High School, Fuck You
A 16 Year Old Entrepreneur’s View on High School and How It’s Inhibiting Us
6:00 AM
Fuck. Did I really only get 3 hours of sleep last night? Oh well. Guess I’ll have to schedule in a nap after school. Wait, do I still have that client call tonight? Ah, looks like another Red Bull-fueled extravaganza of a day.
8:00 AM
First period. It’s not natural for humans to be up this early. The air feels like blankets. Maybe if I just close my eyes for two seco-
9:30 AM
Deafening bell ringing. First class over? That was pretty easy. Hopefully next period’s the same. What class do I have? US History. Fuck, it’s a test day. I wish business was like tests. One right answer, a few wrong ones. If you prepare enough, you’ll always get great results, no questions asked. Only issue now, I didn’t study. Looks like the Tea Party’s gonna have to forgive me for this one.
12:00 PM
26 minutes. They really expect us to order, eat, socialize, digest, and pass out from stress and exhaustion in 26 minutes? If only school could be more like Google. Free food. Nap pods. Giant slides. Ooh that’s good, maybe I’ll write a Medium post on that. Shit, I haven’t even checked emails yet. Is the library open? Oh my god, is that the bell already? You’ve got to be kidding me.
1:30 PM
“Connor Hennessy, Please Come Down To Guidance,”
“Connor Hennessy, Please Come Down To Guidance,”
Ah, scheduling a guidance appointment to get out of the last half hour of school, smart! In reality, there’s no other open slots. Junior Year. That magical time when the whole grade collectively panics about colleges the second they step in on September 1st. And why shouldn’t we be panicking? Getting into a good college with good grades is the only way to have a successful life, right?
2:30 PM
Basketball. I’m a Junior on JV, with a higher level of play nowhere in my foreseeable future. Why am I still playing again? Ah that’s right, exercise and social interaction is good for teenagers. I think I’ve read that somewhere.
5:00 PM
Tell me again why I scheduled two calls and three articles due tomorrow all on the same day. I’m trying to drown myself with work, clearly. But hey, at least I’m an entrepreneur! Just one more little attribute I can present to the army of college admission offices, attempting to stand out.
Actually, that’s bullshit. That’s not why I started. Money. Freedom. Learning Useful Skills. That’s why I put myself through this. Escaping the herd. School should be preparing you to live, not to just attend more school. Instead of taking tests on business, I’m learning how to write sales copy. Instead of being entrapped by rules, I’m experimenting and exploring.
10:00 PM
How much caffeine does it take to overdose? This can’t be healthy. Fuck, I still have so much left to do. Do I really need to be spending $70 a year on Evernote Premium? Nope. Does it make me feel better about being a disorganized mess? Yup.
3:00 AM
Finally. I can sleep. My bed feels like heaven. Coming down from my Red Bull and french pressed coffee binge. Shit, what time is it in Australia right now? International clients — blessing and a curse. Looks like I’m kissing my three precious hours of sleep goodbye tonight. I’ll try again tomorrow.
I heard a quote recently, “Entrepreneur’s are the only people crazy enough to put in 100 hour weeks, so they don’t have to put in 40 for someone else.” I like that. That would be great, if school didn’t already take up 40.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this, please drop a recommend or a follow! And, if you’d like to chat, I’m @connorhbiz on Twitter.
