I'm too stupid to ever go back to school.

[Tony Ramirez]

Let's admit it. A 0 GPA ruined my chances. I just can't retain information. You can tutor me for hours but in minutes I will forget it all. No study methods work.

I am tired of my friends pumping crap in my brain that I can do it and I am not stupid. I am tired of hearing success stories of people who were dumb go back now with straight A's grades with bachelor and master degrees while I barely passed high school.

I was told I was a dumb idiot I was retarded and everything. Your grades in college really gets to you emotionally. Remembering seeing F's on my tests make me still cry and feel like a dumb moron so I am done with anyone telling me I can be different.

 

[AprilR]

I don't think academic intelligence is really important overall. A lot of jobs dont require a degree either. Do you want to go back because you want to get a job?

 

[Tony Ramirez]

I don't think academic intelligence is really important overall. A lot of jobs dont require a degree either. Do you want to go back because you want to get a job?

Yes because I have no future and I am bored with my life rotting away in my room or just walking around the city alone. But I can't learn. I forget what someone tells me to do a minute later. I have the memory of a gold fish.

My grammar sucks. I have 5 grade math skills (don't know my multiplication tables) and zero talents.

 

[Judge]

You seem to put far too much emphasis on a college degree period. The reality is nearly half of working-age adults manage without any college degree:

"As of 2022, approximately 54.3% of working-age adults in the United States have earned a college degree or other postsecondary credential." - Forbes Wikipedia

The simple reality is that you are not alone. There are numerous persons out there who simply don't fit the mold to successfully obtain a college degree whether it reflects their intellect or not. College is not for everyone and never has been, whether they have the resources to pay for it or not.

 

[Tony Ramirez]

I can't get anything with the crappy resume I have. Trust me my friends tried and gave up. Even volunteer wants references and experience even some higher education. I contacted some in person when they were doing an event and heard crickets because they wanted that crap on their websites.

 

[AprilR]

What about vocational schools? In my country people who completed them earn even more than people with college degrees.

Like Judge said, college is not for everyone and a lot of people with college degrees are unemployed(me included) or work at jobs that have nothing to do with their degree. You are not alone at all.

 

[Judge]

What about vocational schools? In my country people who completed them earn even more than people with college degrees.

My country as well.

I personally made more money having gotten a certificate from a vocational school than I ever did working in finance for nearly two decades in job that required a college degree.
And the vast majority of students in my classes had only a high school education as well.

I went to vocational school at the age of 42. I did feel a bit out-of-place surrounded by young people, but it didn't matter.

Though it often takes real effort to get through vocational schools, with an often accelerated curriculum. Teaching people what they need to know without all the frills of college. You have to really want it, to get it. But then in this world, nothing comes easily for most people.

 

[Judge]

I can't get anything with the crappy resume I have. Trust me my friends tried and gave up.

Few employers are ever looking for someone who doesn't attempt to interview on their own. Let alone hear about them secondhand through a friend or acquaintance.

You have to look for work no differently than looking for a therapist- to be your own advocate. And without a work history, you should be looking for work that is at the lowest levels. Certainly not any job where they are looking for college grads or specialized certificates of accomplishment. Jobs that might involve some degree of manual labor.

You have to compromise. You have no choice under such circumstances. Don't expect to land a job that you think you'd like. Focus on what is actually in demand, and available to apply to. And leave your pride at your door.

I suspect most of us here have "been there" at one time or another. When I graduated from college, the job market was terrible. I ended up working as a warehouseman and truck driver. But needed work, so I took it. And yes, I hated it. But I needed something on my resume and I took it.

 

[Ken]

I'm with you there. I failed high school twice and finally passed by one-half point on the third attempt. I tried college. Total, absolute failure. Simply couldn't do it. Found out that I can't be taught, but I can learn things if left alone and if it is something I'm interested in. I just simply can't be taught.

I don't mean to bore you with another success story, but I made it - still dumb as ever. No college, no decent resume, nothing, but I still ended up in my childhood dream job as an electronics design engineer. How did that happen? No master plan - actually no plan at all. I was just obsessed with electronics and got mundane jobs, including janitorial, etc. During all that, I practiced disassembling old TV's, radios, etc. and studied the parts and practiced soldering. All of that was recreational, not a job, just playing. No thoughts about education. Eventually, I was able to solder good enough to get a job as a technician replacing parts in TV's, radios, stereos, etc. This was all physical learning. I still can't be taught anything. Getting technician jobs kept getting easier and easier. Many years later, I finally got a job at a design lab as a technician installing parts for the engineers test prototypes. After a few years of periodic promotions, I ended up as a senior design engineer. Still no degree or education. Never any planning it just happened. I'm now 72 years old and happily retired. - Still no education. Driven only by my autistic obsessions.

So, don't give up on yourself. I know how that feels. But, sometimes things just work out. I would recommend focusing on things that interest you, even if that doesn't seem like a possible career. Determination will take you far. It's never easy. But regardless how difficult anything is, difficult does not mean can't, just difficult.

