College

LegacyUser

Ok where to begin..

I did well in my Leaving Cert in 2010 and like everyone went to college, but
had no firm interests.

So i went to DIT to study the 2 subjects i actually did well in. But the main
thing is I don\'t enjoy studying and am not sure if college is for me.

BUT i did well in my LC as I said and had enough points to goto Trinity, so i
decided to take the year out and go to Trinity this year as i felt i had wasted
an opportunity.

So in this year i worked in a supermarket full time until i was let go in July,
so i was like, grand just goto Trinity now.

But now 2 weeks into the course I\'m thinking what have i gotten myself into!

The course is very difficult ALREADY and am thinking of dropping out already.

This has lead me to think of what lies ahead, not a good job in the future etc,
should i have stayed in DIT.. Or maybe that college is just not for me...

Family have gone to trinity so maybe passively i felt i needed to go here but i
truly don\'t think study is for me, I was once bright and still think i am, but
i just HATE studying and reading and i don\'t see that changing...

Regardless of what happens i feel i owe it to my Parents to stick with this
course for the year, but i feel i may be prolonging the inevitable.

I\'ve always been a worrier..

I fear the failure, but also am realistic and see that this will just be a
constant struggle studying this course, leading to an unhappy lifestyle..

I also feel that classmates who weren\'t as academic in secondary school as me
will ultimately do better as they are in college.. and also feel like going to
a \"lesser\" college in the future will also give me a lack of confidence..

Call it laziness, but I simply don\'t enjoy it..

I simply don\'t know what to do.. and by consistently thinking of what lies
ahead and what not, it\'s distracting me from getting on with it at the
moment..


Many Thanks for helping me!!!

MacieC

Honestly, I think you're not asking yourself the right questions.

- Do you like the course you are taking ?
- Did you choose the course because you wanted to do it or because you wanted to please your family by so doing ?
- Do you have any idea of what you wanna do after college ?
- Do you have any idea of what you wanna do if you drop out ?

I mean, not going to college is a bit risky and you might regret it on the long haul, more than you're now suffering from actually going to college.
Education is the key to success especially in such a bad economy. I get that you might think that college is not for you, but we all go through it at some point. College level is tough, no matter what college you go to, or what course you're taking. I don't think that the problem is college per se, I think the problem is that you're not motivated. Maybe because you're in the wrong course ?

Honestly, it would be very stupid to drop out because you're gonna get stuck with minimum wage jobs for the rest of your life, and I doubt that your parents will be very supportive of that. If you lose on the opportunity to get education, you'll definitely regret it.

You have to understand that all college courses are tough. But they're tougher if you don't have the motivation to succeed. If you don't have the motivation, it usually means you're not doing the right course. Of course, there might be some other external issues, but jumping from one job to another is deffo not the right way of going about it.

You should talk to your parents, don't seclude yourself and keep it all inside. Maybe they will guide you or at least try to do so. I'm pretty confident it will take you a couple of different avenues to figure out what you wanna do, but maybe this course will actually give you this epiphany.
Talk to your friends or to your gilfriend_boyfriend, they can be of some help.

Anyway, don't drop out, it would be a bad idea. If you drop out or quit every time you start something, you're gonna be miserable for the rest of your life. That's gonna turn into a habit. Stick to it and see how it goes.

If you want further help PM me.


Good luck.

LegacyUser

Thanks for the response.

To answer your questions - I don't really like the course, no.
Partly, due to the sheer workload, already, it's only going to get worse. I have a tough time coping with stress and don't really want to face it for 4 more years. I realise any course will be stress related but this is very full on.

I chose it as I had an interest in becoming fluent in German, and was alright at business in school...

No idea what I wanna do after college..

If i dropped out, i'd work and travel, goto Australia maybe.. then maybe goto a more local, low key college, maybe it would suit me better...

allgirlz

TimTom222 wrote: »

Thanks for the response.

To answer your questions - I don't really like the course, no.
Partly, due to the sheer workload, already, it's only going to get worse. I have a tough time coping with stress and don't really want to face it for 4 more years. I realise any course will be stress related but this is very full on.

I chose it as I had an interest in becoming fluent in German, and was alright at business in school...

