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I went to my HS reunion a few years back (the 25 year one). Of all the "dropouts" I knew, two of them ended up being successful. One of them owns six Subway stores (he got in on the first one in the city and had options to buy into new ones later on). The other worked at a dealership starting as a car wash guy and after 15 years worked his way up to a manager position and makes over $100K a year.
The rest of them all have beer bellies, are divorced, don't own any assets and work shitty jobs. A couple of them have since died (one in a drunk driving crash his own fault and one suicide). Another couple have been in and out of prison (drugs users/dealers).
I then looked at all the people who went to university from my grad class. One is an anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic. Another is a family doctor. Two girls are nurses. Three are software engineers. One is a professor teaching at university. One is an electrical engineer. And several run their own businesses. I also know several people who finished HS and went on to trade school and all have good paying stable jobs (a couple mechaincs, a welder and a couple electricians).
While you can always find examples of dropouts who do well, or find examples of Arts degree grads with no future, these are not the norms. Most people who dropout don't go anywhere in life and most people who graduate post secondary end up doing well in life. There have been numerous studies relating average incomes to education that point this out (people with higher education make more money).
Even my buddy with the Subway stores told his kids that he was a rare case and he made sure they all finished school. I would hate to see people read this thread and hear about the "successful dropouts" and come to the conclusion that they're going to succeed if they drop out. Your best chance at a career is to finish school and pick something worthwhile to study (no Arts degrees, for example).
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