Final year: I want to drop out

LegacyUser

I'm in final year of a 4 year degree. It's pretty heavy and I've been able to put up with it until now. I'm in final stages and I find myself less and less concerned with it. I have a job as well and my employer is putting extreme pressure on me to do shifts that I was able to do before but because of the pressure and mounting work I just can't do anymore. I couldn't find anyone to do a shift for me this week and even though I explained to him I could not do it because of my commitments he still screamed in my face and told me if I want a job that I'll do it.

I want to leave college and leave my job. Things are too much on both sides and I feel like I'm being torn limb for limb. I've been to the counselor but it has not helped. I've rent to pay and I can't live on air. I'm really tense and not sleeping because of this.

A lemon

You're a few months away from graduating - so drop the job and take out a loan to keep yourself comfortable. Treat yourself well or you'll just burn out. As soon as you graduate, you're free to earn money again to pay back your loan. I'm usually wouldn't go near loans, but I have a similar problem so that's how I'm dealing with it. It's great to not have to worry about it - I'll deal with that when the time comes...

niceoneted

Please do not pack in the college - I have been there and know how you feel but look at the positives - you will have a degree - ok it may not be in the area that you wish but you can use it as a spring board. Either to show what you have been doing and able to achieve or to use as a means into further education.

Do you want to work for someone who screams in your face - I would not. I see you say you want to leave your job if you do it will leave you free to finish up in college. If money is an issue do as the above poster suggested and get a loan for the last 5/ 6 months.

I appreciate it may be hard to see now but believe me you should finish out the course. You have come this far.
Consult with college services for support if you need it.
Best of luck.

niceoneted

Please do not pack in the college - I have been there and know how you feel but look at the positives - you will have a degree - ok it may not be in the area that you wish but you can use it as a spring board. Either to show what you have been doing and able to achieve or to use as a means into further education. Think also of how it will reflect on your CV if you give up.

Do you want to work for someone who screams in your face - I would not. I see you say you want to leave your job if you do it will leave you free to finish up in college. If money is an issue do as the above poster suggested and get a loan for the last 5/ 6 months.

I appreciate it may be hard to see now but believe me you should finish out the course. You have come this far.
Consult with college services for support if you need it.
Best of luck.

hayser

Just a wreck, I feel for you. It's awful working and trying to educate yourself at the same time. Most jobs boast that they like their workers to upskill but the reality is if effects your job, then attitudes can turn very quickly. Is there any way the next time you have to do a shift, you could miss the class / tutorial just that once? Also if a manager is screaming at you the it's very unprofessional and you could report him / her. If the college work is truly getting to you, is there any way of defering for a year? I wouldn't advise you to simply drop out at this stage as having a degree will stand to you in years to come as well as allowing more opportunities for yourself such as a post grad or teaching. I wish the best of luck with it. Let us know how you get on.

LegacyUser

You are 90% there. If you give up now the past 4 years will have been for nothing. Pack in the job and beg, steal or borrow to get through it.

poisonated

You should continue with the course. See if you can get a loan. You are about 85 percent through your course so you should stick with it.

astra2000

Hi op please dont give up your course I know it seems really difficult right now and you are under a lot of pressure but it will be worth it in the end. Having a degree will give you more choices in your future, you will look back and regret it if you dont finish your course even if you end up choosing not to work in the field of your degree you will always wonder what if, if you dont complete the course. You will have such a sense of achievement when you finish your course you will have proven to yourself that when the going got tough you were able for it, it will make you stronger for your life ahead.
As for your boss he is pressuring you because he is putting his business first, he does not give a dam about your future, if you have to continue working stand your ground and remember that you are doing this for YOUR future.
Best of luck op

tinkerbell

OP, dropping out is not an answer. You need to finish your degree. It will be a million times harder to find a job after college if you don't have your degree. You've only got five months left to go, if you quit now you'll have wasted over 3 years. So don't quit. Do as others said - take out a small loan to keep you in college and quit your job, or else tell your job that you need reduced hours. College has to be your priority since you have come this far.

George Orwell 1982

Do not drop out. Talk to the college counselling service, its free.

LegacyUser

Hey, op here.

I asked my boss to once again for time off this week for college. He shouted down the phone at me and I told him I couldn't work anymore, and that I have to give in my notice and he changed his tone around completely, asking me not to do that to him this close to christmas etc. He said we will have a meeting this friday.

I checked my online banking and applied for a loan, so I am waiting to hear back from them, it said it'd be 24 hours.

Trying my best to get my head together. I did a mock exam today and my lecturer told me I was looking very stressed and I nearly broke down in tears trying to tell her that I'm destroyed. I can't afford to take time off anything because it's so late in the semester, I've assignments and end of term continuous assessment exams that are incorporated into the class time due over the next week.

I've gone to the counseling service and they're inundated with students (so the secretary said) so she said it could be January by the time I get an appointment, and then I asked her to please tell me if there were any cancellations/no shows because I'm at breaking point and she said she would put me up on the list and would call me if she could get any of the counselors to move things around. So I'm waiting to hear back, and in the meantime getting work done.

thanks again everyone

justplainme

Hi Op,
would it be possible to get an extension maybe on any of your assignments? even one.. Lecturers can be very supportive in these situations.. It won't hurt to ask even if you don't get an extension. Just an idea. Best of luck with it all and stick with it. I'm in final year myself & I find it tough going not to mind having to work!

HannahBecker

I have just come out of the exact situation you are talking about. It damn near drove me to a breakdown but I completed my degree and kept working. Please PM me and I will tell you more of my experience and the things that really, really helped me.

LostinBlanch

justawreck wrote: »

Hey, op here.

I asked my boss to once again for time off this week for college. He shouted down the phone at me and I told him I couldn't work anymore, and that I have to give in my notice and he changed his tone around completely, asking me not to do that to him this close to christmas etc. He said we will have a meeting this friday.

I checked my online banking and applied for a loan, so I am waiting to hear back from them, it said it'd be 24 hours.

Trying my best to get my head together. I did a mock exam today and my lecturer told me I was looking very stressed and I nearly broke down in tears trying to tell her that I'm destroyed. I can't afford to take time off anything because it's so late in the semester, I've assignments and end of term continuous assessment exams that are incorporated into the class time due over the next week.

I've gone to the counseling service and they're inundated with students (so the secretary said) so she said it could be January by the time I get an appointment, and then I asked her to please tell me if there were any cancellations/no shows because I'm at breaking point and she said she would put me up on the list and would call me if she could get any of the counselors to move things around. So I'm waiting to hear back, and in the meantime getting work done.

thanks again everyone

If all else fails, talk to your lecturer and say that you are severely under stress. Say you have contacted the counselling service and that they can't help you until January. Tell her that you really want to complete the course but find yourself under huge pressure from work, and allied to the assignments and continuous assessment you are finding it really hard to cope. I'd make it very clear to her that this is down to you either finishing the course or not, and not just a case of "exam flu." Ask her for help, at the very least this is something that will come up wrt marking.

Also talk to the student union as well.

Also if you don't like your job also then you're not planning to stay there for ages, and like a previous poster said, this qulaification could be a springboard.

Good luck with it btw.