Very confused and uncertain about my future!

1ZRed · 01-03-2012 3:52am #1

I'm fine with my sexuality but I don't know what to do with my leaving cert!
I got 445 and I'm on a year out but since there are ZERO jobs I thought I'd do honors maths for engineering in september. Thing is though I haven't done a tap of work for it and I've lost total motivation to work at it so I'm stuck in a rut because I want to do engineering, I have the points but I don't have the requirements! My second option was civil law but thats 450:(
So I'm living at home bored out of my box, my friends are away at college and I'm miserable! And to make things more confusing I really want to take another year out and go to france( I would be able to be completely out there and not have everyone breathing down my neck 24/7) plus I could save money in france to help me along for next year.
So any advice?:D

Shane St. · 01-03-2012 3:53am

why is this in LGBT?
I wouldn't advise taking two years out.

jay phelan · 01-03-2012 3:54am

You might be better off posting in some of the Education forums or even Personal Issues, I don't think it's really suited here. I do hope you get some good advice

Miss Fluff · 01-03-2012 3:07pm

Have you applied for courses in the UK? There are a far broader range of choices there and you'd easily get into a good Uni with your points. That's what I'd be doing if I were you.

Squiggler · 01-03-2012 3:15pm

As far as I know you don't need Honours Maths to study Engineering in an IT, worth your while exploring options other than the main Universities.

As another said, don't take two years out... after that length of time you might find it very difficult to motivate yourself again.

Good luck

Carriexx · 01-03-2012 4:53pm

Would younot go to france now and come back in september - if you havent done any ground work for the exams??!!

1ZRed · 01-03-2012 9:31pm

Carriexx wrote: »

Would younot go to france now and come back in september - if you havent done any ground work for the exams??!!

Yeah I was thinking about it but it's all set for me to sit them so I'll really just have to work hard to get a C3 in maths and then decide what to do.
My only option is to go to nuig but I won't be able to live in Galway for money reasons and with my sisters going there too, it's not going to be easy to enjoy myself( I'm not out to them yet, just friends)
It's really starting to get stressful for me now because I want to get away but I'm apprehensive about taking the year out even though it'll be the best thing for me. I'm 18 in may do I shouldnt be too old for a first year of I decide to head over to Paris.
I appriciate the advice guys:)

nyarlothothep · 01-03-2012 11:49pm

Do you really want to engineering? If the answer is yes then be disciplined. Discipline is the conscious exercise of ordered work towards a goal, that's probably not the dictionary definition but that's what it is in practice. Hence study honours maths and work hard at it. Its still not too late. 8 hours a day. Break it up. Hence 11-2, maths. 2-3.30 break. 3.30-6.30, maths. 8.30-10.30 maths. Each break you take will be the reward for your work which will motivate you to work. Each break will also feel much better because you've earned it. If you follow a pattern like this and stick to it roughly (some days you might just be wrecked but as long as your achieving the objectives, eg in this month I will cover x, y and z then you should be fine.) You will then achieve honours maths level and get to do engineering. Think long term here, instant gratification=bad, long term happiness for short term discipline=good.

1ZRed · 02-03-2012 1:22am

nyarlothothep wrote: »

Do you really want to engineering? If the answer is yes then be disciplined. Discipline is the conscious exercise of ordered work towards a goal, that's probably not the dictionary definition but that's what it is in practice. Hence study honours maths and work hard at it. Its still not too late. 8 hours a day. Break it up. Hence 11-2, maths. 2-3.30 break. 3.30-6.30, maths. 8.30-10.30 maths. Each break you take will be the reward for your work which will motivate you to work. Each break will also feel much better because you've earned it. If you follow a pattern like this and stick to it roughly (some days you might just be wrecked but as long as your achieving the objectives, eg in this month I will cover x, y and z then you should be fine.) You will then achieve honours maths level and get to do engineering. Think long term here, instant gratification=bad, long term happiness for short term discipline=good.

I've done the honours course up untill Easter last year but gave it up because of stress. Your study plan seems so intense I think I'd honestly stick a bullet in my head if I were to stick to it from now untill June!
But I'll try it out. If I do well enough I'll get the course and 20 extra points, so that'll give me more options.
I might defer yet though, assuming I get the course I want. I actualy have no idea what I want to do so that's not helping me get motivated either.
I even went to a careers guidance teacher who identified that engineering, science and art were my key strengths but art and science are POLAR opposites so that has got me and her so confused!:(

nyarlothothep · 02-03-2012 4:47pm

1ZRed wrote: »

I've done the honours course up untill Easter last year but gave it up because of stress. Your study plan seems so intense I think I'd honestly stick a bullet in my head if I were to stick to it from now untill June!
But I'll try it out. If I do well enough I'll get the course and 20 extra points, so that'll give me more options.
I might defer yet though, assuming I get the course I want. I actualy have no idea what I want to do so that's not helping me get motivated either.
I even went to a careers guidance teacher who identified that engineering, science and art were my key strengths but art and science are POLAR opposites so that has got me and her so confused!:(

Just take each day as it comes and give yourself a day off every so often. I put the 8 hours thing in there as a means of insurance, 8 hours practice in maths or any other field, you tend to get really good so that come the exam you'll walk all over it. Of course what's more important is achieving objectives rather than how long you study. Same goes for work though that doesn't seem to have filtered into the "real world" yet. If you plan out how much you're going to cover and what needs to covered in addition to giving yourself some redundancy time (in the event of tiredness/certain topics taking longer than they should) and achieve them within the timeframe give or take again the result should be good. Whether thats 8 hours one day or 5/6 another or 3/4, it doesn't matter. Although the more time spent and the establishment of a routine gets the ball rolling initially and makes studying later on easier.

In relation to what you want to study, there is the complex issue of what you want to do with your life vs what is out there in life to do and also where your interest lies.

wonderfulname · 04-03-2012 4:04am

there are engineering courses that don't have the usual matriculation requirements,
like this one, DIT do a maths exam for those that haven't met matriculation too. You could also check out your local PLC to see if they offer FETAC level 5 engineering technology, and if so, if it has higher links, which it should really. Or you can just resit maths.

And science and creativity are not at all polar opposites, they meet very nicely in engineering, product design, and computer science to a degree, you shouldn't take those tests too seriously though, just work out what you actually want for yourself and go for it.

Very confused and uncertain about my future!

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