I feel like I would make use of it more if I could do it again. Maybe that’s weird, I don’t know.
It’d be nice to do the whole childhood over again but with parents who loved me.
Does anyone wish they could go back to the beginning of schooling and re-live their education/school experience from the start?
Submitted 5 months ago by Lafari@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
Comments
theblueredditrefugee@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 months ago
TheDoctorDonna@lemmy.world 5 months ago
This is the only thing that would make me say no. I could relive the shitty school years, I could not relive the shitty home years.
feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Yeah, even with all the benefits I’d have knowing everything I know now… I don’t think I could handle it. I think I’d literally murder my father, actually, and that would probably cause a lot of additional problems.
mysoulishome@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I laughed, then cried
Steve@startrek.website 5 months ago
Hell no
Fondots@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Honestly, no.
I learned a lot in school and I retained a hell of a lot of it, but from middle school onward I wasn’t a good student because I had absolutely no interest in doing homework, reports, reading the books I was assigned, projects, etc. so I scraped by skipping as much of that as I could.
I ended up in a profession where I don’t need a degree, and I’m not rolling in it, the job security and benefits are amazing (county government job,) I’m making an OK living, I enjoy the work I do as much as I’m capable of enjoying any job, and I’m happy to stick this out until I can retire.
The things I wish I learned better in school are things like trig, which would be nice because I’ve developed a little interest in things like machining, but would only ever want to pursue that as a hobby, not professionally, so no great loss there. Frankly though, my school’s math program sucked and I’ve probably taught myself more math from casually watching a couple YouTube videos than I would have learned in a decade of high school math classes there.
The things people love to complain about not learning in school- finance, politics, etc. I think I have a pretty solid handle on. Maybe I’m better wired to put those pieces together than they are, maybe my parents did a good job of teaching me that themselves, maybe those people are idiots, maybe some combination of all of those things or none at all.
A lot of my best friends today and even my wife I can trace directly back to sitting next to and goofing off with one guy in a history class at community college before I dropped out. If I’d been a better student I may have gone to a 4-year college, or maybe would have taken different classes, or just fucked around less and never hit it off with him, and my life would be drastically different. It’s probably even likely I wouldn’t have found the current job that I really like, I stumbled onto it by chance while I was living in an apartment with my wife (then girlfriend) and a roommate.
And without a lot of those life experiences I had in the decade or so after school, I don’t know that I’d be able to do the job I do now, I don’t think I would have been able to cut it fresh out of high school, I definitely needed those shitty jobs, misadventures, etc. to mold me into the person I am, and I’m overall pretty happy with that person.
Not that there aren’t things I’d do differently given the chance, but not enough that I’d want a total do-over. Just give me a chance to go back and slap younger me upside the head once in a while to get him to exercise more or brush our teeth a little more diligently and I’ll take it, but there’s a lot of mistakes I had to make along the way, and I don’t want to interfere with any of those cannon events.
BrerChicken@lemmy.world 5 months ago
The things I wish I learned better in school are things like trig, which would be nice because I’ve developed a little interest in things like machining
I see that you’ve watched some videos, and you should definitely continue that. I teach HS physics, but I never took an actual trig class because of an administrative quirk. I thought I had this huge gap in trig but eventually I realized that there’s just not that much. You can definitely teach yourself trig!
Khan Academy is great, but the secret sauce is in really trying to understand WHY you get some of these problems wrong. If you really spend some time trying to find each mistake, and thinking about what exactly makes it a mistake, you’ll be all set.
Daxtron2@startrek.website 5 months ago
Fuck no that sounds awful
Critical_Insight@feddit.uk 5 months ago
Fuuck no! While there sure are thing I miss about my childhood and teenage years school isn’t one of those. School fucking sucked.
chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 months ago
What I always think about whenever this sort of question comes up is how it would be super awkward having an adult brain but having to interact with children as peers
adespoton@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
That’s how I remember highschool being. I wouldn’t want to repeat it.
Elementary school was even worse, as I had almost zero agency. At least I was able to help my kids through that humiliating process where they often knew more than the teacher about a subject but still had to follow the learning process du jour.
