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Education does not guarantee success. Nor the lack of education doom you to failure.
This.
I had a very low (low to mid 2.xx range, IIRC) in high school. I did slightly better in college, but not much. I've done very well in my young professional life, mainly due to my ability to speak/write (call it - "communicate") very well.
Bush Jr was an admitted "C" student. John Majors never completed a degree, Bill Gates, etc. Einstein was thought by his teachers to be retarded in grade school. Pleasing the teacher get's you an "A". That doesn't always translate into success in life.
They can, but it's tougher. It's better to get a good start with education and continue on that path, but I barely made it through high school but later completed one undergrad and two graduate degrees!
So yes, you can do well without an education; but the odds are much better if you have one!
Low GPAs don't tell you anything about future success because they can be a product of far too many variables for a polarized response like "yes and no."
Adolescence is a tricky time; bodies are telling kids that they are ready for experiences that their minds are not ready for at all. When you toss in the fact that the adolescent mind has not yet developed the ability to make decisions based on consequences, you have a walking time-bomb that may or may not have a support system at home.
It is the support sysem at home that is a better indicator of later success because if that is absent the student is really going to struggle with decision making, and decision making is ultimately what success is most often a result of.
I suppose that it would depend upon what happens later on in life. Some kids who do drugs manage to kick the habit and turn their lives around. The kids who study but are below average students may succeed *if* they are persistent and learn despite their low grades. Some of these students are dyslexic, too.
Here are some successful people who had bad grades in high school. All of them had dyslexia or another learning disorder.
Henry Winkler
Danny Glover
Cher
Nolan Ryan
Winston Churchill
Agatha Christie
Thomas Edison
Tom Cruise
Harry Belafonte
Bruce Jenner
Magic Johnson
George Patton
Charles Schwab
Bush Jr was an admitted "C" student. John Majors never completed a degree, Bill Gates, etc. Einstein was thought by his teachers to be retarded in grade school. Pleasing the teacher get's you an "A". That doesn't always translate into success in life.
Bill Gates had an excellent high school GPA at his private prep school and a 1590 on on his SATs. And at Einsteins catholic school he was a top performing student even in elementary school.
I mean do the kids in high school that do drugs, don't really study, or the ones that do study but are still below average students anyways, do they ever get anywhere in life?
I don't know, you decide.
Didn't do drugs, ever, but I barely got out of high school. Had a good SAT score (and a friend in Admissions) and went to college. Graduated from there with a full point over my HS GPA (this was before grade inflation anywhere). Kicked around a bit in management for a couple different industries, went into Naval Aviation, left that, couldn't find work (early 80s recession) and moved to MD and started teaching. Starting my 27th or 28th year in a couple months. Been elected to public office 5 times since 1986 (sat out a couple terms, I was tired of it).
I don't know if the above qualifies as my "getting anywhere in life".
My experience as a teacher shows me that most of the kids, whether good students in HS or not, get somewhere. Sometimes it just takes being out and getting a job. Sometimes it's because what we teach in HS isn't what they want to learn (the current idea of "college for all" comes to mind). Sometimes it's because their parents enable them to be jerks (I have a couple of those this year). Or sometimes it's a combination of the above or something else.
Is it possible? Sure it is, but you'd better have lots of talent and grit. And you'd better have an awesome set of people skills.
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