 

[velociraptor]

Remembering seeing F's on my tests make me still cry and feel like a dumb moron so I am done with anyone telling me I can be different.

I did horribly in grade school and dropped out early because I felt stupid and being stuck in crowded classrooms with my sensory issues is a nightmare. It turns out that I do well when I can study solo at my own pace and I am able to succeed that way. The bottom line is that if you tell yourself that you can't succeed, you won't. If you tell yourself you're going to try to succeed, you might. Which is the better of the two?

Cheers.

 

[FilterFreq]

I am tired of my friends pumping crap in my brain that I can do it and I am not stupid. I am tired of hearing success stories of people who were dumb go back now with straight A's grades with bachelor and master degrees while I barely passed high school.

I like to think that there are different types of intellect -- and that the mainstream view of knowledge (at least as far as traditional education goes) is nothing more than a memory game or parlor trick most of the time.

I also have trouble with the 'read this, and regurgitate it for a test' format that most schools subscribe to, but I've amazed myself in my spare time (admittedly I have a lot of it, so I consider it to be a gift) by learning a handful of what I believe to be extremely valuable skills that, actually, turned out to be a little esoteric and interesting.

Maybe you're like me? I learn extremely slowly, but once it's there, I can apply it to multiple mediums, and run circles around people who just memorized a few details for a test. But on the surface, I had also originally believed myself to be 'too dumb' to learn anything. Really, it was more of a difference in cognition and something I could actually adapt to if I took self-study seriously.

You're right to assume that neurotypicals don't understand this -- but are you sure that your learning style doesn't diverge from that of the mainstream? I'd seriously consider it.

 

[Ken]

My grammar sucks. I have 5 grade math skills (don't know my multiplication tables)

Me too. I retired as an electronics design engineer and I still don't know my multiplication tables. Not as important in these days. just buy a cheap calculator. That's what I did.

 

[Judge]

Me too. I retired as an electronics design engineer and I still don't know my multiplication tables. Not as important in these days. just buy a cheap calculator. That's what I did.

I hated math in school. And yet I did it every day for nearly 20 years. Ratios and percentages mostly, and occasionally having to interpolate rate tables, but it was a major tenet of insurance.

 

[Misty Avich]

I was an underachiever at school too. I feel that because I'm Asperger's/level 1 I should typically be able to retain facts and be a good learner and be smart with a "little professor" approach, especially that I wasn't exactly a bad student at school. But I've never been like that. I had learning difficulties at school as well as Asperger's, which I didn't even think was possible, but I guess that was the only diagnosis they could come up with because I was too articulate socially and had no speech development delays. Obviously they couldn't diagnose me with what was staring at them right in the face (ADHD) because I was a timid girl and back in the 90s ADHD was only for naughty little schoolboys.

 

[Masked Man]

Have you considered doing what I had suggested a while back and contacting a few of the animal rescue places that are in your area? They absolutely do not require a college degree or schooling. You only have to be willing to show up and help.

Get a handle on the anger. Being angry and raging all the time is not going to do you any good. No life is not fair. Yes some people get the short end of the stick. I get it. Now that you know life is not fair, what are you going to do with your time? Because constantly complaining about it isn't going to solve anything.

 

[Tony Ramirez]

Have you considered doing what I had suggested a while back and contacting a few of the animal rescue places that are in your area? They absolutely do not require a college degree or schooling. You only have to be willing to show up and help.

Waste of time. They want references, which I don't have. Another dead end like my life.

 

[Masked Man]

Waste of time. They want references, which I don't have. Another dead end like my life.

Have you tried applying? You know people through church and Yoga. If it's not a paid position it's not likely they are looking for business references. They are just looking for people that know you.

 

[Jeff T]

Albert Einstein did pretty poorly in school. He was expelled for a bad attitude.
He eventually found his groove.
Consider work at dog pound / ASPCA? A janitor (they're needed everywhere)? House cleaning?
In my early years I had a lot of trouble keeping a job, my mother recommended Kelly Services- they had all manner of very temporary jobs. Some were for just a few hours. But you get to work in all sorts of situations, and meet employers who may ask if you'd want a permanent position in the company.
But first, get the emotions in check. Maybe a medication like Wellbutrin could help?

 

[Tony Ramirez]

Get a handle on the anger. Being angry and raging all the time is not going to do you any good. No life is not fair. Yes some people get the short end of the stick. I get it. Now that you know life is not fair, what are you going to do with your time? Because constantly complaining about it isn't going to solve anything.

You read how horrible my grammar is. A 3rd grader has better writing skills than me. That's what happens when you have poor reading comprehension and can't spell.

 

[Masked Man]

You read how horrible my grammar is. A 3rd grader has better writing skills than me. That's what happens when you have poor reading comprehension and can't spell.

You communicate just fine. The problem is your attitude.

For example, the constant put-downs of yourself. No one here said that to you - you've done it to yourself. You're the one calling yourself names and insulting yourself. Much like, I'm sure, these feelings of inadequacy when you're out and about aren't coming from other people - ultimately, they're coming from inside your own head.