I’ve always thought that school was more about learning how to interact with difficult people than about enriching personal knowledge. That bit happens at home if it happens at all.
Classy@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
Youth is wasted on the young, and wisdom is wasted on the old.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 5 months ago
On one hand I wish I’d handled a lot of it differently and studied more. On the other hand I’m not sure how much I’d realistically have been able to change considering what I needed was medication and accommodations that just weren’t going to happen, so instead I’d just be putting myself into when my trauma happened and being more vulnerable, which doesn’t sound like a great idea.
psud@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I studied well, got a really good tertiary ranking (95th percentile) and chose a degree program that seemed good. I hated that course. Didn’t finish it. If I hadn’t had that experience I would probably make the same mistake again.
burliman@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Hell yes. Go back with all my masterful adult experience and knowledge, so I could own that place. It would be glorious.
Or I’d still get bullied into non existence. Kids are still way meaner than me, even as a grizzled grown up….
rufus@discuss.tchncs.de 5 months ago
School? No. University: Maybe.
It’s never too late to learn things. Read some books, visit a library and get the standard literature. It’s not as easy as if you were learning as a kid, because adults have other things to do and it’s difficult to muster up the time… But I still like to broaden my perspective and learn new things. And I admire people who are like 65 and choose to attend some university course or learn a new music instrument.
wrath_of_grunge@kbin.social 5 months ago
when i was about 10 or so we moved to a new neighborhood. obviously that meant exploring the new area, and making new friends. the first people i met in that area lived down the road from me. two of my new friends were brothers, one a bit older than the other, both several years older than me. they had a neighbor, who was my age, and we attended 3rd grade together.
the older brother was a bit wiser and kinder, the younger brother could be a bit bullheaded at times. when i was about 15, i left to live with my dad. those 5 or so years seemed so incredibly formative on my upbringing, for good or bad. around that time the younger brother died in a car wreck, and i really hadn't spent much time with them since i moved away.
to this day, i remember something the older brother taught me, which was to try to learn something new everyday. you won't always succeed, but it's still important to try.
i'm 40. the amount of time i lived there was really only about 1/8th of my life. but i still try to learn something new everyday.
rufus@discuss.tchncs.de 5 months ago
I can relate to that. It’s fascinating that even limited time with some people provides us with something lasting for life.
I think there is really quite some truth to it. We adults oftentimes are captured within our daily grind.
yamanii@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I don’t think it would change much, I have problem focusing and studying, and 20 years ago ADHD was still a “hit him/yell at him until he studies”.
bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 5 months ago
No. School was awful.
Of course I would do it, if I could retain my current knowledge and use it to make tons of money. But I guess that is not the point of thi question.
BilboBargains@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I would like to do school again but start it with an ADHD diagnosis.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Uh, my life is better than when I was a kid.
TheInsane42@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Hell no. School was the worst time of my life, I was glad I could decide to skip school days when the education was hugely lacking and study quietly at home. The school system held me back hugely, as the higher level kids were kept back by the kids strugling. Also the constant bullying at school made me hate being amongst people.
wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 5 months ago
No, I imagine I’d be twice as bored the second time around.
tamal3@lemmy.world 5 months ago
College, yes. I should have done social time separately from education and taken a year or two off. High school, absolutely not. No way.
boyi@lemmy.sdf.org 5 months ago
I wish to re-live my school life with better career counselling experience. Career counsellors were non-existent during my school years. I supposed, my career path will be a lot less complicated if someone could direct me to the right career based on my inclination instead of me choosing jobs that has nice titles.
Cerise_W@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I’ve been in grad school for ten years, I’d choose less school.
Evotech@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Many people would like to go back, but you have to remember how fucking clueless your were as a kid.
You’re not going to make better choices somehow
bighatchester@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Yeah I fucked up alot in my highschool years and had a drinking problem. I would just like an opportunity to be able to get into some type of IT job or something like that . But I don’t see how I could do that in my current position working 2 jobs so I don’t end up homeless . Doing my very best to make sure my kid does better than me though.
pugsnroses77@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
move to a cheap ass, tiny ass town and find an online program to get certified. seems to work for a lot of people here in ohio.
