When most people think about dropping out of high school, they picture a teenager with a minimum-wage job and way too much time on his or his or her hands. True or not, what happens when those teens grow up?

My uncle, Pete Trujillo, 54, dropped out of high school in 1971. When asked why, he said that nobody was paying attention, and he was too quirky to fit into the education system.

But not long after dropping out, he began to regret his decision.

When asked more about being a dropout, he had more cons than pros. The "lack of continued education" has limited his career options and, he added with a smirk, he had "way too much time on (his) hands to get into trouble." In addition to all this, he called it "depressing."

Trujillo said that he had more freedom and plenty of time to do whatever he wanted, but he didn't need either of those things.

Trujillo had some suggestions on what the school system could do to prevent dropouts. He suggested a system similar to one in Europe, where teachers are paid bonuses according to how many students pass a class or graduate, giving teachers an incentive to keep kids in school. He also suggested better funding to provide more interesting classes and better teachers, which would give kids more reasons to go to school.

Trujillo had one last piece of advice to any teens considering dropping out.

He said that if you are thinking about dropping out, don't — unless your school is really THAT BAD — and just try to go to college. He also said that if you have already dropped out and the above doesn't apply, then go back to school. Trujillo said that "if the schools were better, I would have stayed."

Francis Trujillo is a junior at Academy for Technology and the Classics. You can reach him at fx-trujillo@hotmail.com.