Did I waste 4 years in college?

LegacyUser

Hi, I've a bit of a dilemma and I'm just looking for some advice on it from people who may have been in similar positions before. Basically, I completed a college course which was 4 years long in May this year. It leads to a very highly regarded financial profession where I could make very good money. I wouldn't say I hated the course, but I felt no real passion for it. To be honest, the only thing I know that i'm passionate about is seeing the world and living in different cities. Is it a waste of 4 years of my life if I don't get a job related to my degree?

I've considered the possibility of teaching English abroad in Asia or maybe going to a new city like London or Edinburgh. Eventually I'd love to go to Australia for a year also if I save up the funds. But in any of these options there's a good chance I will not be working in the field which I studied in. Would this then signify that college was a monumental waste of 4 years of my life? And also if living abroad went t*ts up, are employers likely to not employ me in a job related to my degree if I haven't worked in that field within say 2-3 years after leaving? I just seem to have this mindset whereby I don't particularly want to settle into a 9-5 office job in Ireland for 10 years. Would rather live while i'm young

thegreatgonzo

I don't think any education is ever a waste but if you were able to get a job in this area and it is well paying would you think of doing that for a year or so to save money for travelling?

denhaagenite

Is there a reason that you can't work in Asia using your qualification? If you want to travel, I'm pretty sure that once your qualification is sound and sought after you can work in practically any country you want- check the living abroad forum, we're all over the world doing anything you could think of .

Teaching English in Asia is very short term and you're back to square one when your year is up in my experience of friends doing it.

dory

You'll get a job in Asia much easier with a degree than without, regardless of the topic. In some countries you need a degree just to get a visa. So go travel and explore for a bit. I did a year in South America and now teach Spanish and love it!

castaway_lady

Nope its not a waste of life. You haven't identified something else that you would rather have done for one thing and you were successful in your studies for another. Who knows when you'll decide to use that degree of if you will but at the moment it can provide you with the means to finance the thing that is a priority for you at this point in time. If you choose to use some other means to finance that then so be it. Loads of people return to study to change career in their 30s or 40s having spent 4 years and maybe 10 years in a particular industry. The itch you have to scratch at the moment is spreading your wings and traveling so it would be a waste if you didn't follow that in this chapter of your life.

Littlelulu13

Those 4 years in college not only gave you a degree but played a huge part in the persob you are today. Education is one part of college but personal development is another. If you didn't go you might be lacking in confidence etc etc.

If you're not feeling the love with your degree then thats perfectly fine. Sometimes you spend so long doing exams and c.a's that you just get fed up it all. I suggest you book those flights and head off. Experience new things and your heart will be drawn to something. If you head straightinto a job when you have an itch and not follow your heart you will probably regret it.

I have a 4 year degree and currently not using it by choice. I don't know if I ever will go back into the area but I certainly don't have any regrets because i was a mouse going into college and it brought me out of my shell.

I have found other things that I much prefer to do so will be pursuing those and i can always head back into my career if I choose.

Follow your heart and do it while you can. It won't be so easy to drop everything when you are married with children and a house. Plenty of time to be staring out an office window at that stage

Good luck

Frank Black

What you study in College life what you actually do in the Work environment can be completely different. I did a degree in Engineering, but there's very little of what I studied that I use in my day-today work.
It's worth trying out a job in your field before you give up on it completely (no reason why this couldn't be abroad if you wish to travel). Who knows, you may really enjoy the actual work.

Wednesday Addams

College is about alot more than the actual course you do; it's about learning to apply yourself and gaining self discipline and maturity. It's a stop gap that gives you a chance to mature between your teens and your 20's. I'm sure you had some great experiences and met some great people OP, so it most definitely was not a waste. It was what was right for you at the time and now you just need to determine what's right for you next.

LegacyUser

In one way I feel like i'm being selfish with the whole travel thing though. I backpacked around asia for ~6 weeks earlier this year, it's just that I enjoyed the whole experience of being in a different place so much, that it's something I'd love to do for way longer than 6 weeks. At home I'm struggling with no job, very few friends, disliking my hometown and basically i'm in a rut. It just feels like a fresh start in a different city (and ideally different continent), would be good for me. But with my degree, I could only really get a job related to it in Ireland or the UK.

