I was a straight A student until high school basically because that's when I became apathetic/depressed and got into drugs (nothing serious really just weed and some hallucinogens and painkillers occasionally). I basically coasted my way through high school, and left 2 months before graduation to work at a hotel on the beach for the summer. Came back after the summer was over and had no idea what I was going to do, as most of my friends had already left for college. I ended up joining the Marines. Spent 4 years in, mostly overseas... got out and came back home. I bounced around quite a bit:
-went to school for multimedia design (tech school, paid for using a veteran program) and learned Adobe master collection, 3d animation, video etc. worked seasonally as a tax preparer starting around this time and ending a few years later, also sold weed.
-immediately took a job selling cars at a local dealership. made lots of friends and money for about a year. worked for Toyota, giant recall thing happened and was unable to sell anything so I quit. sold weed part time mostly during this era too.
-tried my hand at real college this time. got my AA in Accounting from the local community college and transferred to an 'Honors' university afterwards (whatever that means). sold weed the entire time to pay bills and to avoid actual work.
-start of senior year at university, found out my wife was pregnant so I networked. had an interview at a startup web provider doing basic support/maintenance of web sites. front-end stuff mostly, but I used my knowledge of multimedia design to help me get ahead. stopped selling weed when I landed this job.
-applied for a job in IT working for the government using a combination of experience, education, and veteran preference to obtain further consideration. one of my wife's mother's friends sent me the job posting and told me I should apply. nailed the panel interview.
So now I work for the government in IT, own a house, 2 cars, am happily married and have a son. The entire time I was in college I felt like I was wasting my time and honestly I would never have gone if I wasn't being paid to do so (the post 9/11 GI bill provides a stipend for cost of living each month in addition to paying for your tuition/books. where I live it was about 2 grand a month). The easy way is no fun.