How can I motivate my friend to care more about school?

Question

I have a friend who is 18 years old who dropped out because people called her fat && she got interested in this boy so she spent all her time when she should of been at school with him. She was supposed to get a GED but she never got around to it. Her boyfriend dumped her and moved so she said she would go back to school. Well the school she chose to go back to is an alternative to high school which teaches stuff at a lower level then normal high schools and she had to attend a meeting last week to get back into the school. She chose to skip the meeting to hang out with a friend. She wants to go to college to become a cosmetologist but I'm afraid she won't get past high school because right now shes 18 (19 in January) in 10th grade and is showing no interest in making something out of herself and more of an interest in drugs and clubbing, so my question is how should I make her care more about her education?

Answer 1

I'm not sure it is possible, because your friend sounds insecure and unfocused. However, if you really want to try to motivate her, don't push her, but talk enthusiastically about some of your more exciting experiences in school. She may begin to wonder what she is missing.

I have to wonder, however, what you get from a friendship with someone like this. Given your description of her, I would assume that you are much more ambitious than this woman, and I would think that hanging out with people like this would bring you down. If I were trying to make something of my life, spending time with a dropout whose interests include drugs and who only does anything when a boy dumps her wouldn't seem like an effective strategy.