So.... my CHSPE results came in

[James Comey]

Didn't pass. I easily killed the English part of the test, that was a given. However, math, not so much. The minimum score was 350. I got 312. I failed, but not by much.

It's like playing in a big football game, or something. You get your team back on track, you score tons of points to pull close, and you get a chance at a final drive, but you fail. You tell yourself, "there'll be other days", but unfortunately you have to come to the realization that there won't be other days like this.

I could've gotten out of school earlier. I could've started my life earlier. All these things could've happened, but they won't. I was so excited, but cancel the celebration. However, I'm not depressed. For one, at least I had the opportunity to take a test like this. Second, during my spring break I've learned that ever since I got on these forums, I've gained so much. I don't take any of that for granted, at all. I've made baby steps, and I've learned so much. Thank you all, really; xcriteria, Michael, Soul, Night, brainiac3397, DoA, and so many more people, thanks a lot. You guys are god-sends. I really hope one day I'll get to meet all of you; you're such good people. I take none of what you've given me for granted.

The Next Episode
My plan is pretty much the same, though it'll be delayed. I still plan on working at a local boys and girls club anyway this summer, because honestly I don't have much to do during the summer anyway. Plus, it'll be a very good opportunity to meet new friends and such.

I'm probably not going to re-take the test. I don't think my parents will be willing to pay for it again, and won't see the point, anyway, since I'll likely graduate by senior year. I don't think I'll ever raise 100 dollars (though those 100 dollars were raised over years, not knowing when I'll use it or how) for one test ever again.

I still have unfinished business, though. There are many doors that need to be shut and many more that need to be opened. Dr Dre's "The Next Episode" has been ringing in my head since late January, because I've always awaited something new in my life. Even though I failed the test, I still think that this marks a new beginning, an exciting one. My life has changed so much since I got here, and it will continue to.

Once again, thank you all for your support, and thank you for the encouragement. After years of struggling with social anxiety, depression, and a host of many other issues, I may be on the verge of putting a close to some of it.

[Rusty Shackleford]

(04-23-2014 03:22 PM)Hansgrohe Wrote:  Didn't pass. I easily killed the English part of the test, that was a given. However, math, not so much. The minimum score was 350. I got 312. I failed, but not by much.

It's like playing in a big football game, or something. You get your team back on track, you score tons of points to pull close, and you get a chance at a final drive, but you fail. You tell yourself, "there'll be other days", but unfortunately you have to come to the realization that there won't be other days like this.

I could've gotten out of school earlier. I could've started my life earlier. All these things could've happened, but they won't. I was so excited, but cancel the celebration. However, I'm not depressed. For one, at least I had the opportunity to take a test like this. Second, during my spring break I've learned that ever since I got on these forums, I've gained so much. I don't take any of that for granted, at all. I've made baby steps, and I've learned so much. Thank you all, really; xcriteria, Michael, Soul, Night, brainiac3397, DoA, and so many more people, thanks a lot. You guys are god-sends. I really hope one day I'll get to meet all of you; you're such good people. I take none of what you've given me for granted.

The Next Episode
My plan is pretty much the same, though it'll be delayed. I still plan on working at a local boys and girls club anyway this summer, because honestly I don't have much to do during the summer anyway. Plus, it'll be a very good opportunity to meet new friends and such.

I'm probably not going to re-take the test. I don't think my parents will be willing to pay for it again, and won't see the point, anyway, since I'll likely graduate by senior year. I don't think I'll ever raise 100 dollars (though those 100 dollars were raised over years, not knowing when I'll use it or how) for one test ever again.

I still have unfinished business, though. There are many doors that need to be shut and many more that need to be opened. Dr Dre's "The Next Episode" has been ringing in my head since late January, because I've always awaited something new in my life. Even though I failed the test, I still think that this marks a new beginning, an exciting one. My life has changed so much since I got here, and it will continue to.

