GED / HS Diploma

[jeff black]

What I don't get....

Aren't you almost done school as it is? You must be in your last year by now... You can't handle going to school for an additional 8 months? I mean, shit Josh. It is minimal compared to what you have already taken.

I know you and HS are not seeing Eye to Eye, but not finishing highschool and getting a GED now is the same as quitting a job three days before your pension kicks in.

Best to just stay in school and finish it. You can bite your tongue and go by the system until June, no?:biggrin1:

 

[brainzz_n_dong]

This is some of what you posted on 8-27-06:

Hello,


I'm new to the forums. I'm an 18 year old highschool student, I am taking several music and theatre classes and play guitar. I plan on going to college to major in theatre and minor in literature. I have been in a band for the past few years, at first I was the lead singer and lyricist, but I have decided to step back, I'm now the lyricist and lead guitarist. Personally I enjoy guitar more than singing.

Two months later and you have a whole new battle plan. Nothing wrong with that, period. You have the right to chart your own course. But, you are responsible to yourself for the consequences of your decisions.

I think you could combine the advice of Lex, Jeff Black, and Tripod and bat 1.000. You're all but done with HS. Stay in it, finish it, and give the future Josh options he may not realize exist now, deny people who would hold your lack of a HS diploma over your head the right to do so, and still plan on heading to Chicago at some point down the road to pursue your eventual goals in life.

Chicago has been standing for some time now. I'm sure it'll be there in all its grime and glory if you wait a few extra months.

 

[D_Herin_Ghan]

Go to high school man, get that diploma. GED or not, employers sometimes look down on people who did not finish their high school education.

Quick question, do you have the grades to get into the school you want?

Chicago...are you planning to go to Northwestern?

If so, we look forward to kicking your ass again next year...

WE ARE...PENN STATE!

 

[mephistopheles]

This is some of what you posted on 8-27-06:

Hello,


I'm new to the forums. I'm an 18 year old highschool student, I am taking several music and theatre classes and play guitar. I plan on going to college to major in theatre and minor in literature. I have been in a band for the past few years, at first I was the lead singer and lyricist, but I have decided to step back, I'm now the lyricist and lead guitarist. Personally I enjoy guitar more than singing.

Two months later and you have a whole new battle plan. Nothing wrong with that, period. You have the right to chart your own course. But, you are responsible to yourself for the consequences of your decisions.

Actually my plans havent changed at all, that's still what they are.

 

[dannymawg]

Finish high school.

This is advice (which you are soliciting...) from someone who has a varied but solid resume which includes a HS degree and a year of liberal arts at a HS with ashtrays (community college - shouldn't be knocking it :biggrin1: ), but I will be on the eternal job hunt due to living the starving artist lifestyle you think is cool. I've been involved in Chicago rock music in some form or fashion for 21 years - and all gainful employment for me between 1988-2001 was only to serve my muse as a part-time rock star, and while your future looks controllable and romantic from here, wait til yer 40 kid.

I've worked/played music alongside folks from many walks of life, from illegal aliens up to doctorate degreed professionals, and folks with GED's in between. All comments on here pertaining to "degree over a GED" showing some form of drive/goal achievement ring true. I was going to quit school too, and am thankful now that I didn't, having witnessed what I have. And I've also witnessed the rise and fall of so many bands, I can't begin to describe what's in front of you. If you have what good representation can work with (i.e., lawyers with connections, material, looks, hype, etc.), you stand a chance. Otherwise you'll be using your share of last weeks' $250 gig to upgrade your internet connection to handle the myspace traffic.

As far as Chicago goes - I've lived around/in Chicago my whole life. Can't really refute/dispel too much of what's been said about ChiIL here. Be happy to fill you in when you get here.

Chicago has been standing for some time now. I'm sure it'll be there in all its grime and glory if you wait a few extra months.

Ain't it though? Here's a deep dish pizza, there's the Sears Tower. Chicago, gangsters, bang bang! Now stop hassling me, I'm local :biggrin1:

 

[mephistopheles]

Okay...

Thanks for all the insight and shit folks.

But now I'm going to stop reading this thread.

I know you dont mean it this way, but every single comment comes off as condescending to me because I'm younger than yourself. I'm not the same as you, I don't see things the same way as you, and lets admit it, I never will. I'll prolly stick in highschool.

But for future reference: I'm not in music, art, film, or literature for the money! I'm not in it for the "cool" lifestyle as you so graciously put it. I am in it for the self gratitude, and no one can give that to me but me! No amount of money or fame, or friends can give it to me!
I hate to come off as cliche, but I feel everysingle person in here(with the exception of Tripod) has completely and utterly misunderstood me in a very gross fashion.

