This is a powerful essay because it refuses the easy story that dropping out meant the absence of learning. What emerges instead is a life of intense self-study, curiosity, survival, adaptation, and hard-won understanding, shaped by books, travel, body wisdom, grief, neurodivergence, and the rare gift of being allowed to keep searching for the form that fit.
I was especially struck by the teacher who saw you clearly enough to realize the learning centre had misread you, because that moment captures the whole essay in miniature: the right witness can interrupt the wrong label. Your reflection on svadhyaya gives the piece its deeper architecture, since the real curriculum became your own experience, patterns, resistance, capacities, and becoming.
Grateful for this honest and expansive reminder that some minds are not broken by taking the scenic route; they are finally given enough room to reveal what the straight road could not hold.
As always thanks so much for the thoughtful comment. ‘The right witness can disrupt the wrong label’ & ‘some minds are not broken by taking the scenic route; they are finally given enough room to see what the straight path could not hold’ are both very well said 🙏🏽🤍
Thank you for saying that. Your essay already carried those truths with such clarity, especially the way you showed learning as something larger than institutional approval or a single acceptable path. I’m glad those lines met the piece well, because the story you told gives real dignity to the long, searching route toward self-understanding. Grateful for the way your writing makes room for people whose becoming needed more space than the straight path offered.
When I read this, the first feeling I had was just to give you a big digital hug. You are a truly beautiful human :). The crazy thing is I've just been thinking about how the educational institutions we have right now are seriously behind what is possible. Your discussion of svadhyaya and how you've always been doing that no matter what your status was in the "school system" shows that you are actually doing it because you enjoy it. Living your life intentionally and not just following what the system tells you to do.
Awh thank you! Digital hug much felt 🌞 & yes the standard system (at least for many of the minds working their ways through it) could definitely benefit from a whole lot of svadhyaya. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. Was all a bit heart in the throat to hit share on something so damn long & encompassing so many lil tidbits of all the lives I’ve lived in this one 🫠
As always — your presence & support here means the world. Rock on right back at you! 🙏🏽🤍
I was riveted by this article!! I was in the middle of doing things but once I started reading I couldn't stop <3.
There's so much here that you've shared. But let me just first give a resounding YES to the fact that the school system is an outdated one that only measures one kind of intelligence. I whole-heartedly agree. As someone who excelled at it, I have since learned while on my journey that there are many different kinds of intelligence--and, arguably, more important kinds. For me, the most important that I figured out for myself (and which school never taught) was emotional intelligence.
And on that note, another resounding YES to svadhyaya. I've never heard of it before this article, but what a cool thing to learn about and relate to. I, too, think that one of the most important things you can do in life is to study and understand yourself. Because YOU are the medium through which you interact with the world, and always will be. The learning never stops, but once you get a better handle on it, so much opens up for you.
A compliment of the highest order! Thanks so much for taking the time to read, is an incredibly long one 🫠 & I confess the only article I’ve shared so far that was truly heart-in-the-throat to hit publish on 🙈 & absolutely! While I was in school I excelled at it too but I do think the kinds of intelligence measured are too few. A whole class on emotional intelligence would do us humans so much good later in life.
Svadhyaya is a fantastic concept, glad to introduce you to it! & well said — we are the medium through which we learn everything & the learning never stops 🥰 thanks for leaving such a thoughtful comment, glad this one captivated you 🙏🏽🤍
This article was gifted to me by the algorithm this morning, and I'm so glad to have found you! The amount of love and support you had growing up from your mom is amazing, despite the challenges of her addiction and illness. I always wanted to Do the Things, but I was not supported this way and grew up timid as a result.
Awh bless the algorithm, thank you so much! Yes much of my youth was challenging but I’ve often mused how much darker it could have been without her loving acceptance & the freedom it must have been so hard for her to offer me 🙏🏽 thank you for taking the time to read & leaving such a thoughtful comment. Truthfully this was likely the hardest article to hit publish on I’ve shared so far — a little heart in the throat — so you receiving it so sweetly means a lot. It’s lovely to connect with you 🤍
This piece really stayed with me. There’s something so powerful about the question, what does a high school dropout know. It feels like a challenge, but also like an invitation to reframe what knowledge and learning actually mean.
What I loved most is that it doesn’t treat dropping out as failure. It treats it as a different kind of path. Some people learn in schools. Some people learn in life. And sometimes the people who drop out end up knowing the most about resilience, real work, and what it takes to keep going when the system doesn’t fit you.
I also appreciated how this names the quiet judgment that dropouts face. The way people assume you’re less smart, less capable, less something. But life doesn’t always measure intelligence the way schools do. And some of the deepest wisdom comes from the people who were told they didn’t belong.
Thank you for writing this with so much honesty. It made me think about how much I’ve learned outside of classrooms, and how much we still have to learn from people who walked away and still made it.
