Summer School, Summer Small Group, and My (ex-)Stepbrother the Dropout

As you may or may not be aware, of all of the core school subjects out there, math tends to be my weakness. As such, I'm in an Algebra class for school. Officially, it's listed as "College Algebra with Data Analysis", but even I have to call it not that hard--not quite an easy A, but I'm sure I'll pass. I mean, it's stuff I've learned before (although I need the refresher), so it's not like I'm having to work with new concepts. And. once I'm done (and get the transcript), I'll finally be listed as a Senior! Any math class I'll take from here on out (because, really, it never ends...) will probably be Statistics and such.

Another thing I'm doing for the summer is the Summer Small Group with InterVarsity. We're studying the Book of Ecclesiastes, and for those who have no idea what that's all about... Basically, King Solomon is going through a midlife crisis. Instead of wanting a sports car and/or hot chicks (I mean, we're talking at least one of the richest guys in the region of that time--he already has it), he's meditating on life. And at first he's sounding pretty emo about it all--everything's pointless, it's all for nothing, etc. And then we find out that there's more to it. As we've studied, the main points we've found were:

• Don't act selfish because you can't take it with you
• The stuff you do down here might get ruined by your inheritors
• Working just for that paycheck isn't worth it--work for what you'll love. 

We just finished Chapter 5 of 14, and, considering that I've never read that part of the Bible, I'm glad to be doing this.

I can't even remember if I've posted anything on here about my Step-family or if I'm confusing it with one of the drafts--Lord knows I've got enough of them that I've never posted, some of which are past their relevancy date. So, when I call them my ex-stepfamily, it's because my dad divorced my ex-stepmother last year. But I'm mentioning this because, on Father's Day, I decided to call my dad. During the conversation, he mentioned that my (ex-) stepnephew Leavi (the son of one of my stepsisters, Jessica) moved to Atlanta with her and her boyfriend (not to mention that Jessica's pregnant with her boyfriends' kid) to go to high school there with hopes to get a basketball scholarship. I'm not going to pretend that Leavi and I are really close--about the only reason I care for him at a level higher than some random person I hear about is out of residual familial bonds, and I'll consider it a good sign if he feels the same--but I still count this as good news. My (ex-) stepbrother Luke, on the other hand, decided to drop out of High School and work for McDonald's. From what I've seen, he's never really liked school. On the one hand, at least he has a job (which, no matter what, is more than I can say) and I'm sure he has his reasons aside from not liking school--maybe his mother (my ex-stepmother) and him needed the money. On the other hand... I've always been raised with the idea that I'd go to High School, graduate, get to college and get at least a Master's Degree (and, really, just getting a Bachelor's Degree, in this economy, won't cut it). I've always been pretty smart--my grades were always sort of iffy, though. But I've never reached the point where I wanted to drop out. And I'll admit that, while I'm able to empathise with other people, that ability isn't as strong as it is with others. So, as a disclaimer, I know what I'm about to say might make me sound like a jerk, but...

I honestly have the tendency to believe that someone who's dropped out of High School, unless they've got a valid reason (economic issues, health issues, needing to take care of a family member, or bullying has reached a critical point) and/or have their life sufficiently together (stable source of income, their own home, etc), is probably lazy and/or incompetent. Yes, High School isn't easy, but it isn't meant to be easy and neither is poverty and lack of job advancement. And, unless you're really lucky, you can't go too far with just a High School Diploma--not having even that is a bad idea. If they ever decided to raise a family with that around their neck, it just wouldn't work too well. Of course, if I find out more about their circumstances,  I might be more sympathetic. But if Luke really wants to make something of himself, having something more than a High School Diploma is essential.