No idea what I wanna do after college..

If i dropped out, i'd work and travel, goto Australia maybe.. then maybe goto a more local, low key college, maybe it would suit me better...

Give yourself time to settle into it, the first 6 months can be very full on in college. This will be your 2nd time to drop out of college so think carefully before you do, your ideas on what to do for the future are very vague. Remember that this is your future and Australia will still be there in 4 years time, get your head down get into the exams in december and see how it goes from there. Going to Trinity is hard work but really well worth it in the end, I find that my degree is well thought of in employment situations and the overall experience of going there was great, at times very tough but worth it. Maybe have a chat with the student counselling service too, I would definitely do anything but drop out right now though, you have just started the course, do not give up just yet.Think about your long term prospects.

woodchuck

Personally I think you should stick it out, for now at least. It can all be very daunting in the beginning and two weeks is nothing at all so you really should give yourself a chance at the very least to try your best and see how you get on.

Try not to be too pessimistic thinking it’s just going to get worse… starting off can be one of the hardest parts because you feel like you’ve been thrown in the deep end. The longer you’re at it the more capable you’ll be at handling assignments etc purely because you’ve had more experience and better know how to approach things and organise yourself.

As for not being able to cope with stress… I don’t mean to sound cold or clichéd but stress is a part of life, get used to it! It can also be used to your advantage as all that energy you put into worrying and stressing out can be channelled into studying (that might sound weird, but it works for me!). It’s probably a lot more work than you expected, but you just get used to it as you go along and makes you appreciate your free time more (do take some time off when you can afford to or you’ll go insane!). A lot people have this preconceived notion that students just spend all day every day dossing and drinking… in my experience those are the ones who end up failing/dropping out or barely passing by the skin of their teeth. To do well you really need to put the effort in.

The only thing that sounds worrying is your reason for doing business. Is it just because you did alright at it in school or do you also have a genuine interest? Studying can be difficult no matter what the subject, but it’s easier to get motivated if it’s something you’re genuinely interested in. So if this is part of the problem it probably isn’t too late to change to a different subject if you need to. It might be an idea to meet with a career guidance councillor to better discuss what options are best for you?

LegacyUser

Appreciate these points guys, it's helping alot...

Originally i planned to at least go on till christmas, but if it's inevitable it's inevitable..

If i drop out before 31st october i therfore don't have to pay any fees in the future.. i was thinking maybe more of a local college would suit me better....

But if i wait until the middle of the year i'll be liable to half fees.. and i'd prefer not to burden me/parents with that..

I just don't know what to do.. I saw the student councellor yesterday, not great help , but i'm seeing her again next week to hopefully come to a conclusion..

woodchuck

TimTom222 wrote: »

Originally i planned to at least go on till christmas, but if it's inevitable it's inevitable.

That’s a bit of a defeatist attitude there! You don’t know yet that it’s inevitable. It sounds like you’ve given up before you’ve really started.

TimTom222 wrote: »

If i drop out before 31st october i therfore don't have to pay any fees in the future.. i was thinking maybe more of a local college would suit me better....

I do understand where you’re coming from regarding fees. I guess you just have to weigh up if the money is worth the opportunity. You mentioned starting DIT; did you leave this course and why? My point is if you drop out of DIT, then trinity, why would you think another college would be any better/different?

I guess if it was me I’d always be worried about the ‘what if’ I had stuck it out.

TimTom222 wrote: »

I saw the student councellor yesterday, not great help , but i'm seeing her again next week to hopefully come to a conclusion..

That’s great that you met with the councillor… pity they weren’t more help though. If you’re considering changing subjects see if you can sit in on some of those lectures (if it's a large class nobody would even notice if you sneak in).

Also do you have a mentor? I remember when I was there every student was assigned a lecturer they could meet up with if they have any issues/problems. It could be worth contacting him/her, or when you started you might have gotten a letter with their office hours. I’ve heard that some are more useful than others, but couldn’t hurt to have a chat.

LegacyUser

woodchuck wrote: »

That’s a bit of a defeatist attitude there! You don’t know yet that it’s inevitable. It sounds like you’ve given up before you’ve really started.



