Have you ever sat in calculus and felt that burning pain of your soul being destroyed? I’ve sometimes wanted to jump off a bridge (please, don’t do that).

I feel like I’m at the bottom of the ocean right now. Between AP tests, finals, and college application insanity, there’s no time to come up for air. However, I believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Teachers, parents, and mentors push us hard. There’s a reason, and keeping that in mind will help when you want to live in your bed and eat Lucky Charms for a month.

I won’t give you all the details, but I had to take a break after finals and before the college application prep. You might be feeling the same: This is too much!

Envision a real-life problem. I’ll use something general, but go through the steps to investigate your problem. Here’s mine: My frozen pizza came out of the oven soggy and gross. So, I sketch the world’s most perfect frozen pizza on my napkin and go to work.

Dude, get ahead by learning about three topics before you’re supposed to. (As always, dudes and bros are all genders and identities). Girls are less incentivized to learn about this stuff early, but as equal Misfits here, we’re creating our futures the “new school” way.

In his DiscoverSTEM Academy in Plano, students are encouraged to follow a five-step program of “think, analyze, ideate, create and innovate” patentable solutions to real-world problems.

In my book “Misfit Mogul,” I discuss why having a traditional education is not the key to a rich future, but I have to admit to something: I want more than that.