[haliskerbas]

Could go either way in my social group. Some folks hit ivy and then ended up at mediocre tech jobs anyway, others hit ivy and struggling to find work. Others went with the flow and still made it to the same mediocre tech jobs. And the ones who failed through school and barely made it through community college have successful small businesses because they were charting their own path the whole time.

[kenjackson]

But what were they doing when they failed school? I feel like there are the Bill Gates, skipping school kids. And the ones I went to school with who just smoked, drank and hung out at the park.

I suspect the outcomes were fairly different although might both fit under your same category.

[mrguyorama]

>Bill Gates, skipping school kids

Bill Gates could drop out of college and skip school because he had wealthy family that would have supported him if things went poorly. Poor people do not have that option, so when they skip school, they instead get labeled truants and harassed by the state.

[charlie0]

> And the ones who failed through school and barely made it through community college have successful small businesses because they were charting their own path the whole time.

By definition, it sounds like these folk were able to delay gratification quite well.

[haliskerbas]

Maybe it depends on how you look at it? If gratification is "working on my side project instead of finishing homework due tomorrow" then it wasn't delayed much, they were gratified the whole dang time!