Yes, I should have mentioned that I went to a modestly-funded public high school in a small dying steel town outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- most of my classmates were the aforementioned stoners as well (they graduated to heroin -- indeed, my county has one of the highest rates for heroin abuse in the country).
For some reason, I believed that I was destined for a better life, I really loved computer programming and I wanted to live in Silicon Valley, and I worked my ass off for it. There were no handouts, and I knew I would be judged with the same yardstick as the kids from the likes of Phillips Exeter with their near-perfect SAT scores, the byproduct of personalized tutoring. The web site College Confidential was my bible. I'm one of the few that left the town, and now I live in Silicon Valley.
Still, I got thin envelopes in the mail from all but one of my reach schools. I took the opportunity I had and ran with it.
I have zero regrets as well. Turned out that playing one hour of Counter-Strike a day instead of five had a much bigger payout.
For some reason, I believed that I was destined for a better life, I really loved computer programming and I wanted to live in Silicon Valley, and I worked my ass off for it. There were no handouts, and I knew I would be judged with the same yardstick as the kids from the likes of Phillips Exeter with their near-perfect SAT scores, the byproduct of personalized tutoring. The web site College Confidential was my bible. I'm one of the few that left the town, and now I live in Silicon Valley.
Still, I got thin envelopes in the mail from all but one of my reach schools. I took the opportunity I had and ran with it.
I have zero regrets as well. Turned out that playing one hour of Counter-Strike a day instead of five had a much bigger payout.