Your Question:

09/16/2020 Han

Hi!
I am a high school student/ contemplative high school drop-out because the stuff we learn is inane and ridiculous and teenagers are mean. Any advice on how to stay somewhat sane while being forced to sit in the back of a freezing Canadian classroom for two-and-a-half hours? I'm assuming-- which I know is a terrible road to walk down, it makes an ass out of you and me and all, but you did write a song called Everyone I Went To High School With Is Dead-- that you didn't like it either. What did you get up to to cope with it?
(I write a lot and it works-- most of the time, but good advice from strange adults on the Internet is always appreciated.)

My Answer:

My first thought is to tell you to stay in school. School is actually one of the easier parts of life, believe it or not, and it only lasts a few years until your aren’t obligated to learn anymore. The learning part is what I’m talking about in terms of being “easy”, relatively speaking — relative to all the real life horrors of adulthood. My advice is to get through the inane stuff by keeping yourself occupied by what you really want to learn, whatever that is—dive deep on your own —assuming that if you’re bored with what you’re being taught it’s easy for you to skim through it and have plenty of time to dig into extracurricular learning. I think it’s important in life in general to always be learning. You can’t be bored if you are challenging yourself to learn something new. Everyone I Went To HS With…is more about 1) the choice to follow cultural patterns and 2) the real life horrors of death before one graduates and enters the “real world”.
How did I cope? I didn’t socialize much except with 2 people, I practiced a lot and I followed my own path. I always enjoyed the learning part of it all.