Tana Mongeau Says 'This Shouldn't Be My Life' While Reflecting on Dropping Out of High School

Tana Mongeau's life is so different than she ever could have imagined after making the drastic decision to drop out of high school as a teenager.

Mongeau, 26, is now a successful YouTuber and podcaster, hosting Cancelled with Tana Mongeau. But growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada, she was struggling in school.

In an appearance on Jake Shane's Therapuss podcast that premiered on June 26, Mongeau recalled that she would “only go to school on Fridays" throughout her freshman year so she could “know what’s happening over the weekend," but said that "even that [became] exhausting by sophomore year."

Ultimately, in 10th grade, she made the choice to discontinue her education. "The day I dropped out, I [wore my] zebra flip-flops," Mongeau said. "I walked right in there and said 'I'm done.' "

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Mongeau began posting on YouTube in 2015 and her career took off from there.

Mongeau told Shane she feels like she was "born" to "talk my s--- in front of a camera and have people relate to it." She just couldn't have predicted how much they have.

"I have a problem with being present, I’m always everywhere else mentally," said Mongeau. "I try to remember [that with] the cards I was dealt, this shouldn't be my life. I should have dropped out and [become] a stripper or something, so it's cool."

Mongeau has previously opened up about the strained relationship she has with her parents, saying in a YouTube video posted in 2018 that they did “not have good parenting skills."  

She spoke more about her family dynamic in the 2019 holiday special for her reality show Tana Turns 21 on MTV. At the time, Mongeau said she "grew up in Vegas with two parents who were completely unfit to be parents, and I still in so many ways just want nothing to do with them."

Back in 2015, Mongeau posted a video on YouTube about what she wished she knew while she was in high school and reflected on how “everything is temporary” when you're a teen, despite how it may feel in the moment. 

“You shouldn’t cry because you failed a math test or because your boyfriend broke up with you for another girl,” she said. “None of it matters, it’s all temporary and in four years, you’re not going to remember any of it.”

Said Mongeau at the time, "Have fun, live in the moment, and stop tripping over the little things because they don’t matter.”