I didn’t do very well in high school. My grade point average was around a 2.5 out of 4. I did well in some subjects that I was interested in, like math, computer science, and history, but everything else was a wash. The less homework a class required me to do, the better my grade in that class usually ended up being. In most classes I ended up counting down the minutes to them ending. I wasn’t particularly passionate about school, and I wasn’t one of those super driven high school students who always seem to be able to fit in homework, a social life, sports, and 10 clubs.
As a result of my own disinterest, the system seemed to write me off. When applying to summer internships, one teacher wrote an anti-recommendation for me, warning them not to select me. My parents had high expectations for colleges for me – Harvard, MIT or bust. To say this was unrealistic would be an underestimate. My guidance counselor told me that getting into college, period, would be a stretch.