Listen to what I say, not what my age tells you. I can almost guarantee I won't live past 50, and I know its not something to shoot for, but my lifestyle wont allow it, and I can tell you right now, you don't know anything about my lifestyle, and you never will(except Tripod, or PistonDude)
I'm a 40 year old man stuck in an 18 year olds body.

I doubt you'll understand what I'm saying, and I dont care if you do, as far as I'm concerned people are expendable, particularly ones I will never met(e.i. All of you) And believe me, I'm no better... If there wasn't something out there I really enjoyed(music, art, film, etc.) I prolly would have killed myself a while ago.

Say what you want, I can here to get my point across and, as usual, have failed miserably becuase people listen to my age, not to my words.

Thanks for everything,



Josh "Danzig" Dodson
(And there will be no reason to post any more comments in this post, seeing as how I wont read them)

 

[dannymawg]

OK... so what happened between here...

This is my future, and no one can choose what I do but me... but I could use a little help, a little advice, a little counsel... So please help me out!

...and here?

Okay...

Thanks for all the insight and shit folks.

But now I'm going to stop reading this thread.

I know you dont mean it this way, but every single comment comes off as condescending to me because I'm younger than yourself. I'm not the same as you, I don't see things the same way as you, and lets admit it, I never will. I'll prolly stick in highschool.

Chalk it up to youthful indignance :biggrin1: And methinks you probably already knew the answer to your original post.

But for future reference: I'm not in music, art, film, or literature for the money! I'm not in it for the "cool" lifestyle as you so graciously put it. I am in it for the self gratitude, and no one can give that to me but me! No amount of money or fame, or friends can give it to me!
I hate to come off as cliche, but I feel everysingle person in here(with the exception of Tripod) has completely and utterly misunderstood me in a very gross fashion.

As ageist as it seems, folks with experience chose to chime in on your issue and offer the advice you solicited, and you chose to spit vitriol and make incendiary comments. I suspect it's because folks overwhemingly endorsed a HS diploma a little too quickly - they didn't address your lifestyle choice directly - and fishing for affirmation is a strong trait in youth.

About the only comment that could be construed as attack against your potential lifestyle was, admittedly, mine - concerning making money in music. Again, I was only trying to offer some advice, from having been there. My music career tanked (never took off is more like it), so maybe I shouldn't be offering advice. But as a good citizen I even offered a welcome to town. It's still extended. But please reconsider posting hateful responses in the context of a thread originally soliciting advice.

RE: the starving artist lifestyle = get used to chicks with hairy armpits. Again speaking from ageist experience here :biggrin1:

HA HA! Caught you looking!

 

[LambHair McNeil]

I don't post much here. My post total proves that. I more prefer to chat & read & see what is going on in this corner of the internet. Threads like this one are why.

Kid opens a thread. Thread is about seeking advice and input on something important to him. Several people respond. Many of them look to be forum veterans who seem to have his best interests at heart. Only one person strikes a chord with the OP. The others are offering good advice, but since it's not what the OP wants to hear or deal with, he announces he is now ignoring the thread and off-handedly thanks and smacks down the other posters, since they are "expendable people" & don't "understand him".

Back to chatting & reading...

 

[Shelby]

I don't care if you fucking read it or not beeyotch.

A high scholl diploma only proves one thing. That you can put up with a lot of shit. Unfortunately many prospective employers love that.
​

 

[Shelby]

Sorry about the name calling.:tongue:

You seem pretty smart. That can be a bitch to work through. Hang in there wherever there is. Shit will change.

All I know.

​

 

[Nitrofiend]

I know you're gonna read this...

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. You are a very immature teenager with a ridiculous and cliche' view of his future.

I know the lowest class. I've seen it, I've slept with it, I've lived it, and I've befriended it. However, that is not the kind of thing you want to live as if given the choice. And you are being given that choice.

GED's are for people who cut corners, and employers and educators know that. Go through the motions until you gain the credibility and experience to begin pursuing your dreams. And trust me, you won't like being a pauper when you find out that no one gives a shit about your principles. Not to mention it's hard for anyone to respect you if you're not willing to help yourself.

How does your lifestyle limit you to living for only 50 years? Do you have any idea how trite you sound? So you want to make a career as a guitar musician and not gain any fame or money from it. 'Sounds like a bum to me. Who's going to see your writing or even care about what you have to say when your views are this underdeveloped and this idealized? It makes me wonder what your lyrics are like...


Bottom Line: Sit down, shut up, and listen for a while.