Once again, thank you all for your support, and thank you for the encouragement. After years of struggling with social anxiety, depression, and a host of many other issues, I may be on the verge of putting a close to some of it.

Pardon my ignorance, but could you explain to me what the CHSPE is? Is it a big final exam, or a kind of 'general knowledge ' test?

[Subb]

Aw... I feel really bad.

I really don't have mich to say becides sorry...

[154bmag]

^^
CHSPE = California High School Proficiency Exam
Similar to the CASHEE or STAR testing, it is a large, tedious exam needed to graduate high school.

[(´・ω・`)]

Math. >_<

[TheShadow]

Damn, that sucks :/ If only you could've gotten out earlier. But hey, you tried. Sometimes, we all fail something, and that's ok. Let's make the next chapter in your life better than the previous one

[Rusty Shackleford]

Ah shit, that really sucks. So know you either have to redo the entire year or drop out? All because of fucking math? I wish math was banned from schools.

[James Comey]

Actually, the CHSPE isn't needed to graduate school. That's the CAHSEE. The CHSPE allows you to graduate high school early if passed. However, I did not.

Like I said, I'm probably not going to re-take it. It costs money. I'm probably going to stay in senior year. Well, I'm still optimistic about the future, because I know that by June, my life is going to be a lot better, I just know that.

[Night]

That's balls. You can't just take math over? I remember taking the GED if you failed one subject you could retake just that subject. Math I think is the most common becuase when I took the math one the testing room was a lot fuller than the day before, and a bunch of people left after math.

If money wasn't an object, would you retake the test?

[James Comey]

To answer both of your questions: I believe I only need to re-take math, and I would definitely retake it if it were free.

[xcriteria]

I have a quite lengthy response draft to this, but the tl;dr is, I think it makes sense to find/earn the $100 (and spend some time brushing up on math) over the summer, so you can re-take the CHSPE at the next opportunity (looks like it'll be October, 2014.)

Your options for getting $100 (and probably more than that...)

(1) Find a part-time job and/or do gigs. This can be anything from mowing lawns, to tutoring, to office work, to Amazon Mechanical Turk, to working at a store, to building web sites, to delivering things for people, to participating in research studies... to all kinds of other options.

(2) Fundraise, somehow. Set up a compelling Indiegogo campaign, and promote it... including to people you know in person, here on the forums, on G+, and anywhere else that makes sense. You'd just need a dozen people to pitch in $5-10, and you'd already be there. I'd pitch in that, for sure.

(3) Collaborate on Screenstorming, and if we do a solid push over the summer, maybe we can put together a budget to pay contributors, including for equipment and just for participation. You've got a compelling story... You've written various solid pieces of content, and you can write and participate in more (like on video.) Ultimately, if we can come up with something like a book+MOOC+series and sell tickets to it, or even ask people to make a voluntary donation, we could end up with an overall pool of money and figure out what to do with it. (And/or, individual contributors could raise money through their own indiegogo campaigns, etc.)

In short, there are options to raise money over a six-month period.

Opportunity cost

Hidden stuff:

The question is then whether $100 would be worth spending on something else, vs. getting you out of at least half a year of school (given you've already decided it'd be better to get out of school early.)

Maybe there are valid reasons to stay in school, but I personally think the $100 would be worth spending, even for the option of getting out. You could then use all that extra free time in 2015 for various things that could lead to making a lot more than $100 back.

The key term to consider is opportunity cost (which should have a page on the wiki, and a prominent place in our course/series/book project.

Opportunity cost is one concept I actually learned in college and said "wow, that's worth learning about." It was an economics class, which I actually dropped soon after that (though I did complete other courses I took during that summer semester at the tail end of my first year of college.)

Opportunity cost is basically a matter of tradeoffs. If you make one choice, what are you giving up in exchange? You can think if it in terms of time, money, effort, resources, experiences, and all other kinds of valuable things.

Sometimes, it's not clear what the tradeoff would be. You could end up deriving benefits from completing your senior year of high school, but, what might you miss out on that you could be doing instead?

