[ycmike]

I very much agree with Kevin here. I grew up in a very average neighborhood with low ambitions and never really challenged myself. In college, I got with the wrong people my freshman year and eventually lost my scholarship.

Being out of school and with a chip on my shoulder has led me to learning how to code, starting a startup, and being accepted into a top college accelerator despite not being in school. The people I am around now are KPCB fellows, former interns at top startups, and thoroughly ambitious. Without this environment, things would not be moving nearly as quickly.

Conversely, my brother went to a Math and Science academy and is now at an Ivy league school. The same Ivy League school I am now at as part of the accelerator program.

Like people attract like people. So if over time a person becomes a new person, why should they feel held down to the old people that they were once like? I know for me the friends I am making now are like me and they are pushing me to become better. Ultimately, that is what you really want in a friendship.