I remember my first year of college ('99) was super serious. Work hard, study hard, get good grades, and follow most of the rules. Only smoke pot on the weekends when all my work was done. All A's, Dean's list both semesters. I didn't learn anything though. Not only that, but...

...there were people going into their 2nd year of college with no major and had no idea what they wanted a career in. I thought during freshman orientation that going to college with no major was a little strange, but it was explained that "You'll figure it out." That's silly!

Not many people I talked to thought it was strange, so maybe it's just me? Second year comes and I'm still not really learning anything, at least not in the classroom anyway. I started to be bothered by this, but I thought people kept saying how smart I am, maybe that's it?

So I thought, if I can't learn in the classroom for the time being, not at least until I take senior level classes (I guess), I'll learn to be social and make friends. Brilliant I thought! It would be nice to get laid before I graduate college, lol. Maybe I'll figure it out.

College kids really seem to love drugs, so that will be my way into social circles, I thought, lol. Fast forward 4.5 years. Drug addiction, majority of friends gone even the ones that went wild, still didn't get laid, and still no academic learning going on in the classroom!

What the fuck did I pay for then?! Oh yeah, now after it's over the bill is due! Career? Nah, unpaid internship is the only way to go! WTF?! So basically I had to get a job right out of college to pay for wasting my time at adult sleep over camp for 5.5 years! Bill due now!

And on top of all that, I actually lost some ability to socialize. So not only did I waste time, waste potential money, didn't learn anything (other than how to run a drug empire), but I actually lost myself as well. And now I have to work my ass off pumping gas to pay for it?

Honestly, I could have dealt with all that, but graduating college and still a virgin?! No dice, world! And thus began my gradual decent into madness... Oh wait, what's this? OK, virgin rage averted, but now everything else is far past due. Tried for years to make it on my own...

...in America, no go. It wasn't the system though as it turns out. It took me leaving America and starting anew in another country along with another few years of healing just to say, "Hey I think I'm where I should have been after graduating high school."

Except now 14 years completely down the drain, and another 5 years just to get back to where I should have been 20 years ago. All of this, all because I didn't ask a simple question, "What happens if I don't go to college right away?" Computer Science degree turned out to be BS.

Actually all college degrees are complete BS, unless you have some type of career game plan before you even start going. It would have been nice to have this information before 20 years of my life went down the toilet as I still feel like I really haven't learned anything.

The kicker, imo, coming to Serbia probably would not have work as good as it did if I came here back in 1999. I don't think that completes any kind of circle though, lol.

There some anecdote about some hot Serbian model picking me up at a bar when I went to celebrate getting my first good paycheck, but I really couldn't fit in it so here it is at the end of this thread. Like I said it wasn't the system that held me back... was it the people?