High school teenager gets even with administrators who tried to prevent them from going to college: 'The principal and vice principal call to talk. I wasn't interested'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Oct 23, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

This teenager wasn't interested in missing an entire year of college just to complete one little high school gym class! 

When you're a senior in high school, you cannot wait to explore the next phase of your life: college! For so many students, college is what they've been waiting for for years and years. There's so much studying and preparation that goes into it that you wouldn't want anything to halt your progress. Not to mention that you're starting to care less about what your teachers around you think. You still respect them, and may even be friends with some of them, but you're also realizing that you're about to have a full life outside of the walls of that high school. 

This kid was being stopped by, of all teachers, their gym coach! Some kids just really dislike gym class, and fail it repeatedly (for honestly some silly reasons). Some don't like getting changed in the locker rooms, some "forget" their gym uniform, and others can't be bothered to properly join in with the actual sports being played on any given day. 

At least this teen taught their school administrators an important lesson that they're bound to use again next year: you can't just tell students to act against their own self-interests and expect them to do it! 

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  • 01

    'Hold me back 1 year in high school over a single gym credit? How about I go to college a year early instead.'

    3 teen girls in athletic clothes sit next to 2 teen boys in atheletic clothes with towels around their necks on bleachers in a gym
    via Curated Lifestyle For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    I hated gym class, not because of the physical activity (I was in hockey and football). But the fact there wasnt enough time to shower before the bell. So you stink to high heaven for the rest of the day.
    via u/TacoJ*susJr
  • 03
    So I would walk the track w/ all the girls. Ped off my coaches something awful. So they flunk me in my junior year and won't let me double up my senior year so I would have to stay back.
    via u/TacoJ*susJr
  • 04
    I had already picked out my college and was accept (tech school). Just had to finish my senior year. So I figured I could work out something w/ the guidance counselor and the coach. Nope, neither would budge.
    via u/TacoJ*susJr
  • 05
    Ok I walk away thinking I'm screwed and have to basically take one class my 2nd senior year. Then it dawns on me, can I just start going to college now? Are there other alternatives?
    via u/TacoJ*susJr
  • 06
    So I call my college admissions and college guidance counselor. Explain my situation and what other options are available? Since this is a non-traditional college (No SATS) you can start w/o a diploma. The caveat is you must have one (or equivalent) to get your diploma. The state I'm from they don't distinguish between to the two so it won't be an issue later on.
    via u/TacoJ*susJr
  • 07
    So I called another meeting hoping the HS admin would change their minds. No joy, they stuck to their guns. Thinking they had me cornered I stood up and said "Well I'm just going to have to drop out then. I cant see missing a year of college to just do gym class."
    via u/TacoJ*susJr
  • 08
    The coach thinks he's all cute and is "You can't go to college w/o a diploma". I relay what the tech school admin/guidance told me of their policy on this. Faces dropped. It set into the guidance counselor that a drop out looks bad on her and the school (small school) when the state audits. She starts back pedaling and I wasnt hearing any of it. Later on that night the principle and vice principle call to talk.
    via u/TacoJ*susJr
  • 09
    I wasnt interested, I was all excited about starting classes in the fall. TL;DR: My HS tried to hold me back a year for 1 gym credit. I was already enrolled in a non-tradition tech college. Tech college would let me start classes as long as I got my GED prior to graduation. So I quit HS (looks bad on the school admin) and got my degree a year earlier.
    via u/TacoJ*susJr
  • 10
    JimmiRustle You should write them a thank you letter for encouraging you to seek alternative options TacoJesusJr OP I ran into the coach years later at a Subway. He asked how I was doing and I told him my career in aerospace has be amazing and that I was now living in Atlanta. In my town no one really ever gets out so the Atlanta jab was nice.
    via u/JimmiRustle
  • 11
    Cheezburger Image 10566617856
    via Curated Lifestyle For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 12
    AshIsAWolf I mean i dropped out of high school to go to college early and it was one of the best decisions i ever made
    via u/AshIsAWolf
  • 13
    GreenOnionCrusader My school had so many dropouts that one more wouldn't have made a difference.
    via u/GreenOnionCrusader
  • 14
    nymalous I don't understand why they wouldn't work with you. It just doesn't make sense. It's not like you weren't participating, you were walking, just like many other students, who were also going to graduate. Isn't it the school's job to help students? Anyway, glad you found a way out.
    via u/nymalous
  • 15
    Shaded_Moon49 the caveat is that you must have one (or equivalent) to get your diploma Maybe I'm just not reading it right, but one of what? jdmillar86 High school graduation diploma. The "or equivalent" means a GED or something is an acceptable substitute.
    via u/Shaded_Moon49
  • 16
    Aelaer It sounds so strange to get a grade for gym class. We don't have that, it's just a class that you have to attend. We have school leaving exams called Senior Certificate, and there are specific requirements (subject choices and final grades) that determine whether you can go to a university or college for a degree course. So you can be home schooled and so long as you get the right grades in an approved combination of subjects, you are OK. Forcing a student to repeat a gym class sounds ext
    via u/Aelaer
  • 17
    JackOHeart High school counselors are the absolute worst. Mine would not let me graduate on time, or even attend the ceremony with my classmates, due to half a credit she screwed me over on. She was fired over that summer and the new counselor that I was assigned to openly stated that they should have just given me the half credit and let me walk.
    via u/JackOHeart
  • 18
    DubbelDragon At my school doing sports counted fully for PE credit. They even added marching band at half value (4 years of marching band would satisfy 2 year PE requirement). Glad you were able to work something out, but defo some bulls that you had to in the first place.
    via u/DubbelDragon
  • 19
    pinkycatcher This is so petty, when I got to my senior year and my AP test-taking self was somehow short a credit (because screw our useless guidance counselors for actually doing anything, I swear they just had to sit and collect paychecks) the school at least shoved me in the back end of some random history class for 12 weeks so I could retake tests and get a credit, they weren't malicious just incompetent. This is straight maliciousness by these admins.
    via u/pinkycatcher
  • 20
    trshtehdsh It's absurd that schools want to be punitive over one d gym credit instead of trying to find an equitable solution to help you get your diploma. Nowadays there is "virtual PE" where you track going to the gym and such, you could easily have done both your final PE credit and classes. Heck, your college probably had some fitness classes that you could have done to qualify both. Education requires flexibility, and when we lose sight of that, people get screwed.
    via u/trshtehdsh
  • 21
    Catgonew1ld How has no one mentioned community college? You can enroll at some while still in Highschool and don't usually have to worry about SAT/ACT unless going to an Ivey league school (generally) like community colleges are the best.some community colleges have a deal with the universities that they have to accept you if you qualify and sign up fir this program.
    via u/Catgonew1ld

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