I believe I would have benefited greatly from some sort of alternative schooling environment. I despised school because it was so boring and structured, and als

I believe I would have benefited greatly from some sort of alternative schooling environment. I despised school because it was so boring and structured, and also I was (and still am) a night owl that routinely stays up late on weeknights (often until 3am or so). Waking up at 630am to get my ass to school by 730 first bell was atrocious. My senior year of high school I somehow legitimately missed 35 days of school! That’s almost 2 full months! I also had all manner of tricks to come in late and leave early (cut the last class) without formal repercussions. For example, I realized that if I carried my trumpet case I could basically have my run of the school because no school officer suspected a band geek of cutting class. So I would get my trumpet, exit a side door, walk to my car, wait 5 minutes to make sure I wasn’t caught, then drive home! I did this countless times. What I did like was working and partying. I started working in 8th grade reffing soccer, then I worked retail, and since I’ve been 13 years old I’ve never been unemployed for more than a month. When I graduated college I received my diploma on a Friday and started working on Monday. I’ve never had extended time off of work in decades! On the partying side, I discovered alcohol in 9th grade and marijuana in 10th, and also did my fair share of cocaine and research chemicals during my latter high school and college years. I had a blast! And how did I turn out? Fine! Better than fine! I followed my passion into computers and all of the people who told me I would amount to nothing were very much incorrect. In summation, a one-size-fits-all approach to education is completely absurd. The fact that schools have not materially changed in over a century, where everyone sits in a chair and listens to some hack’s opinions, is ridiculous! I can remember a few amazing teachers from my pre-college days and the other 95% of them were totally forgettable. Teachers, their unions, and administrators who refuse to allow any change whatsoever are living in the past. Change happens gradually then all at once. I praise unschooling and any movement that tries to change the horrible, stale, boring education system that makes the majority of students hate learning and associate it with authority, chastisement, and being told they are failures.