.and then I started ranting again.

When I was in high school, I got a little obsessed with late 19th Century British poetry. I was not an expert in it, I couldn't rattle on about the themes and how they were effected by the history of the period - I just kind of fell in love with some of it and took to memorizing bits because I was a melodramatic teenager and it seemed like the thing to so.
One of my favorites was and still is "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley, keeping in mind that five minutes ago I couldn't have told you the name of the poem or who wrote it if my life depended of it - but thanks to the interwebs I can type in the lines that are stuck forever in my brain and Whammo! there's the information I was looking for:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul. 

It's those last two lines that resonate the strongest (as they were probably meant to): I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. 
Or in my own personal vernacular - Screw you, I'm going to do what I want; and you can go fuck yourself if you think you have any control over that. 
Clearly William's phrasing is way more eloquent, but I never claimed to be a writer, let alone a poet.
(Ok, I did at one point as a teenager claim to be both a writer and a poet, but looking back that was a horrible horrible mistake that my teachers were kind enough to gloss over for me. Mostly I think they were happy that I was trying to do anything at all.)

We live in a fairly autonomous society (sort of). Obviously, there are definite societal taboos, and a few laws that are more than a good idea; but for the most part, you can attempt to do whatever you want with your life. People run away and join the circus, have pet tigers, and paint their houses rainbow colors. Is any of that usual? Not so much. Did their parents and peers endorse any of that? Probably not. And yet...
And here's my really awkward transition.

There are quite a few people in the world posing as teachers who seem to think that because they gave a person a bit of knowledge that they then control anything that student does with it.
And I call bullshit.
Once a piece of knowledge is in your brain or body, it is yours to do with as you please. Is it a good idea? Not necessarily. But this is how our culture and knowledge and science and art have progressed throughout the span of history - a teacher brings an idea, a student takes that idea and makes it their own and builds upon it, and then passes the thing on to the next student who hopefully does the same. And this is where really excellent teaching comes in - with critical thinking skills and history and context and societal views. I do believe that it's important to learn the rules before you start breaking them - but without a little rule breaking and innovation we'd still be in the Dark Ages - and I prefer modern medicine and HBO.
And Doctor Who.