Best Mistake I Ever Made!
It has taken over 6 years for me to realize that dropping out of school was the best mistake I’ve ever made. When I was 16 years old my mother decided to uproot our entire family and move from the Bronx, NY to Greenville, NC. I don’t even have to say that this threw me off my axis. I went from living my life as an independent, bright, school-loving teenager to an existence where I was completely dependent on others, and full of mind-numbing rage at being snatched from my friends, family and everything I knew without a choice.
Looking back I realize that Greenville is not a bad place to live. In fact it’s beautiful but through the eyes of a teenager who was born and raised in NYC I thought then that it was the hickest, countriest place I had ever been. For me school had always been a life-saver, there to feed my unending curiosity, spark my creativity and force me to challenge myself. However the high school I was transferred to was like being put back 2 grades it was so terrible. Without school as my cushion to fall on while I was trying to cope with the sudden move from NY I nosedived into depression.
My mother didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what we do. So we suffered together. She with trying to justify to herself and the family that the move was really a good choice and something that the family desperately needed and I with struggling to find my way. Finally we sat down and talked, I let her know that school was no longer for me, I needed to drop out and gather myself together. She fought me but when she realized I was serious, she comprised and agreed to let me drop out if I got my GED. Which I did in a matter of weeks. FYI: I scored the highest score possible on it too! And for anyone who thinks getting your GED is easy..think again that test is hard as hell!
I digress…After getting my GED I starting working and I haven’t stopped. I’ve held jobs doing everything from working the drive-thru at Burger King, being a waitress and then a short order order, becoming an IT specialist and customer service pro to managing a law office, all before I was 21. After being in NC for 6 years I decided to move back to NY. Coming home was an amazing acheivement for me, because we all know how hard it is to live in NYC, and I was doing this by myself after being away for such a long time.
So my move back to NY was a success, my career was going well but one thing was missing..my education. I realized that I needed to go back to school. After making a list of all the schools I wanted to attend I hesistated. I was afraid that my GED would hold me back from being accepted at the schools on my list. Deciding to throw caution to the wind I filed several applications to college. Surprisingly I was accepted to all of them. I chose New York University and I’m now going into my 3rd year. Returning to school has given me the chance to finally learn what I want, in the way that I want. NYU is an amazing school with an Adult Reentry Program that not only allows the students to learn from their professors but also from each other. I’ve grown so much intelletually and I know that I wouldn’t be where I am had I not dropped out of school. It has been by far the best mistake I’ve ever made!
