Mr. V, you're already more intelligent AND more interesting than 99% of the folks I went to college with! The university system, like any institution, is designed by, and targeted towards a pretty narrow slice of society. My husband has PTSD and unspecified "learning disorders." (by the way: that's a crap term...labeling different learning techniques as a "disorder"-another move by the ever-threatened Norms ) and he had to put, on average, 4 times the effort and time in than his fellow "non-disordered" students...just to scrape by. We had the luck of attending a school that truly stood behind its claims of offering extra assistance to those who needed it. Professors recognized his sincere intent and dedication, and he received support and encouragement when put in the overwhelming academic scenarios you have also been through. Without the support of the DRC, professors, and ME, he believes he never would have graduated. And heck, now he has a degree and the only jobs he can get are garden work and groceries
I think, if only because the economy is so $h!++¥, people are starting to accept that not everyone HAS to go to college...because more and more people flat-out can't afford to anyways...and when we do get our degrees, we have a comatose job market and MASSIVE DEBT to look forward to...
Define your intelligence by your own standards and the standards of the people who care about you...those are the ones that know best!