Have you ever wondered why students decide to drop out of high school and leave with out a high school diploma? Students have many different reasons to drop out, even though it's not a good choice at all, the reasons being. 

A bachelors degree earns an average of $51,554 annually (i.e. yearly), while a high school graduate earns $28,645 and a high school drop out earns $19,169 dollars per year, big difference right?

Making the decision whether to go to college, graduate from high school or dropping out is a decision that will impact you later in life.  It determines what kinds of jobs you can get, where you may live, what you can afford and how much you can earn. 

Here are some of the main reasons students decide to drop out:

• Classes weren't interesting to them
• Missed too many days of school to catch up
• Not motivated to work hard
• Not enough support
• Had to work full time, get a job
• Became pregnant, had to be parents
• Became the caretaker of an ill relative

Two-thirds of high school drop outs that were interviewed said that they would have tried harder if more was expected from them.

Many students leave high school because they see that they are able to make money without completing college so there is no reason for them to continue with school.   However, what they do not realize is, they're not the ones paying for the house expenses such as rent, food, bills and other basic necessities.

At the same time, its never too late to go back to school, either to get your GED or a college degree.  Here are some resources that may be helpful to you. 

San Diego Continuing Education

San Diego Community College

FAFSA (Financial Aid)

BOG Waiver for City Colleges

To maintain a healthy body you need to eat three to four times a day and get at least eight to eleven hours of sleep every night.

Teenagers most often do not follow this rule, late night and unhealthy foods are common during this period of a person's life.  Eating and sleeping habits can affect their performance in school, grades and their attentiveness.  Their body starts to get use to sleeping late and it becomes difficult to adjust when they need to sleep early and wake up early. 

This can cause insomnia, this illness can last for months depending on the person and for how long they have had it.  Sleep and rest is an important way to maintain good health.  Lack of sleep can cause a person to feel tired and lessen the effectiveness of the body's immune system, which can lead to illnesses. 

Peer pressure can become an obstacle if encountered daily, pressure can come from classmates, friends, family and peers.  Peer pressure can push someone into doing something they are not comfortable with.

Falling into the whole of peer pressure is said to only occur on those who have insecurities about themselves, this is because they allow peer pressure to get to them, do things they would not otherwise do so they can fit in.   Peer pressure is most prevalent during middle and high school where pre-teens and teenagers are most susceptible by their peers.  

Peer pressure is not all negative, there are positive outcomes of peer pressure as well.  Success is derived from peer pressure, pressure from society to succeed and to reach a goal.  The ironic thing about peer pressure is, when peer pressure is categorized as negative, people who aren't able to resist pressure is said to have a low self-esteem and no will power. However, when peer pressure is considered positive people who fall into the pressure is not viewed in the same light.

Here are some characteristics of people who fall into peer pressure:

1.) Low Self-Esteem

2.) Lack of Confidence

3.) Isolation

4.) No Personal Interest

5.) Troubled Family Life

Most people who are successful in their lives (i.e. personal and professional) are people who speak two or more languages, especially if its a community related career.  Community related job opportunities will require interaction among different groups of people who speak different languages, it would be advantageous to have the skill to speak to community members in their native language.  Most companies are going to need people that speak two or more languages to satisfy the costumers need. 

Also, people who are bilingual have advantages such as: cognitive benefits, ability to learn additional languages, and more.  Many words are built upon other words, there are prefixes and suffixes and the roots of words are most often universal in many languages.  Besides having cognitive advantages, people who are bilingual have character advantages,  the option to switch between different languages and cultures.

Community service is a service that is done for the benefits of the public, or institutions. Community service can be done in various locations, such as, a neighborhood library, hospitals, retirement homes, or non-profit organizations.  Acts such as cleaning a park, collecting items for charity like clothing, food and furniture, helping the police or fire service department, or tutoring kids with learning disabilities can be considered types of community services.  However, most of these acts are not done voluntarily, many people have to do them for things like:

• Citizenship requirements.
• Assigned by courts, alternative sentencing.
• Graduation requirement for certain schools.
• Involvement of sports in a school.
• Colleges.