How old were you when you left school and what did you do?

I distinctly remember the night I graduated High School at age 17 1/2 ... I felt lost. I had no idea what was or should happen next. School seemed to have just about been my whole life and purpose at that point ... and school had just ended abruptly with a piece of paper in hand. No chance for a do over.

Then life happened. I did a bunch of different stuff, even some college, then more stuff until I found my calling ... retirement ;)
 
Naturally said:
I distinctly remember the night I graduated High School at age 17 1/2 ... I felt lost. I had no idea what was or should happen next. School seemed to have just about been my whole life and purpose at that point ... and school had just ended abruptly with a piece of paper in hand. No chance for a do over.

Then life happened. I did a bunch of different stuff, even some college, then more stuff until I found my calling ... retirement ;)
Click to expand...
Leaving school can be a real shock. Being left to your own devices, using the knowledge we were supposed to have learned to find our way.
There was always an apprenticeship waiting for me when I finished school.
Living in a mining town, that is what one did.
The deli was was only until apprentice intake in February the next year.
 
I was 15 going on 12.. when I was made to leave school by my father even tho' my mother wanted me to say at school. I didn't even get a chance to look for my own job...he got me a job in a bra factory... it was absolute hell, and I lasted just the few weeks it took me to find an office job, working in a Punch tape room, as an office Junior & Stand in receptionist.. it was the first place I ever saw a Computer, it was the size of the back room...
 
hollydolly said:
I was 15 going on 12.. when I was made to leave school by my father even tho' my mother wanted me to say at school. I didn't even get a chance to look for my own job...he got me a job in a bra factory... it was absolute hell, and I lasted just the few weeks it took me to find an office job, working in a Punch tape room, as an office Junior & Stand in receptionist.. it was the first place I ever saw a Computer, it was the size of the back room...
Click to expand...
I am glad you were able to get out of that first job so soon.
Finding a position that you wanted was a blessing.
 
Bretrick said:
I am glad you were able to get out of that first job so soon.
Finding a position that you wanted was a blessing.
Click to expand...
well it wasn't really what I was looking for, for the long term... but it was a much better place to be than that rotten factory.. couldn't have been more different either.... the plush surroundings, and the middle-class people... trouble was the wages were 1/3rd less.. my father was furious..he took it all off me every week and returned only my bus fare..
 
hollydolly said:
well it wasn't really what I was looking for, for the long term... but it was a much better place to be than that rotten factory.. couldn't have been more different either.... the plush surroundings, and the middle-class people... trouble was the wages were 1/3rd less.. my father was furious..he took it all off me every week and returned only my bus fare..
Click to expand...
Bad man that he was.
How long before you were able to live independent of your father if you don't mind me asking?
 
It took me a long time to leave school. I graduated High School at 19. I went immediately to Junior College for 2 years to get my Associates Degree. I then went to College for my Bachelor's Degree. I think that took me another 3 years because I worked during the day and frequently took night classes. I think I was 24 when I left school.

I really enjoyed college, so I took my time. I lived at home until my early 20's and then rented an apartment off-campus. It was one of the best times of my life, before I had to really get serious about life.
 
Bretrick said:
Bad man that he was.
How long before you were able to live independent of your father if you don't mind me asking?
Click to expand...
I left home at 16...ran away basically..no plans.. stayed away for several months but my mum begged me to go back... left again at 18.. and was gone until just a week before my mum died.. then I was stuck there looking after my siblings, until he married again when I was 20...
Click to expand...
 
I left school at the tender age of 15. Didn't have a clue what I wanted to do but ended up in an office in the Filing Dept. The wages were terrible, but this was the first time I had any money of my own. I paid my parents board money and had to buy my weekly rail ticket and put lay byes on clothes. I slowly moved up the department and taught myself how to type. No business college for me couldn't afford the fees. But I did eventually become a Dictaphone Typist, but the wages were still terrible.
 
oscash said:
I left school at the tender age of 15. Didn't have a clue what I wanted to do but ended up in an office in the Filing Dept. The wages were terrible, but this was the first time I had any money of my own. I paid my parents board money and had to buy my weekly rail ticket and put lay byes on clothes. I slowly moved up the department and taught myself how to type. No business college for me couldn't afford the fees. But I did eventually become a Dictaphone Typist, but the wages were still terrible.
Click to expand...
Did you remain a Dictaphone typist or branch out into other areas?
 
