I remember a lot of people telling me that someday I’d regret not taking the SAT in high school and I’d regret not engaging in school and I’d look back and wish I’d at least attended my college graduation, but you know what? fuck that noise. I’m perfectly, some might even say smugly, satisfied with the way I handled everything. I find it dubious that a solid education would have helped me write fart jokes any more eloquently than I already do.
oh, right, PS: I just got back from Spain where I debuted this book and then I did things. Many thanks to Alter Comics and 30 Salon Barcelona.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Fuck. I wish I had figured that out. I sucked at the SATs. Now I’m avoiding grad school cuz the GRE remind me of my past.
Brilliant. I partied until 2 AM the night before my SATs, so the net effect was about the same.
I had to retake them in my 30s when I decided to go back to college. Probably did a lot better then than I would have if I’d taken ‘em sober at 16.
Well played, ma’am.
Ah, but see, I went to Community College for two years as well for the same reasons (and because my family has no money). Since I was the only one with near-perfect SAT scores going to my Community College (henceforth “CC”), they gave me a massive scholarship that covered all tuition, books, supplies, living expenses and then some. When I finished at CC, I did so disproportionately well compared to my peers they gave me a massive transfer scholarship to go to the nearest state school, again: all tuition and then some. And they gave me a cozy TA job teaching kids remedial college math. A couple hours a week for a salary (you read that right: paid on a salary, like a boss) that amounted to highway-robbery $20-an-hour if I worked fast. Just graduated, most people are $15k in debt when they get out. I’m graduating with $15k in savings. And never worked a real job yet.
Alright, not much compared to kids who were born rich, but it involved zero effort. Just filling out some bubbles in a ridiculously easy exam with no pressure because I was going to CC anyway?
Like a boss.
congratulations at being better than everyone else
i hereby feel intimidated by marcel…..
never took my SATs in high school, did community college and then took them before i applied to a four year to transfer into and i still don’t know if they had any affect on anything… wish i ran out the window at SATs but i ended up taking a nap….
marcel’s real test score victory was knowing not to pay retail for lower division undergraduate years. well p(l)ayed sir.
community college is a gift for anyone smart enough to take it.
baller
I used to teach math at MIT (I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of in my day), and I used to give my calculus students a little mini-lecture on “Why private colleges are a gigantic waste of money, and anyone who takes out loans to attend them is an idiot”. Unless you have really specific needs, almost anyone is better off with 2 years at a CC plus 2 more years at a big state school.
Your cartoons are fantastic and I really enjoy them even though they make me feel like a perverted voyeur. Maybe I enjoy that feeling. If I do, then thanks for causing it. I just read Drinking at the Movies and now, seeing today’s cartoon post, I notice that you are drawing people differently. Longer limbs and unbroken circular eyes. Over all I think its an improvement, technically, and your backgrounds have improved a lot too. But, just out of curiosity, why the change? Was it conscious?
yes and no. I simply just stopped drinking while I was drawing and then I noticed my characters looked like children and the different size eyes made them look insane. It worked fine for a time, but I’m getting into more serious stories where I dont want the art to be so accidentally hilarious.
SATs were cake… but I ‘spose some prefer pie. I’m pretty partial to pie, especially cream-filled pie. What a delight it would be to eat between your thighs!
WHAT
I wanna kick Marcel in the nuts.
Like a boss.
That’s an awesome story, Marcel. Now if you’d get my coffee refill like I asked, I’d appreciate it.
Are you one of those people that doesn’t have any regrets, and instead is comfortable with everything you’ve ever done because it all added up to make you who you are, or something like that? Or is the college thing the exception? I’m always surprised by why our generation is generally so uncomfortable admitting they wished they’d done something differently in the past. I for one wish I’d paid more attention in college; would it make me a better person or something? Everyone hates that the answer to that could possibly be yes, so I’ll say no like everyone else. But it couldn’t have hurt.
And stop humbly writing your stuff off the fart joke line. I’ve heard that enough times from Kevin Smith, and you’re way more talented than that.
writing your stuff off “WITH” the fart joke line
I don’t regret not taking the SAT because I went straight to community college also — honestly, I think you get a better deal there. It’s cheaper than university, and you get more individual attention from teachers because that’s what the school is there for — none of those massive teaching hall classes in which you’re just student number 317.
But I sort of wish I hadn’t taken 10 years to get a four year degree only to find out that the newspaper business blows donkeys.
Man! I wish that had gone to high school with you! …and that you + I didn’t need to do the dumb SAT(s) to get into a junior college! GRRRR!
If I had known…I would’ve jumped out the window with you!
Later on, Dudes.
So was that like a third floor window? If so why didnt we get to see you in a full body cast?
I would totally buy like an As Seen on TV collector’s plate of you jumping out the window to bail on the SATs. Except I’m broke, but I mean, like, theoretically. That really is badass.
Thank you so much for making comics…I’m still in high school and I read this at 2:00 in the morning because I was so stressed out by it (school I mean).It’s really comforting to hear other people’s stories on how they dealt with things.
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you penning this write-up plus the rest of the website is also very good.