I dropped out of school in 7th grade. I got a GED in a few months when I was 17.
How did they let you drop out in seventh grade? I thought you had to be at least 16.
I dropped out in seventh also. We moved and landed in the middle of a teacher's strike when I was 14, that lasted almost the entire school year, then my father ended up needing open heart surgery. We almost lost our home, I lied about my age and got a job as a waitress... something at which I was tremendously bad at.
I had prior problems requiring a home tutor, no one made an issue of it. I think sometimes they see it's in their best interest to enforce the age requirement, and sometimes there are other issues that make it in the best interest of the student that they don't. I think I was the later.
Anyways, finally walked in for my GED test one day when I was around 23, walked out a few hours later with one of the highest scores they had seen in a long time (or so they said
, I think they just wanted me to enroll in their tech school $$$).