I do understand where you’re coming from regarding fees. I guess you just have to weigh up if the money is worth the opportunity. You mentioned starting DIT; did you leave this course and why? My point is if you drop out of DIT, then trinity, why would you think another college would be any better/different?

I guess if it was me I’d always be worried about the ‘what if’ I had stuck it out.



That’s great that you met with the councillor… pity they weren’t more help though. If you’re considering changing subjects see if you can sit in on some of those lectures (if it's a large class nobody would even notice if you sneak in).

Also do you have a mentor? I remember when I was there every student was assigned a lecturer they could meet up with if they have any issues/problems. It could be worth contacting him/her, or when you started you might have gotten a letter with their office hours. I’ve heard that some are more useful than others, but couldn’t hurt to have a chat.

TBH, i agree with you about the giving up before starting.. I think that's the kind of person I am.. but that's me.. I stress a lot, and did so in school, and don't fancy it for 4 more years of my life.. (i realise thats life). But i can just see down the line with some of the subjects and my prospect of passing them, eg maths, which i am terrible at.


I dropped out of DIT to goto Trinity in a nutshell.. i was in the same course in DIT, but easier, without maths etc, but had enough points to goto Trinity and questioned myself why i didn't go there, and at the moment, i regret that, i didn't think i would but i do.. and i am a bit devastated about that at the moment ..

Trust me, that 'what if' will probably annoy me too.. partly why i left DIT to goto trinity... but look how that turned out... (well, kinda at the moment..)

IADT is very near where I live and i'm eyeing up going there next year, potentially with a friend of mine..


I do have a tutor yes, I'm going to email her tomorrow and hope to have a chat..

MissFlitworth

TimTom222 wrote: »

If i drop out before 31st october i therfore don't have to pay any fees in the future.. i was thinking maybe more of a local college would suit me better....

so very not true unfortunately, college fees are almost definitely coming back in , if you drop out this year and fluff around for a couple of years then try to go back you'll be paying for college for the full duration of academic life.

You kind of sound like you're lining up your excuses for your parents and yourself as well as digging around for a few new ones, 2 weeks into your 2nd 1st year and you can't really have put in any effort at all to see if the course will work for you.

College isn't for everyone but for the sake of the person who applied for your course and didn't get it because you took a place you should make a proper effort to see if it will work for you. Go to your tutors and ask for help with a study plan. You are not, by a long long shot, the first very bright person to land in college and find it so different from how things are taught in school that it seems impossible. It isn't though, it just takes some big changes to the way that you study & organise yourself and a uni like Trinity is full of people who are there to help you with study skills, you should ask them for help

woodchuck

Whatever you do, just make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. (I really hope any thoughts regarding IADT aren’t just because of a handy location and the fact that a friend might also be going!)

I don’t mean to be rude, but you need to ask yourself if you’re just being lazy by giving up? We all get stressed out by things, but most people just learn to cope and get on with stuff. If the stress is interfering with your day to day life you might consider seeing a doctor. If it’s not that extreme then I really think you should stop using it as an excuse.

So it would be the same degree you’d end up with whether it’s in DIT, Trinity or IADT? The same degree should require about the same amount of work no matter where you do it. You seem to think that the trinity course is so much harder than the DIT course, but having only done a couple of weeks of each you really can’t know that.

If maths is really such a big factor you could look into changing subjects? It’s probably not as bad as you think though, there are usually tutorials for that kind of thing to help students out. Also have you actually tried studying what has been covered so far? I know you hate studying (most people don’t exactly find it fun…) but maybe you should give it a go (even if it’s just for a week!) to see if it’s as unmanageable as you think. And I mean really sit down with it and give it your all. Often things sound like gibberish in lectures, but when you actually study it in your own time it starts to make sense.

LegacyUser

First of all, contact the college careers councilor and tell them your story, maybe they can help. Two weeks is not enough time to figure out whether you like a course or not. Figure out a realistic deadline to come to a decision. Secondly google the Myers Briggs career test. It maybe the case that you need another year out to think about the direction you want to go in. If this is the case it's not the end of the world, it's best not to waste time and energy putting effort into something you have little or no interest in.