High School Should Be College (Turns into Life Lesson)

I see this situation as a parallel to what media does to the brain, but we praise this kind. Should we truly praise grades, or the person? A grade can make happy people depressed and it can also bring joy, yet we still would rather push someone to the edge. Teachers love "smart" kids, but I can guarantee outside of the classroom, in real world situations, I will be the one to hold my ground, I will be able to pursue what I want, and most importantly, I won't be disappointed in myself. I will be disappointed in myself for allowing someone to bring me down, because if someone brings you down, they are just going to pull themselves up. If someone doesn't appreciate you, then who the hell cares cause they are just wasting their time on you. Obviously you have something they don't. Tell them to go away and you do you, so don't let some letters define you, but let your mind and heart define who you are because no one else should tell you who you are. 

Everyone has heard it from their parents. They always ask, why are you learning this now, I didn't learn this until I was in college! This honestly makes me mad. If we are learning what they learned now, what is the point to keep on going? I feel as if we should become professionals out of high school if we have the same knowledge as our parents. My mom honestly doesn't remember half of her high school lessons. She truly only remembers life lessons and some other simple things that come with school.
The only reason I see college as a necessity is because everyone around me is just talking about what college they are going to and how it will help them later on. At college, I feel like it is such a fun experience but at the same time, students at San Diego State were mouthing to me not to come here. What is college really like? I don't want to be stuck somewhere that sucks and I feel like I might be. Many companies look for these high end schools on resumes, but they shouldn't be. If someone can prove their qualification and social ability in the workplace, why should they not get the job? If I owned a company, I'd rather hire someone that can be open and connect with me, rather than some trust fund kid from Boulder that is "the best possible candidate." Of course they can not be idiotic but they just need common sense and some intelligence. Smart quiet kids may be able to crunch some numbers out at light speed, however who knows how well they will share this information with you. People should build off of each others ideas, not just the brains of the company. College gives people this sense of superiority and it really is toxic.

As for media's role in this, you can mostly blame social media. Everywhere you see posts about people getting into these amazing colleges and it truly does make people question their lives. It puts excess pressure onto the youth and already, there are so many external sources of pressure on kids and teens. When someone else is celebrating something more "significant," it makes the observer reflect on what they have done wrong and they never really think about what they have done right. Also, you never do see someone announcing there Sac City route on social media, and if they are, there is often times a humorous sense to the picture or caption. Not only is this prevalent in social media, but it can also be found inside of our schools, in TV, on movies and almost everywhere.  Although there are definitely a lot of facts that support the usefulness of college, I feel as if everyone who achieves what they want to achieve, should be honored and proud of themselves.