i am so full of regret

sashafierce

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Colonel Panic

It's never to late to do what you want to do. And if you don't know what that is, it's never too late to figure it out. You can't change the past, but regret and self pity will get you nowhere.

ABajaninCork

sashafierce wrote: »

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Why do you think you're not able for your course? You got a pass - right? Doesn't matter whether you scraped it. You passed.

Do you really want to work in your field. What about either re-taking your class or getting further quals?

You need to sit down and REALLY think about what you want. You're lucky - you've got a job, even if it isn't what you want. Me? I would LOVE to be in your position. I can't get a job! I've been trying for FOUR years and can't even get a job cleaning the ******* bogs!!

It's not too late to travel. Save up some money. How about a working holiday in Oz/NZ? You can probably still go to the US if you want.

Life isn't a mess. You just need to clear your head, that's all.

I hope you find a way.

LegacyUser

I graduated from college with a mediocre pass degree and then landed a job that bore no relation to what I had studied. The wages weren't great either and I was way over-qualified for what I did. I've long since moved on to better things but I still look back on that first proper job as a minor turning point in my life. I learned to work with other people, how to deal with the public, how to work to deadlines. Employers might look at your qualifications but they're also interested in seeing if you are any good at holding down a job and if you can work with other people.

You might think otherwise but there are plenty of people who would dearly love to be in your position now. There are hundreds of thousands of people right now who are on the dole. Not to mention young people your age who would love to be working in Ireland rather than living abroad. With the economy the way it is now, jobs are hard to come by and you cannot assume that you'll be landing your dream job in the short term.

Instead of beating yourself up about how awful everything is, you should sit down and think things through.
Regarding your college course, why did you not do as well as you wanted? Is it because you didn't study hard enough? Or is it because you aren't suited to the career you had in mind. If it's the former, can you repeat? Or do other courses that will compensate for this? Have you looked into doing night classes or distance learning?
If you think it's because the course was too hard, then maybe you shouldn't be trying to work in that field. It's one thing to be miserable in a college course - it has a finite end date. Being stuck in a job you hate is another matter entirely.

As for bemoaning not going on the J1, what is the problem here? Do you think that because you didn't go work abroad, that somehow your life is missing something? If it's what you want, there is nothing to stop you going travelling or working abroad.

Back to your original problem. If you don't think you'll be working in your chosen field then it's time for you to start investigating Plan B. The great thing about education these days is that there are so many more options. Time to put your thinking cap on and stop wallowing.

Overheal

I'm going to chime in on what lucky said. You can learn something from just about any job. Believe me, my career path has nothing to do with retail, but I've learned volumes about corporate culture, working in a team, dealing with the public, tackling projects, goals and deadlines, and that's just scratching the surface of it. Whatever job you're in might be in a completely different sector to where you want to wind up but that doesn't mean you can't find a connection between the two to get you there.

sashafierce

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Andy-Pandy

You can apply for a J1 within your first year of graduation. So, if you graduated last September you have loads of time to apply for one.

Stavro Mueller

You're not the first person to find the college course they chose wasn't what they expected. You did emerge from it with a pass so it's not totally wasted. Your question now is do you still want to pursue a career in that area. If you do, are there other steps you can take to get you to that goal. Can you do a different course or do other practical things to help? Or do you have to be honest with yourself here and accept that you'll be going a different road.

Don't let the course dictate what you do next. There are loads of people out there who've failed courses, dropped out of courses before the end or have realised that they didn't want to work in that area. Have you thought about going to talk to a careers adviser?

On the travelling thing, you need to ask yourself what is going on here. Do you genuinely want to travel and work abroad or do you think that you're missing out because your friends did something you didn't? Are you running away from your problems?

Assassin saphir

Hi. I left college in the same position as you. I barely passed. I took a temp job for a few months to tie myself over to see what I wanted to do. I too felt like I had failed. Fast forward 10 years and I'm still in this job. I grew to love it and developed within the company. I progressed pretty fast and now hold a senior role. I didn't do the travelling thing either and felt I missed out as while I was working every hour under the sun to get promoted my siblings were in oz or partying in Asia. But looking back I'm in a better place financially than them. I bought my first home and can afford a holiday while they are still paying off for the travels etc. My point is stick at the job, find out what training programmes they offer and see how you can develop yourself further. You're not missing out on the going ttravelling bit just wait and do it when your in a secure place.
I don't want it to sound like it was easy to get here. I'm grateful to have my job and work hard with a lot of unpaid overtime to keep it but please op don't throw away a job to go on a J1 or because it's not in your studied field. I've met very few people who love their job. Sometimes it not about what you want to do its about what you have to do to get on.
Good luck

Stavro Mueller

Out of curiosity, why didn't you go on a J1 in the past? You could've gone any summer surely? If not, is there any good reason why? What I'm trying to get at here is are you the travelling kind? Unless you find work abroad that will help you progress your career, you'll be right back to square one when you return. You'll still be facing into the issues you have now.

Tombo2001

I know the reason I never went on a J1......

Was because I didnt have the money. You need I imagine 2 or 3 grand in the bank just to get there in the first place.

In my case, I took 18 months out aged 27 and travelled the world, 4 months of which were spend working in the US.....can be done later in life if you really want to, and more so can be done on your own terms....