Personal Investigation - Turn on, tune in, drop out

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Cont ents:

“F*** YOUR STEREO TYPES”

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rose and emilee dropped out of sixth form halfway through their a-levels. But found that the difficult part was to deal with outsider's perceptions on their decision and the criticism they faced even though it was the best thing for them.

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Emilee “don’t place so much trust in experts; everything's just an agreement, not a fact”

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the good, the bad and the

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HAND ON HEART 8

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ignorance

“ I t h i n k i t ’ s h e a lt h y f o r peo ple t o t ry t o e s c a pe t h e o r din a ry o n c e in a w h i l e ; i t k e e ps yo u sane” “As teens who live in a western society, we have been raised to believe in the structure of academia and I think we need to think about the bigger picture. For us right now this seems like the most important and vital thing in our life and it’s a time which determines our lives forever. I think we should all take a step back and look at the bigger picture where we put our health first.

Despite pressures, whether that’s from our friends or parents or teachers this is a time where we need to put ourselves first and stop placing so much trust in experts. Dropping out doesn’t mean you’re never going to succeed in life; it’s just postponing it until you’re mentally and physically ready.

Because if you were to push through how you’re feeling right now and complete your a levels and go to uni straight away and then throw yourself into a job, in the end it’s going to catch up with you; mental health isn’t something which disappears if you ignore it enough. If I were to listen to people’s advice I would then have to deal with a worse case of my mental health for the foreseeable future and so it would be the best thing to deal with it now while it’s not at a critical condition I think it’s healthy for people to try to escape the ordinary once in a while; it keeps you sane. The system which we’re embedded in can be so toxic and brainwashing. People forget how to think for themselves which is such a dangerous and scary thing.”

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rose

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“you see my blue as red” Rose went through a lot emotionally and physically during her first year of a-levels, she received next to nothing on the bases of support from her school and was often disregarded and so left her and her friends to fore fill the role which a trained professional would normally take in aid to attempt to improve things. This was a huge set back for Rose as it really effected her mental health which intern effected everything else in her life and started to take over, her motivation, school work, and attendance were a few attributes which were affected her academically.

Dropping out in April, Rose received a lot of comments from others about how she should persevere and how this is the wrong thing to do in order to become successful in life. Being a naturally strong character; Rose knew that this was the right decision for her and stuck by her choice despite what people said.

A few months on and Rose is in a better place although still striving for improvement. Now she goes by the observation which is: “you see my blue as red”. By this she explains how the things which helps her and the time she takes out worries others as it’s out of the societal norm, but in fact we should all look outside the constructs and question everything, in this society it is easy to become numb and forget to check in with ourselves and ask ourselves if this is what we really want or if we are actually, genuinely happy. We all place far too much trust in experts.

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The quote “no rain, no flowers” is one which strongly resonated with me as, like I have mentioned, without those low and dark periods; I would not apricate the good ones and after difficult times those are the ones which taste sweeter and are greater than if I didn’t experience any difficulties and so I’m more appreciative and have more overall gratitude.

Most people look at my actions in black and white; “she’s a drop out and working in a café, what's she doing with her life?

She’s going nowhere”. But in fact what I’m doing is more commendable then everyone else who is following the norm; I saw and accepted that being in full time education is the least productive thing for me and my future and did something about it, which most people are scared to do. Our society is built on structure and it is something we depend deeply on and can often be toxic as we forget to think for ourselves.

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WE ARE WHO WE ARE 17

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“I’m trying to get better at understa nding everythin g that went on in my past, so I can relate it to who I am to day”

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“this is the youngest we’ll ever be, we need to embrace that”

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Even though I have been through difficult times and low moments, I look back on it now and realise that without those lows and dark times; I would not be the person I am today. It has allowed me to grow in maturity and learn what’s important as well as who’s there for you in your times of need. I wouldn’t change what I’ve been through or what I’m going through as overall I would rather have a life which has experienced trauma

and learnt how to deal with it now instead of going into the adult world naïve, attached and dependent.

This experience has helped me establish stronger and more poignant bounds with people who I care about and also developed into a dependable support system for others which gives me a sense of identity and purpose.

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“we’re all just objects waiting to become subjects, it’s just a matter of time and initiative”

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il dolce far niente