Evotech@lemmy.world 5 months ago
That’s the best you can do for sure!
theangryseal@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I just want to go back with a prescription for Ritalin and parents who didn’t have the house in a state of total war at all times.
I love them, I don’t blame them. They were poor uneducated hillbillies just like me. I have made many mistakes.
I was definitely a smart kid. I heard it everywhere I went. I’m a dumb adult though because I had no support whatsoever.
I’m sitting here with two beautiful little brats though, and everything I experienced brought me to this. I guess I can’t be too bummed about it, but I’d still like to know how it would’ve gone.
I love my life though. That’s really what matters. I’ve been very lucky right behind and around all that bad luck.
RegalPotoo@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Not school generally, but definitely university. Turns out giving an 18 year old total agency with very little accountability doesn’t really set you up for success. I got through (mostly because a close friend kicked my ass), but was a terrible student and am still filling in gaps in my skills a decade later
cabron_offsets@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I mean, yeah, sorta. I’d probably redo high school and take it semiseriously and get straight As and go to MIT instead of fucking around and getting pretty good but not excellent grades. Then I’d study CS and Econ and be a quant douche and be rich as fuck.
But, I wrote sorta for good reason: had I not followed my particular stochastic path, I wouldn’t have met my wife, I wouldn’t be in bed with my kid right now, while my wife is in bed with the other kid.
So, no. I wouldn’t trade my fortune to be a quant douche.
All else equal? Sure, why not.
jdf038@mander.xyz 5 months ago
This is where the “what if you could change your direction in the multiverse” aspect dies for me: my kids. I wouldn’t trade them for any better choices on my end.
That said I’d totally have brushed my teeth more when I was younger. That can’t have ripple effects can it? (Twilight zone music intensifies)
kraftpudding@lemmy.world 5 months ago
No way I’d sign up for ever being a child again. That shit sucks even more than adulthood.
HipsterTenZero@dormi.zone 5 months ago
Nahhh, im good with the childhood trauma ive already got. no need to double down.
yokonzo@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Yes definitely, growing up I had major major fucking ADHD, like to the point where I had a helper follow me around and I would sit after school and cry because I couldn’t focus on my homework. If I could go back now, even if I still had to deal with the level of focus issues I had as a kid, I feel like I could use my experience now to power through it and have the success I wanted. Also, I could take up music while I still have a kid brain and shit sticks
RIP_Cheems@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Fuck no. I’ve been through too much shit to start over.
Poem_for_your_sprog@lemmy.world 5 months ago
RIP cheems :(
other_cat@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Fuck no my life didn’t start getting decent until my late 20s, and nothing that came before that was in my control to change.
pan0wski@infosec.pub 5 months ago
No, my life is much better now.
OneWomanCreamTeam@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
Yes. But I wish I could go back and experience a real education, in a real school. Instead of being homeschooled by a hardcore evangelical.
Really I wish I could experience the social aspect. I’ve managed to educate myself pretty sufficiently enough to function in society. People even seem impressed with how smart I am, and are shocked to hear I didn’t get a real education. But I can’t help but feel like being isolated for the first 18 years of my life left me severely, socially stunted.
littlebluespark@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Frankly, the further one grows past the school age, the more (I’ve found) one finds that all that was only practice for the actual schooling. Keep getting smarter, and never stop learning! 🤘🏼
otter@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
I’ve sometimes thought along the lines of OP, and for me it was thinking about opportunities that were available back then. One could get a better head start in life by doing better in school or applying for the right program, or even just switching to the right career path sooner.
What’s nice though is that we might someday want to jump back to where we are right now, and we can take advantage of our current opportunities too :)
littlebluespark@lemmy.world 5 months ago
To quote a recent bit of dark AF insight: “Kids these days say ‘when I grow up, I wanna—’ Nah. It’s 70F in Dec. You ain’t growing up, son.”
On the other hand, nostalgia is a golden-haloed liar. The only “good times” are right fucking now. Live your life in the present, not the cherry-picked & misremembered past.