The (academic) road less travelled: From dropout to recovery.

In our educational pursuits, many of us have fond memories of teachers and professors who supported us, believed in us, and were very instrumental in our ultimate success. Some of us also have memories of certain other educators who were, to be charitable, not very kind at all. I have the indelible recollection of an entire high school that ran its day-to-day affairs like a prison, and the educators there (if you can call them "educators") were much more prison guards than actual teachers. I eventually dropped out of high school. I was burned out and demoralized in irrelevant classes to the point where I just didn't care anymore. This opinion piece is not only about my own academic redemption, but it also gives hope to other people who might have had negative educational experiences. To them, I say, you are not alone, you can recover, and your own success will be a perpetual stab in the eye (figuratively) to those who wanted to see you fail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]