• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

The Former Student Thread (Experiences? Opinions? Advice?)

Joined
Apr 2, 2016
Messages
1,667
Reaction score
2,123
Pronouns
  1. They/Them
Bouncing off of @ConfectionerMari’s Current Student Thread, it seems like there could use a thread for former students as well. Whether you last left school ten years ago or ten days ago, this thread is for expressing your feelings and opinions about your experiences at school at any level, from playing at kindergarten recess to finishing that doctorate thesis! You can also give advice to those who have yet to complete what you’ve completed in school, so that perhaps they’ll be less likely to make some of the same mistakes that you did when you were their age, or so perhaps someone with similar circumstances or life experiences as you can look up to you or otherwise learn something valuable that can help them out of a tight spot, emotionally or mentally or otherwise.

Now, if you happen to be in school presently and have things to say specifically about that, you may want to try the aforementioned Current Student Thread. That said, if you’re a current student and want to join the current conversation, you’re of course welcome! And you’re also of course welcome to still talk about a prior school experience if you happen to still be in school right now, haha.

Now, it’s typically custom for the thread starter to jump in first with something, but what I could write on this matter could probably fill several books for any one stretch of school alone. So I think I’ll refrain from posting anything right now, and instead I’ll watch from a distance as you all share your “war stories” here, haha. I hope that it’ll be interesting for everyone to share what I’d imagine will be very different experiences in this very international community of ours especially, while also sharing the common denominator elements of school life — good and bad — that are inevitable no matter where you are. With that said, discuss!
 
I went to public school through 12th grade in a pretty rural community, then went to a small liberal arts college where I majored in Biology and minored in Educational Studies. My education experience was overall positive, there's not much I would do different now.

I do have what I assume is a pretty unusual experience for users of this website, I went back to school for the foreseeable future as a high school science teacher. It's been very strange seeing education from a completely different perspective. Like all those things teachers do (or make you do) that you don't understand or find annoying, they all WORK.

If anybody ever has any questions about navigating high school or applying to colleges or anything like that, feel free to reach out and I will give you the best answers I can.

My general advice for everyone going through high school: The choices you make now really do matter. This is your chance to learn content, but also the skills necessary to connect with other people and navigate the world. So challenge yourself, get involved in extracurriculars, take risks. Not everything will feel beneficial, but those experiences will pay off.

And no, your future boss will not see that single bad grade on your report card. ;)
 
I'm taking a rather slow and winding route through getting a degree because I've got health issues that need to be sorted out first. I'm suspending my course with a good chance I'll drop it.

Can't help but judge myself for this - I've always been to very academically competitive schools and held myself to a high standard. On the other hand, I am literally unable to keep up with the work and having it off my back is a relief!

I hope the therapy works out so I can get back to school at some point in the future.
 
I have recently completed a Graduate Certificate in Research Skills and passed all my subjects, which I enjoyed (despite never meeting my classmates in person due to COVID-19). My advice for everyone is do what you love because if you love what you study, then you will do better than if you do subjects you don't like and make sure the environment is friendly for you because if you don't enjoy the environment you are studying in, then that could be a factor in performance level. And make sure you have support behind you like family, friends and student services (many universities will employ psychologists and that to help you on your way at university so if you need help, talk to them). Also, if you have trouble with your workload, then talk to the course coordinator and they may arrange something for you like alternative assessment or even switch from full-time to part-time. It is also important to get enough sleep, so get enough sleep every night. And the biggest advice I can give you is to allow time to relax and let your hair down as you should not spend every waking moment studying or working, so set a day aside in which you don't study and just relax and listen to the radio or watch something on television, Netflix or even YouTube.
 
I'm still following mandatory education (sadly) but here's a funny war story from my previous:
All the kids there are weebs. I don't mean the good part of it (i appreciate you guys), i mean the bad weeb community. They were going to teach a teacher about a very inappropriate genre and just moments later someone threw an egg and people started to throw anything all over the classroom. This kind of stuff happened almost every day back then actually, I'm not very comfortable with the amount of people who tried to stroke me as if i were a young child and go "are you okay?" because no, clearly not, i may remain unscathed but i was just hit by multiple objects thanks.

Here's some advice actually: don't hang out with bad people. It doesn't matter if they're "popular" or "rich" because a social status and a backstabbing school gang is a really dumb thing to have. What's better? Social standing, or ethics? Don't you want to get in and out of this place a good kid, and have a great rest of your life? Don't succumb to ridiculous social practices, please.
If you do happen to get picked on by bad people to an extent that it harms you, you would need to report them. My friend had been assaulted by a person a few years back, and the person had assaulted them again, since she never reported them.

I wish you all to have excellent health and life!!
 
I suppose that it’s now time for me to express some of my thoughts about this subject here on this thread that I created, haha. But just as much about the future as about the past with this one, I think.

For quite a while now, certain relatives of mine have been pressing me about the possibility of me attending grad school in addition to the four years of undergraduate college studies that I went through. I politely entertain them, but inside, what I’m really thinking is:

“Why would should I spend even more money on something that I don’t even really want to do, and what I’m not even sure will be helpful to me in the first place!?”

…or something like that. I won’t necessarily say that college was a waste of time for me — I enjoyed the (semi-)independence and the many life skills that I learned there — or even a waste of money, but I do often question if it was completely worth the $20,000+ of debt that I’ve been dealing with over the approaching nearly a decade since I last left the place. A lot of the things that I learned there, I find, are things that I probably could’ve learned myself online or through other similarly money-friendly resources, and indeed I often found myself bored and unmotivated there when my interests become obligations as opposed to things to explore. And the stress of getting good enough grades really put a number on me, I think, perhaps more than I’m even fully aware of; I have not-terribly-pleasant dreams about that to this day (oof). Nowadays, actually, I remember college more so for the re-awakening that I had near the end of my time there in regards to Pokémon and similarly “geeky” things, which in turn led me here to Bulbagarden and everything that came with that. In the real world, meanwhile, I’ve found that I’ve almost never taken advantage of my degree, partially due to bad luck, some laziness and complacency on my part, and my tendency to settle for things (including a job that I was massively overqualified and underpaid for, but which paid the bills nonetheless) especially given the former two. And even now, I’m unsure how, if ever, it may come into play in my future. Maybe I’ll be surprised or really lucky with that one day, but who knows.

Your own mileage will vary, of course. But I suspect that I’m not completely alone in these ambivalent thoughts, if the younger generations’ supposed attitudes towards the idea of college are of any indication…
 
Please note: The thread is from 10 months ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom