DY – I think that her point is that she is unsure if she will be able to get her diploma no matter how hard she tries. And if it really is something that she can’t do then she should not feel bad if someone doesn’t want to marry her because she is not someone whom she’s not.
As a general rule, it is not a good idea to make life decisions based on shidduchim. If something is right for you, then the guy you are meant to marry will want someone who did/didn’t do that thing.
JA’s decision must be based on what’s best for her period!!! I also don’t think she should even be worrying TOO much about future ramifications in terms of seminaries,colleges, and jobs. That is too much pressure right now.
JA is faced with a tremendous challenge right now – making up all of those midterms is going to take a lot. The first question is if it’s something she can do or not. Since she failed them the first time, why would she necessarily pass them the second time? Unless she failed because she didn’t put enough effort into it and she can put in that effort now. But if that’s not the case and she is just going to fail the second time anyhow, why does she need the pressure of feeling like she has to something that she can’t do anyhow, and that her whole life is ruined?
I think that getting a GED (as Akuperma and RebShidduch suggested) may be a very good idea if getting a high school diploma is really not a realistic option for you, JA.
But I don’t think you should discard the idea of getting a regular high school diploma too fast. If it’s something that really is a possibility, something that will take effort but something that is possible, then it’s a good idea for one reason only – you will feel really good about your accomplishment, and the commitment and effort and unwillingness to give up will serve you in good stead in the future and make it easier for you to stick to things in the future, whatever your future may hold, even if it’s being a Yiddishe Mama who spends all her time cooking and baking.
The first thing you need to figure out is if and how you can go about accomplishing this. I think you need to do the following:
1. See if you can figure out why you failed these tests in the first place
2. Figure out what can be done differently this time that would enable you to pass (this could involve your doing something different or a change or modification in the test itself).
3. Ask your social worker what she thinks you should do.
4. Speak to your principal or mechaneches. Tell her exactly what tests you failed and why. Tell her that you really want to get a high school diploma and ask her how she thinks you should go about it. Ask her if there is anything she can do to help you to pass.
5. If after discussing it with your social worker and pricipal/mechaneches, and thinking it through carefully, you decide it’s not realistic, go for the GED.