I think the real part of regret comes in the last quote: "Sometimes, I’ll be sitting around on a weekend and think, it’d be fun if I could just write up a software app really quickly."
I doubt it was the school that he misses. It was probably the free time to build whatever he wanted.
i'm not sure its the free time he is missing. i would guess he assumes that if he had completed his degree he would have the knowledge base to pick up a language and build quick utilities.
He also wrote a book about regret and counterfactual thinking titled "If Only":
Delivering a reassuring, groundbreaking message, If Only describes two types of "counterfactuals," as these thoughts are known in psychology, and both "if only" thoughts can lead to a better understanding of yourself. One variety allows us to improve performance and learn from experience by comparing what we actually did to what might have been better. A second kind asks how things could have been worse, which makes you feel a whole lot better. Dr. Roese also reveals Americans' top regrets and shows you how to avoid them. And he shows how our brains erase regrets of actions (stuff you did that didn't work out) but let regrets of inaction linger. So his advice? Just do it.
I love that research, but one has to consider whether the people regretting education-related things are just saying "I should have finished my education" as an excuse for everything that's wrong with their life.
E.g., if only I had my degree, I wouldn't be stuck in this crappy job -- while, of course, there are many avenues to pursue for people who will make the effort, degreed or otherwise.
I started skipping school at 13, and left permanently at 14. At first it was just black and white: I hated school, I didn't want to go, but it soon turned into severe anxiety (that's another story.) I'm 17 now.
I wish I could say it's not affected me much, overall I think I'm pretty bright, so I don't fear I'm not going to be technically qualified for the career I want, however it's the paperwork I'm worried about; I have no exam results to speak of, and when I finally get over the anxiety, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Collage? University? I have no idea where I stand, I just hope things don't go completely pete tong, and I'm still in the same situation at 30 or something, when I have far more responsibilities and cannot afford to complete my education. We'll see... :-)
By "severe anxiety" I mean I've distanced myself from everyone I used to know, and I never go out much anymore. And a few years ago I woke up to 2 shrinks and 5 cops in my room at 9am, which ended in me being taken off in hand-cuffs under a mental health order. Thankfully they concluded after a few days I wasn't in fact mentally ill, but at that point it struck home, and I started to loose the weight I put on over the years, which is step 1 to "recovery" (so far, so good!)
Excuses, I know, trust me, if I could go back in time, I'd go back and "suck it up" earlier, to save myself a ton of headache thus-far. :-)
Having a teen-ager of my own who has severe anxiety when it comes to school (so much more than the typical "I hate school."), I can empathize with the "easier said than done." Honestly, I'd look at talking to a counselor and making a plan for moving forward. You are obviously bright enough that you can over come the challenges, but you don't have to do it on your own.
I'll join the chorus saying GED, community college, senior college. If you're a fellow Rightpodian, A-levels, then college. But... If it sucks drop out, if you don't want a post grad and you get a good job offer seriously consider taking it. As far as crippling social goes two things really help, hanging out with people like yourself who you can actually talk to, and serious alcohol abuse. I kid you not. The fastest periods of advancement in my social skills come down to alcohol. You make more mistakes, faster, which is the way to learn.
Nothing you have done -- avoiding school, losing touch with people, whatever other mistakes -- makes you a bad person. It just means you took (or didn't take) actions and they had consequences. You're suffering through those consequences now, but that just means you're suffering through those consequences... it says nothing about you or the situation, beyond than that simple, provable fact.
A lot of anxiety comes from guilt and fear, and trying to avoid guilt and fear. So, forgive yourself, and be kind and loving to yourself.
I'm guessing that, by posting here, you are probably interested in a programming/tech career. While it's true that you can get hired without any formal education, the unfortunate truth of the matter is that you probably won't, especially in this economic environment.
Get your GED and get into higher education. If a uni. won't take you immediately, take some classes at a local community college and look to transfer up.
College is much more enjoyable than high school -- you might actually learn something ;)
I'm 22, in a university, and already regretting not focusing more on my studies. But I know if I don't get them done now, it'll never happen.
There's a lot of truth here. I had to begin my schooling at a branch campus because I wasn't accepted at my first choice. But it lit a fire under my butt. I worked hard, took summer courses at a community college, and ultimately transferred up to my first choice (and finished a year early, no less).
Today I regret rushing (that's a different conversation) but my point is that it's fully possible to make a change late in the game. And if you're 17 it isn't late at all.
What I'm saying is don't stress so much. There are a surprising number of opportunities for those who are willing to take the transfer route to a degree. But you've got to do it one step at a time, so (if you're sure it's what you want) get your GED and go from there.
This is a sound plan if you want to go to college. I'd add to this that there are a lot of JCs that are feeder schools to some great universities, such as Berkeley.
I know two people who did the JC -> Berkeley route. One is still in school, and the other is in Investment Banking (either a big success or a miserable failure, depending on what you think of that career).
You're looking at a harder life. But that doesn't necessarily mean a bad one.
The path forces you to take responsibility earlier. You have to take the initiative in your life. You have to educate yourself. And your pretty much destined for entrepreneurship. But some in fields people will be more willing to hire you.
You have to prove yourself through informal means. Without those pieces of paper you limit your options. But that fine if you know what you want to do.
You're a pathbreaker and you'll have the same challenges that any pathbreaker would.
I have diploma (barely got it) but not college. I'm doing fine.
I could write an essay. In fact I will. But the situation you're in and the decision you will make certainly isn't all downside with no up. There are pros and cons to each side.
I dropped out of school when I was 16 and went into the normal workforce at 18(for an IT consultancy) after a failed start up.
Dropping out worked for me but it wasn't easy instead of university I spent those years on the very bottom of the ladder making contacts and getting a network going so that I could move up without the degrees and stuff.
I have enough professional experience now that the lack of a degree isn't going to hurt me going forward but I do feel like I missed out of the college experience.
I'd say you can make it without a degree but you have to be pretty good at networking to get your name and face in front of people that can help you out. If you're not comfortable out there selling yourself making lots of contacts with people who might know someone who knows someone get the degree and let it do the selling for you.
I am 18 years old and I would like to quit high school but that mean I'll be booted out of home with no job and no future.
It would probably be fine if I just have a laptop, car, portable food and water storage(with self cleaning water filter?), and a steady source of income that let me eat. However, I have health issue, and I wouldn't survive long on the street without medicine.
So even if I got a large enough source of income and emergency fund, I still need health insurances so I don't die and they're really expensive.
Please get your GED (so you can avoid high school) and apply to a college of some kind.
You're still young enough that it'll be easy for you to have a great social life there once you get the medicine or therapy you need to overcome the anxiety.
Somtimes I start to regret dropping out of education early, until I really think about it and realise that dropping out was the best thing I ever did. I have no student debt, a profitable start up, interesting work, and gave myself a better education than I would have received had I stayed in fulltime education. I was also very bored and unhappy with it by the time I left so I probably kept my sanity too. Yet I still sometimes find myself regreting it.
While Kevin's regret is pretty valid, I think the most interesting is definitely Gauri Nanda's - regretting going at the business totally alone.
I refrained from applying for YC funding in the past because I couldn't find a good partner, but now that I'm working on something with a good one I really notice the difference.
I doubt it was the school that he misses. It was probably the free time to build whatever he wanted.