Asking About College

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I am a 2005 HS Grad who went through so much aspie induced hell in school that i would rather cut my nuts of with a rusty kitchen knife that go to college (I kid you not)
I work in a grocery store as a cashier and get asked almost daily where i go to school (college) i tell them that i have no intention on furthering my education but the say i will regret my decision later, what should i do short of telling them all about AS?

I know how eric harris and dylan kleibold felt (columbine guys)

First of all, college is an infinitely better experience than high school. For one thing, you have to pay to attend, so most the bullies that tormented you in high school probably won't be going there anyway; in the rare chance they're the sons of rich bankers/politicians/etc. they'll probably be going to some Ivy League or party school, leaving you safer at engineering/liberal arts colleges. If they go to those schools, chances are you won't even run into them if the campus is big enough.

You can set your own hours, and what time you want to go to what class. Interest clubs are usually quite varied (I've been in the Society for Creative Anachronism, Triangle Anime, and Triangle Aikido), and I say this.

GO TO COLLEGE!

Go to college.

Select a major related to your interests, if possible.


One very important thing about college is that it gives you time to figure out who you are. That's the stage of life I'm at now.

Also, the extra money in your career (not to mention all of the "life experience" stuff you're exposed to) would make it very worthwhile. Finding an interest in a field that interests you and building a career out of it is a hell of a lot better than working at a grocery store all your life. You can do better. College can help get you there.

Also, don't forget that having AS can help a lot in mastering your field of study.


Since you seemed worried about it: the bullying and related crap from HS are non-existent in college.


...and this is from a guy with a "bottom floor of hell" high school experience. It was so bad (emotionally and mentally crushing) that I didn't even begin working on sorting out everything until I got into a masters program about a year ago (and coincidentally, away from my incredibly overbearing and intentionally isolating parents). The last year of "trying to figure out who I am" has been much more productive than the previous 5, simply because I had been so dedicated to it (and wasn't working on it at all before).

I dropped out of highschool at 17 and got a GED.

At 23 I went to college for 3 years.

Yes college is much better than high school.

Addvice if you go:
1) Take the minium full time load (your first year anyway).
2) Take easy classes and things you like at first if possible.
3) The food is so so get the smallest meal plan they allow.
4) Go year round, spring, fall, summer, december term(if they got it)
5) Try to get a work study job in the department your getting a major in.
6) Live in the dorms. Ask to be placed with someone who has the same major
as you. That way you will certainily have one friend. (on your housing application)
7) I had a private room often but I bet you will be happier with a room mate.
See if the housing department needs any work done to see if you can pay part
of your housing that way.
9) Do not play video games, do not play RPG, Do not use IRC
10) Join the housing association and goto every event they hold.
11) Goto all the advent student services hold.
I can think of more I just getting lazy

High school was the worst couple of years of my life. I dropped out at age 14, but managed to accomplish 5 GCSEs at As and Bs a year earlier due to a combination of home schooling and hospital tuition. School was just a nightmare for me, and a combination of inability to cope in class along with physical bullying led to the worst depressive illness I have ever had.

HOWEVER - college is MILES apart from the hell of high school. For a start, people in college are there because they CHOOSE to be there. School... is compulsory. But people at college are all there because they have an interest in that subject and want to learn more. For a start, that gives you a common ground. Secondly, it may not seem like much, but a few years older in age can make a HUGE difference in maturity. Of course there are immature college students. But for the most part, while school kids tend to have a pack mentality and pick on anyone 'different', college students are much more individual, often to the point where being unique is their goal, rather than conforming like school kids. Being a bit eccentric in college is not even NEARLY as much as an issue as it is in school. And finally, at college you get to CHOOSE your field of study, thus it should automatically be more interesting and enjoyable. Give college a shot! It's worth it!

Good luck

My high school experience was okay because I was a good student but I made a lot of social mistakes.

I had both a scholarship and a chance to go to a private Catholic college but didn't mostly because after high school I was just done with the whole pretense that people are learning anything at these institutions of learning. It is all a money making scam in my opinion because many classes have nothing to do with what you are majoring in - I had one teacher in high school who felt similarly and how she had to take (and waste money) on classes like ball room dancing while she was getting her teaching certificate. I say do what you want to do and stick to your moral perogatives. If you are only avoiding college because you are afriad of being treated badly then realize the dynamic is different, but still not perfect and you may trade bullying classmates for bullying professors (lol). If you are not interested in being another cog in a system you don't believe in - ie. your personal worth is based on your college degree - than I say do what you feel you need to do.

Well, I have gone through some painful experiences (i.e. moving, putting up with either overbearing or ineffectual authority figures, etc.), but other than that I'm very much enjoying high school, because I'm learning, I'm meeting a lot of fun people whom I'd like to get to know better (better yet, some of them are interested in the same sort of thigns that I am), and if it weren't for school I wouldn't really feel that I had a place to go.
School is my number one escape from boredom and uncomfortable family drama.
But as for the subject of college, I'm eager to go after I graduate from high school, for superficial as well as academic reasons.

You definately should at least try it. You have much more to gain than you have to lose. Not only will it be good for a career, you might learn to heal your wounds from school. I'm finding mysyelf a lot more confident now that I'm going to uni.

Right now you're just taking the option that's least intimidating. Be brave and at least give it a try. Then you can make a decision based on what's best for you, rather than just giving up and hiding.

High school was crap. The work was far too simplistic and my fellow students were horrible little monsters with slow brains.

University is great. I've heard form some of my acquaintances that people at their uni act like they are still in high school, but at my university that problem is avoiding by a couple of factors
1. The campus that I am at is totally dedicated to music.
2. We are the top tertiary music institution in the country, so we are all too focussed on being good musicians to act like children.

It also helps that I am studying music, which is my primary obsession.

high school was pure evil. i was the one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. not good. college had almost no harrassment and i felt i could pretty much do my own thing with noone bothering me. whatever you choose to study remember the golden rule: good grades leave more doors open than bad. it matters not so much what you major in but rather how you did in your selected choice. if you pull this off, you can't go wrong. period. college and professional school are years behind me and i'm still figuring myself out. even though i may not be 'all that well put together', i have degrees and a solid track record to boot, noone can ever take that away, aspie or not

go to college, pick something, and give 'em hell!

I'm another who hated high school with a passion, and couldn't wait to get out. HS was a bad experience for me and I was so relieved when it was over.

I've found that in university, people are tolerant of differences - in fact, at my university, difference was celebrated. No-one blinked an eye at a guy who turned up to class barefoot and with torn clothes, looking as though he spent the night sleeping in a gutter...nor at the platinum-blonde girl carrying a poodle under her arm...nor at the guy who waltzed into class in a bright pink dress. People were also mature enough to respect others. Chances are, if you had ASD and told someone at university, they would be more inclined to learn about ASD than use it to mock you.

I still remember the time someone told an entire class [20+ students] of her struggle with depression and received nothing but support. In fact, when she couldn't turn up to a class, people were asking about her and volunteering to send her study notes.

There were groups for everyone. I belonged to a socialist club

Also, universities have measures to help people with ASD and the like. My university had measures for accomodations and alternative assessments when I was unable to complete a certain part of a course. My general experience of university was that they look for ways to help you pass.