In short, my advice is to plan to find a way to raise the $100, and keeping the option of taking the next CHSPE open... or at least really think about your reasons for not taking it. In the grand scheme of things, like lifespan earnings, $100 is a pretty small amount of money to pay for freedom from... how many additional hours of school?

But it's certainly your choice. If there's a reason to be in school longer, I could see that.

Overall, what advice would you give to someone else considering the CHSPE? And, in general, how should we advise people when it comes to these paths-out-of-school, vs. sticking it out?

[Ky]

Hey, one door closes, another opens somewhere. There will be other days - you can count on it.

[Trar]

Whatever you do, good luck and give them Hell.

[James Comey]

(04-24-2014 12:54 PM)xcriteria Wrote:  Your options for getting $100 (and probably more than that...)

(1) Find a part-time job and/or do gigs. This can be anything from mowing lawns, to tutoring, to office work, to Amazon Mechanical Turk, to working at a store, to building web sites, to delivering things for people, to participating in research studies... to all kinds of other options.

(2) Fundraise, somehow. Set up a compelling Indiegogo campaign, and promote it... including to people you know in person, here on the forums, on G+, and anywhere else that makes sense. You'd just need a dozen people to pitch in $5-10, and you'd already be there. I'd pitch in that, for sure.

(3) Collaborate on Screenstorming, and if we do a solid push over the summer, maybe we can put together a budget to pay contributors, including for equipment and just for participation. You've got a compelling story... You've written various solid pieces of content, and you can write and participate in more (like on video.) Ultimately, if we can come up with something like a book+MOOC+series and sell tickets to it, or even ask people to make a voluntary donation, we could end up with an overall pool of money and figure out what to do with it. (And/or, individual contributors could raise money through their own indiegogo campaigns, etc.)

Amazon Turk could be an option as well as local work that comes with pay. I'm not sure about indiegogo since my family will wonder where I got that income from. I don't want to explain why, and my parents might think I'm shady.

In short, there are options to raise money over a six-month period.

Quote:Opportunity cost

Hidden stuff:

The question is then whether $100 would be worth spending on something else, vs. getting you out of at least half a year of school (given you've already decided it'd be better to get out of school early.)

Maybe there are valid reasons to stay in school, but I personally think the $100 would be worth spending, even for the option of getting out. You could then use all that extra free time in 2015 for various things that could lead to making a lot more than $100 back.

The key term to consider is opportunity cost (which should have a page on the wiki, and a prominent place in our course/series/book project.

Opportunity cost is one concept I actually learned in college and said "wow, that's worth learning about." It was an economics class, which I actually dropped soon after that (though I did complete other courses I took during that summer semester at the tail end of my first year of college.)

Opportunity cost is basically a matter of tradeoffs. If you make one choice, what are you giving up in exchange? You can think if it in terms of time, money, effort, resources, experiences, and all other kinds of valuable things.

Sometimes, it's not clear what the tradeoff would be. You could end up deriving benefits from completing your senior year of high school, but, what might you miss out on that you could be doing instead?

In short, my advice is to plan to find a way to raise the $100, and keeping the option of taking the next CHSPE open... or at least really think about your reasons for not taking it. In the grand scheme of things, like lifespan earnings, $100 is a pretty small amount of money to pay for freedom from... how many additional hours of school?

But it's certainly your choice. If there's a reason to be in school longer, I could see that.

Overall, what advice would you give to someone else considering the CHSPE? And, in general, how should we advise people when it comes to these paths-out-of-school, vs. sticking it out?

Like I said, I'm considering ways to make money, and I'll consider the option of taking it. I could gain so much if I decide to do it and pass it again, and gain the rest of 2014 as well as 2015.

Sorry for the rather short responses, but I definitely did get the gist of your reply. I think time will tell, though.

[SoulRiser]

So, in order to retake just the math part, it still costs you the full $100 again? Smells like a ripoff.