School was such a waste of time and reading Linchpin, that fact just keeps getting reinforced for me.
All that I learnt in uni and at work (and on my own) after school fully surpasses what they tried teaching me at school. And that is what makes me different and makes me stand out.
Because I didn't do very well and didn't try doing very well at the factory type school environment, I had a chance to actually develop myself in a unique way which now enables me to stand out from the crowd.
This also reinforces the concept that we shouldn't be afraid of doing different things and being different because at the end of the day if we do the same thing as everyone else, we will get the same results as everyone else - which by definition will be mediocre or average.
This is not to say that foundational education is a waste of time. Learning to read, write, add, subtract is useful - in fact essential - but after a certain point trying to do more of it is just a waste. At that point is when the real learning should start. Potentially self directed learning. Learning more about things that you are interest in, things that you like, things that you aren't trying to learn because of a test. And that sort of learning should continue for the rest of your life, not just 20 years.