well, here are 9 things school didn’t teach me that I learned on my own:
1. There Are No Rules.
The people who enforce the rules (creatively speaking here) are the people who don’t have the confidence or the belief that the world is an easel and everyone has a paintbrush.
2. Titles Are Crippling, Not “The Goal”.
All those kids that got straight As, went to the Ivy League school of their choice, got the fancy title at the fancy company… They can keep it.
Titles are
crippling.
Titles encourage you to relax and let your title speak for you — instead of your skill and knowledge earning you other people’s respect.
But when push comes to shove, it’s the people who have gotten their hands dirty in the trenches you want on your team. Not the ones with a fancy title in front of their names.
3. There Is No“1 Right Way” To Do Anything.
This is a massive disservice school teaches kids — that there is a “right” way and a “wrong” way.
False. There are a million ways.
And the name of the game isn't to do it any one particular way. It’s to understand which one works the best for YOU, and will allow you to maximize your strengths.
