14
My uncle in Cleveland told me dropping out was his best move, and I finally get it.
I was visiting him last month and he said, 'I left school in '92 with $8,000 in debt and a job offer to fix industrial printers. I've been running my own shop for 20 years now.' He never framed it as a failure, just a different path that needed his full focus. It made me stop seeing my own choice as a permanent setback. Anyone else have a family member who changed how you saw your own dropout story?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
miles_perez2mo ago
That's a solid point about debt not always being the full story. My aunt left school with way less debt than @pauljones's cousin but still felt stuck for years, until she started bookkeeping for local contractors. Hearing her talk about it now, she just needed a clear shot at something practical. It really reframes the whole "dropout" label.
7
grace_perry4413d ago
My uncle in Pittsburgh had the exact opposite take when I told him I was thinking about dropping out. He dropped out in the 80s and spent 10 years bouncing between dead end jobs before he got his GED and learned welding. He told me straight up that his biggest regret was thinking he could skip the hard part and still make it work. I respect that your uncle found his groove, but I've seen too many people where the "different path" story ends with them stuck in something they hate because they never finished anything. Not saying college is the only way, just that the dropout narrative gets romanticized a lot when the stats say most people don't end up like your uncle.
1