This is a powerful essay because it refuses the easy story that dropping out meant the absence of learning. What emerges instead is a life of intense self-study, curiosity, survival, adaptation, and hard-won understanding, shaped by books, travel, body wisdom, grief, neurodivergence, and the rare gift of being allowed to keep searching for the form that fit.
I was especially struck by the teacher who saw you clearly enough to realize the learning centre had misread you, because that moment captures the whole essay in miniature: the right witness can interrupt the wrong label. Your reflection on svadhyaya gives the piece its deeper architecture, since the real curriculum became your own experience, patterns, resistance, capacities, and becoming.
Grateful for this honest and expansive reminder that some minds are not broken by taking the scenic route; they are finally given enough room to reveal what the straight road could not hold.
As always thanks so much for the thoughtful comment. ‘The right witness can disrupt the wrong label’ & ‘some minds are not broken by taking the scenic route; they are finally given enough room to see what the straight path could not hold’ are both very well said 🙏🏽🤍
Thank you for saying that. Your essay already carried those truths with such clarity, especially the way you showed learning as something larger than institutional approval or a single acceptable path. I’m glad those lines met the piece well, because the story you told gives real dignity to the long, searching route toward self-understanding. Grateful for the way your writing makes room for people whose becoming needed more space than the straight path offered.
When I read this, the first feeling I had was just to give you a big digital hug. You are a truly beautiful human :). The crazy thing is I've just been thinking about how the educational institutions we have right now are seriously behind what is possible. Your discussion of svadhyaya and how you've always been doing that no matter what your status was in the "school system" shows that you are actually doing it because you enjoy it. Living your life intentionally and not just following what the system tells you to do.
Rock on sister!
Awh thank you! Digital hug much felt 🌞 & yes the standard system (at least for many of the minds working their ways through it) could definitely benefit from a whole lot of svadhyaya. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. Was all a bit heart in the throat to hit share on something so damn long & encompassing so many lil tidbits of all the lives I’ve lived in this one 🫠
As always — your presence & support here means the world. Rock on right back at you! 🙏🏽🤍
I was riveted by this article!! I was in the middle of doing things but once I started reading I couldn't stop <3.
There's so much here that you've shared. But let me just first give a resounding YES to the fact that the school system is an outdated one that only measures one kind of intelligence. I whole-heartedly agree. As someone who excelled at it, I have since learned while on my journey that there are many different kinds of intelligence--and, arguably, more important kinds. For me, the most important that I figured out for myself (and which school never taught) was emotional intelligence.
And on that note, another resounding YES to svadhyaya. I've never heard of it before this article, but what a cool thing to learn about and relate to. I, too, think that one of the most important things you can do in life is to study and understand yourself. Because YOU are the medium through which you interact with the world, and always will be. The learning never stops, but once you get a better handle on it, so much opens up for you.
A compliment of the highest order! Thanks so much for taking the time to read, is an incredibly long one 🫠 & I confess the only article I’ve shared so far that was truly heart-in-the-throat to hit publish on 🙈 & absolutely! While I was in school I excelled at it too but I do think the kinds of intelligence measured are too few. A whole class on emotional intelligence would do us humans so much good later in life.
Svadhyaya is a fantastic concept, glad to introduce you to it! & well said — we are the medium through which we learn everything & the learning never stops 🥰 thanks for leaving such a thoughtful comment, glad this one captivated you 🙏🏽🤍
I have no doubt. It must be terribly heart-stopping to post something so intimate!
This article was gifted to me by the algorithm this morning, and I'm so glad to have found you! The amount of love and support you had growing up from your mom is amazing, despite the challenges of her addiction and illness. I always wanted to Do the Things, but I was not supported this way and grew up timid as a result.
Awh bless the algorithm, thank you so much! Yes much of my youth was challenging but I’ve often mused how much darker it could have been without her loving acceptance & the freedom it must have been so hard for her to offer me 🙏🏽 thank you for taking the time to read & leaving such a thoughtful comment. Truthfully this was likely the hardest article to hit publish on I’ve shared so far — a little heart in the throat — so you receiving it so sweetly means a lot. It’s lovely to connect with you 🤍
Wow. I’m in love with you now!!!
This piece really stayed with me. There’s something so powerful about the question, what does a high school dropout know. It feels like a challenge, but also like an invitation to reframe what knowledge and learning actually mean.
What I loved most is that it doesn’t treat dropping out as failure. It treats it as a different kind of path. Some people learn in schools. Some people learn in life. And sometimes the people who drop out end up knowing the most about resilience, real work, and what it takes to keep going when the system doesn’t fit you.
I also appreciated how this names the quiet judgment that dropouts face. The way people assume you’re less smart, less capable, less something. But life doesn’t always measure intelligence the way schools do. And some of the deepest wisdom comes from the people who were told they didn’t belong.
Thank you for writing this with so much honesty. It made me think about how much I’ve learned outside of classrooms, and how much we still have to learn from people who walked away and still made it.