Bretrick said:
Did you remain a Dictaphone typist or branch out into other areas?
Click to expand...
No Bretrick - I remained in that job for 5 years and when they paid me a measly salary I left. I took up being a temp. worker and was very happy in the job because they sent me out to different companies and learned different aspects of business. This went on until I met my husband and then I became a full-time housewife and mother. That was the most rewarding time of my life.
 
Technically, I left school at fourteen. A driver had knocked me down on a pedestrian crossing, I would be in a specialist recuperation hospital for the next couple of years, although I didn't know that then. No more dancing.
One of the teachers took me under his wing. At the end of school he would bring my course work along and because of him and his one to one teaching, I not only kept up with my cohorts back at school, I went ahead of them.

Following that long stay in hospital I graduated in Business Studies at University College, London and went into the logistics industry as a junior manager.
 
Even though I left home at 16, I stayed in school for 2 more years to get my grade 12.
After that the first full time job I got was working on making gyroscopes. I worked suited up soldering minuscule electrical components together. It bored me to tears.
I was 18
 
Last edited:
At 17, graduated from high school, started college, worked nights and weekends, studied, slept and showered in a variety of places.

At 20, graduated college and didn’t want to commit to 4 years of military (an eternity) so got a job that turned into a +40 year career.
 
Early jobs are both fun and horrendous.

On leaving school at 16 I was told that I was going to work at the same factory my father worked at. He's arranged it all. It was what happened at that time, fathers got their kids a job and you were expected to like it. When I refused to go, I caught some hell.

I always knew that was not my destiny. Office work looked far better, but before I could get that first job in a cosy office, I had some humdingers.

1) First job was cleaning, and repackaging, brake rotors for cars. A truck would pull up and empty a huge load of them in the yard. First you'd have to find matches, and then clean them. They were cleaned in a huge metal sink. I was handed some marigold kitchen gloves and told to start scrubbing. By lunch time I went to pull off the gloves, and they just broke into a mush. The chemicals in the cleaning fluid had eaten through them. So after lunch I tried without the gloves. My hand turned rock hard, and I knew this wasn't going to work out.........

2) Went to the "Job Center" and found a job at an abattoir. Yes, skinny, weedy me. My job was to carry big hunks of dead animal from A to B. It was beyond horrible, and I didn't last long there either.

3) Worked at a fish seller. Although I mostly sold eggs there, it was fun at times. However, it was in a market so when it rained and was cold it was brutal. But worse, and the reason I left, was because one of my jobs was the clean out the freezers each week. Let me just say, there are some smells you can't even wash out of clothes. Essentially, I stank. Badly. As a young man, you can imagine.

4) Got a job with a small construction company as a laborer. This actually went well. The people were friendly, and nothing terrible happened. However, I got offered by first job with the government at this time, and I left to do that.

That led to that and I was office bound. Computers came into my life in 1979 with the Atari 800.
 
VaughanJB said:
Went to the "Job Center" and found a job at an abattoir. Yes, skinny, weedy me. My job was to carry big hunks of dead animal from A to B. It was beyond horrible, and I didn't last long there either.
Click to expand...
I went to an abattoir for a job, was shown through the plant and was repulsed by the sights and the smells.
Needless to say, I never applied for the job.
 
Bretrick said:
I went to an abattoir for a job, was shown through the plant and was repulsed by the sights and the smells.
Needless to say, I never applied for the job.
Click to expand...

I know, right? I won't even describe what you see there, it's just too offensive.

I admit to the hypocrisy of meat. I'm a carnivore, and happily so. But I indulge happily in my ignorance. I could well be a vegetarian, knowing what the meat industry is really like. So I prefer not to even think about it. If *I* had to kill an animal for my meat, I'd be a berry-eater.
 
Well, I "gradiated" high school in 1964. Then I left college multiple times. I have 4 or 5 alma maters, depending on how you count them. I left for the high pressure job of sales, "Do you want fries with that order?".
 
I graduated college when I was barely 20. I headed to California and never looked back. I had a 50 year career in Engineering. I retired and traveled extensively with my wife.
 
Never "left" school as I graduated from high school. But in 1966 anyone entering college could no longer receive a military draft deferment so did not want to end up holding an M16 in Mekong Delta swamp dodging bullets. Thus escaped by scoring high on Navy and USAF entrance tests that allowed moving into career fields away from combat zones. I have college credits but never pursued a degree because my job experiences at least in the 1970/1980s was a far more valuable credential.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top