I painted "Flights of Scares" shortly after leaving college a year early; I actually went to college for physics and maths (eh I know very different!). I realised it wasn't what I wanted to do quite quickly; but more importantly, I hated how it was still, like secondary school, about learning off things to regurgitate them on a page for an exam. I've always loved learning, and always hated this traditional system of learning; how does it benefit anyone? Where do all of those hours wasted on learning off paragraphs of text disappear to? It felt like an endless flight of stairs, and I never felt "good enough" for it.
Then, I left college... and I started learning things on my own. I don't think there's anything more fulfilling than self learning; you get to make mistakes freely (it doesn't affect your "grade"), and learn in such a natural, wonderful way. I'm completely self taught in art, asides a few painting classes, and I honestly never plan on going to art college because I know the joy of self direction in learning. If you're feeling down about being stuck in redundant education, why not try self learning?
Flights of Scares
Art Prints
He might be able to climb the tree, but will the monkey get where he wants to go by doing well in the exam?
If you feel limited by textbooks and teachers and lecturers and classrooms, it's the perfect fit. I used to like school when I was in primary and secondary- I was relatively good at most subjects and I got to see friends, but I always hated the dread of learning entire pages of nonsense off by heart just to regurgitate them in the exam. I think I've always loved learning- but not studying, especially not for things that were of both no interest or benefit to me. I think nowadays people feel segmented by whether they did well at school or not. I've seen this picture several times floating about, and I think what people are missing here, is that even if you can "climb the tree" (do well on written tests etc), the school system might give you what you want, you might get into your first choice college course, but....
...It might not be what you want, and it's much harder to realize this.
I was keen on being an artist for probably 3 years straight before a last minute switch onto teaching physics and maths. When you're an all rounder you get pulled from all sides, and often the side that's telling you what you really want to do is a "waste of your brains" will win. And if you don't do what your brain wants to do- what's the point in doing good on all those tests in the first place so?
School only teaches us how to be other people's version of success. So, get that gunk about "success is being employed in a fancy job with a fancy car" out of your head, start asking yourself "what is my version of success", and start self learning to achieve that.