Grade your life so far
Discussion
Did you end up doing what was expected of you? Interesting question 
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I always got good academic results at school without trying too hard and was probably expected to get some kind of office/suit job by just about everyone.
But at school or work I never liked being a part of someone else’s system and so ended up self employed just after I turned 22 and have spent my career in a niche hands-on corner of the motor trade which I have loved. Along the way I have also converted my motorsport hobby into a part time job as a race instructor. I’m now mid 50s, no mortgage or debt and could retire but still quite enjoying the job(s) so just easing back a bit instead.
If they did school year books back in the 80s, I’m pretty sure I would have been "the least likely person to…." for any of the things I ended up doing
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Grading it would be hard. I always think you regret the things you didn’t do more than the things you did; while I have taken a lot of opportunities (career, built my own home, small car collection, raced cars and bikes etc) there is always things where I wonder "what if I had…….."
So at school it was probably an A- (could try harder), in life I’ll give myself a B because of the things I haven’t done, I would probably be given a D by my teachers for the route I took but that says more about them than me
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.I always got good academic results at school without trying too hard and was probably expected to get some kind of office/suit job by just about everyone.
But at school or work I never liked being a part of someone else’s system and so ended up self employed just after I turned 22 and have spent my career in a niche hands-on corner of the motor trade which I have loved. Along the way I have also converted my motorsport hobby into a part time job as a race instructor. I’m now mid 50s, no mortgage or debt and could retire but still quite enjoying the job(s) so just easing back a bit instead.
If they did school year books back in the 80s, I’m pretty sure I would have been "the least likely person to…." for any of the things I ended up doing
.Grading it would be hard. I always think you regret the things you didn’t do more than the things you did; while I have taken a lot of opportunities (career, built my own home, small car collection, raced cars and bikes etc) there is always things where I wonder "what if I had…….."
So at school it was probably an A- (could try harder), in life I’ll give myself a B because of the things I haven’t done, I would probably be given a D by my teachers for the route I took but that says more about them than me
.6 O levels and failed my A levels
Fell onto an access course and got two degrees.
Also got some well regarded professional qualifications which have done more for me than the degrees.
Now doing OK financially but I'm not a manager or doing anything that I couldn't have worked up to.
Sometimes I look at my school results and think I should have been a bank clerk and sometimes I look at my degrees and think I should be something more than I'm doing.
Family wise I'm happy, got good friends and my health.
B-
Fell onto an access course and got two degrees.
Also got some well regarded professional qualifications which have done more for me than the degrees.
Now doing OK financially but I'm not a manager or doing anything that I couldn't have worked up to.
Sometimes I look at my school results and think I should have been a bank clerk and sometimes I look at my degrees and think I should be something more than I'm doing.
Family wise I'm happy, got good friends and my health.
B-
My parents found my old school reports from just before I sat my GCSEs the other day. They definitely weren't as glowing as I seemed to remember and there was a recurring theme of 'could do much better if he applied himself'. As it was, I never really did apply myself to study but actually ended up getting much better GCSEs than predicted. A-levels went the other way and I didn't get the grades for my first choice uni but got into my back-up.
Coasted through uni, generally getting excellent grades in the modules I liked and barely scraping through on the ones I didn't. Which included just achieving the pass mark on an optional accounting module, which made for an awkward interview question several years down the line when I applied to join the graduate training scheme at an accountancy firm...
I genuinely worked hard for the first time in my life to get my accountancy qualification and was on a great career trajectory with my eye on partnership. Then had a stroke at 33 and decided that work wasn't actually that important. Since then, I've gone part time, refused all promotion opportunities and left the Big Four slog to take a specialist role at a much less demanding organisation where I'm pretty much left alone to do my own thing.
So I've gone full circle and am back in the 'could do much better if he applied himself' position. But I'm happy, far less stressed and have everything I need, so don't really see the point in getting back on the corporate hamster wheel.
Coasted through uni, generally getting excellent grades in the modules I liked and barely scraping through on the ones I didn't. Which included just achieving the pass mark on an optional accounting module, which made for an awkward interview question several years down the line when I applied to join the graduate training scheme at an accountancy firm...
I genuinely worked hard for the first time in my life to get my accountancy qualification and was on a great career trajectory with my eye on partnership. Then had a stroke at 33 and decided that work wasn't actually that important. Since then, I've gone part time, refused all promotion opportunities and left the Big Four slog to take a specialist role at a much less demanding organisation where I'm pretty much left alone to do my own thing.
So I've gone full circle and am back in the 'could do much better if he applied himself' position. But I'm happy, far less stressed and have everything I need, so don't really see the point in getting back on the corporate hamster wheel.
Another “could do better if he applied himself” - followed by “you’ll be fine with or without this place” as I was asked to leave college after my first year.
Took a while to find my groove but probably the 3-4 years my mates were in Uni I was trying different things working, settled on something (started with a load of other mid-level grads as I had 4 years experience they didn’t at the time) and worked my way up and experienced some big shifts in technology over the 15 years I’ve had in this sector.
Have had decent income since my mid twenties and at 36 now probably could retire by 50 without too much drama. Obviously success isn’t measured in any universal way but I’ve done fine.
Took a while to find my groove but probably the 3-4 years my mates were in Uni I was trying different things working, settled on something (started with a load of other mid-level grads as I had 4 years experience they didn’t at the time) and worked my way up and experienced some big shifts in technology over the 15 years I’ve had in this sector.
Have had decent income since my mid twenties and at 36 now probably could retire by 50 without too much drama. Obviously success isn’t measured in any universal way but I’ve done fine.
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