When I was 17, I applied to two universities; the best ones in Canada, and got into both of them with scholarships. I ended up choosing not to go, and took a bunch of opportunities that I thought were excellent for growth.
When someone young asks me if they should drop out though, I often advise against it. I’ve been thinking about why that is —
I think my story can be contrived as courageously taking a bunch of risks, but that’s not the case. I had been working with computers since I was 10, and trying to build businesses for years before that. I didn’t jump into the abyss, I jumped into someone paying me money to learn. Afterwards, I didn’t jump into the abyss, I jumped into working to build a business in China with a veteran.
If you’re young, and you want to make a jump, I’d advise against jumping straight into the abyss. Instead, work harder at getting better at your craft. As you get better, opportunities will come up, and instead of the fear of jumping into the abyss, you’ll be dealing with the fear that you’ll be missing out on thousands of opportunities unless you go.