Dropping Out to Learn   Exclusive to STR  When I entered high
school, I realized that the only way to 'succeed' in class was
to follow teachers like dogs follow their masters. Not in the
sense of doing as well as I could, but to do better than the
next person. The intense competitiveness and regimentation
brought me to question the efficiency of conventional schooling,
and the effect it was having on me.  Towards the end of high
school, I found myself slipping away from class and struggling
to stay focused. I took time off from school and started to
nourish my own interests. I would read, study, challenge and
question. No sense of competition, no strain or relative
ranking. At school, however, I became a 'behavioural problem'
and according to my teachers, 'needed to be disciplined.'  It
starts in kindergarten: the school system tries to repress
independence and teach obedience. Kids are not induced to
challenge or to question, but the contrary. If you do start
questioning, you're a behavioural problem or some