It seems that I am an accidental influencer.

It appears that I am an accidental influence on youngsters. I got a random email today from someone who would normally not talk to me because I’m too ‘below them’. Apparently, I influenced their teenager to decide that they don’t want to do their GCSEs now but wait until an adult,., like I did. No such conversation happened directly with their kids but I do know that there was a few views on the blog pages where I discussed my grades from the GCSEs I went back to do a few years ago. That is maybe where they got the idea from. I don’t talk to peoples kids directly for this exact reason. I know how it feels to be a teenager and how easy it is for an older person to make a decision for you without realising you’re being convinced. If you want my advice in regard to what you told your parents that ‘Em’ said… it is this. I had no choice but to do certain things at times of my life which you seem to think was willingly made. It was how it worked out. I know that school is probably a lot worse in some ways than it was when I was there. I was kicked out because of who I was a lot… we had section 28 at school (that is one less hassle for gay and trans youngsters nowadays) which also made me an outsider because schools literally weren’t allowed to accept lifestyle’s that weren’t the way that religion said it should be. I struggled to do GCSEs as an adult because I had missed out of so much education as a child. I missed a bit at primary school because I had that accident (a bully/friend pushed me over and I went head first into a hard cloakroom floor). I developed epilepsy for a bit so I had to miss school for appointments etc. I wouldn’t have chosen this path. I know for a fact that your parents have a lot of influence and connections (which is why they don’t hang with the likes of me). Please don’t chose the harder option because you’re not one of those who has to do so. Even if it’s a Mayer of doing GCSEs when you’re meant to and doing stuff you cannot stand for a bit… it’s a step up. Any work experience gives you a step up to what you really want to do in life. I didn’t have parents who had influence and status. There is only so much that you can do on your own. I’ve been your age… thought I knew it all too but life ripped me apart. I wouldn’t want to be young again. I think it’s worse now with the rise of social media than it was for us growing up. I’m at the perfect age right now… at 35 I’m not too old or too young. There were fights that I should have never had but I was too young and dumb to back down. Years later you sit back and wonder why you ever thought it mattered. I still do it. I’m not totally innocent of that nowadays but I don’t have the energy not to pick my battles strategically. Life is definitely not fair but it’s just a waste of time fighting about that. I don’t have a lot but I had to build everything as an adult because of aspects of my life. The choices I made in my life wasn’t really a choice but I learnt how to survive. I met a lot of shitty people growing up that held me back. They are the reasons I am guarded and will say exactly what I think. Shitty people are everywhere and you have no way that you would know they are until you’re way too involved and caught feelings. I can see through that bullshit because of the people I met in my past. Yes those people are attractive (and damn do they know it) but just because they are popular and have boss vibes doesn’t mean that people like myself won’t humble them if they act up themselves. Most of the time these types don’t listen because they also have a thick skin so nothing others say get through to them. I never let anything get to my head even if my life changed dramatically and I owned stuff, had money etc. The earlier years of my life humbled me enough to not develop a big ego if I was ever successful, famous or whatever.