Half of me is glad I went. The other half? Hated every second of it.
Let’s be real: high school is mostly a waste of time. I spent three years at Clark Magnet, and the second I got home, I buried myself in my computer—Minecraft, maybe some CSGO. That was my life. I wasn’t some star student. I got into trouble, made some dumb decisions, and spent way too much time dealing with nonsense that, looking back, didn’t matter.
One of my biggest regrets? Not leaving sooner. I took the CHSPE (California High School Proficiency Exam)—aka the easiest f*cking exam ever—and dipped out at 17. But the real cheat code? You can take that test at 16. If I had known how much of a life fast-track this was, I’d have been gone earlier.
Of course, the school didn’t want me to leave. Counselors tried to convince my parents it was a bad idea. Spoiler alert: they were wrong. It took me actually failing classes to force my parents into letting me take the test. They later acted like it was their idea all along. Classic.
The Education System is a Joke
I’m not even going to waste time breaking down my grades because, honestly, high school shouldn’t exist in its current form. The four years we spend repeating the same general education garbage could easily be condensed into a couple of community college classes. I could’ve taken the same gen-ed courses as a high school freshman and gotten the same (or better) grades. Why waste four years of life for a piece of paper that doesn’t mean anything?
STEM Should Be Cool, But Schools Make It Lame
I love science and technology. Always have. But Clark made STEM feel like a dorky afterthought instead of something that actually builds the future. Instead of making engineering and robotics aspirational, they made it some weird extracurricular that only the “nerds” joined. There was no connection to entrepreneurship, innovation, or real-world impact—just boring assignments and a general “this is what you should do if you like math” vibe.
STEM should be about building sh*t that changes the world. Instead, they made it feel like an after-school club no one wanted to join. If schools actually connected STEM to money, power, and impact, way more people would be into it. Instead, they turned it into another “uncool” academic track.
School Was a War. Home Was a War.
If there’s one thing I remember from this time, it’s feeling like I was constantly fighting battles. School was a war—arguing with teachers, dealing with dumb rules, and wasting time on stuff that didn’t matter. Home wasn’t much better. The only escape? My computer. That’s where I actually learned things that mattered—coding, gaming, watching YouTube videos that sparked my curiosity way more than any class ever did.
The Truth About High School
Looking back, high school was a time sink. If you’re reading this and you’re still in high school, take the CHSPE and get out. Seriously. Don’t waste four years unless you’re getting something valuable out of it—connections, experience, or a direct path to something you actually want. Otherwise, you’re just delaying real life.
I don’t regret everything about Clark Magnet, but I know this: I could’ve left sooner, learned faster, and started life earlier. The system isn’t built to optimize your future—it’s built to keep you on a predictable path. If you want to break out, you have to take the shortcuts no one tells you about.
That’s the truth.