It's a worrying thought though just fecking off to a new place with no real plan of where I will be in 5 or 10 years and whether my degree will be rendered useless. That's what really makes it difficult, do I go for the structure and order to life that getting a job at home in my field offers, or do I take the risk and go for the fresh start in a new place. At my age I feel like I should be able to make like these, but being honest..I'm clueless

dorkacle

Hey OP.

I honestly wouldn't worry about your 4 year degree being a waste.

It will always stand to you, regardless of the area you end up working in.

I would say it is true that if you haven't worked in the area of your degree within the next couple of years, you may find it more difficult to find work in that specific area, but it won't mean you will never find work in that area.

To be honest though, a degree (and particularly in finance) will show to employers that you are a smart and capable person.

I would suggest what you need to do is to decide what kind of job you would like to get into and apply for them. As a graduate you will primarily be looking at entry level jobs, and in many cases a degree in that specific area is not a absolute requirement as long as you have some sort of degree to begin with.

You will just need to explain why you are applying for such jobs, why they interest you and how you feel you will be good at it

You also have the option of doing a Masters / Conversion Course, along with your existing degree, this is a one year Masters course will allow you to gain a qualification in an area that you would prefer to get into.

You have plenty of options, so don't get yourself down about it, and well done on completing your degree in the first place!

IrishEyes19

teaching abroad is great and all, but as another poster said its short term. what do you when you get back. if you realised you liked teaching, you will need an undergraduate degree in your subject and then do the PDE course to qualify you, if you were considering secondary, so there is still a lot of work to do regardless and more years in college, 2 from next year in fact if were considering english, plus you would need to have studied english as a 3 year undergraduate course anyway

LegacyUser

IrishEyes19 wrote: »

teaching abroad is great and all, but as another poster said its short term. what do you when you get back. if you realised you liked teaching, you will need an undergraduate degree in your subject and then do the PDE course to qualify you, if you were considering secondary, so there is still a lot of work to do regardless and more years in college, 2 from next year in fact if were considering english, plus you would need to have studied english as a 3 year undergraduate course anyway

This is true, and it's the number one thing putting me off going abroad to teach for a year to be honest. But it sounds so unbelievably tempting when I read blogs about it and people are saying you can save upwards of 10k in a year year while still having a great time.

I have actually applied to many jobs related to my degree and haven't even got so much as an interview from my applications which is a bit disheartening. I'm just so sick of sitting around the house doing nothing - I've way too much energy to be an unemployed bum.

Tramps Like Us

WastedYears wrote: »

Hi, I've a bit of a dilemma and I'm just looking for some advice on it from people who may have been in similar positions before. Basically, I completed a college course which was 4 years long in May this year. It leads to a very highly regarded financial profession where I could make very good money. I wouldn't say I hated the course, but I felt no real passion for it. To be honest, the only thing I know that i'm passionate about is seeing the world and living in different cities. Is it a waste of 4 years of my life if I don't get a job related to my degree?

I've considered the possibility of teaching English abroad in Asia or maybe going to a new city like London or Edinburgh. Eventually I'd love to go to Australia for a year also if I save up the funds. But in any of these options there's a good chance I will not be working in the field which I studied in. Would this then signify that college was a monumental waste of 4 years of my life? And also if living abroad went t*ts up, are employers likely to not employ me in a job related to my degree if I haven't worked in that field within say 2-3 years after leaving? I just seem to have this mindset whereby I don't particularly want to settle into a 9-5 office job in Ireland for 10 years. Would rather live while i'm young

I could have wrote that.

I did a law degree and tbh while I didnt hate it I realized that it was just not for me, and the idea of a career in it doesnt appeal to me.

If you do know what appeals to you you can do a postgrad in it. Thats what I plan to do after a few years abroad working, the postgrad is in a totally unrelated area.

Do what you fancy for the next couple of years you will always have your degree to fall back on if things dont work out or you can do a postgrad in the area you want to do when you get back.

thedeadp0et

I did two years of a Journalism Degree and it caused me to utterly loath the medium of writing while I was studying it. I eventually 'dropped out' as it was killing my will to write and that was something I couldnt have - writing was my reason for living; all I knew and all I loved. Now - even though I do of course write every day - I'm at a complete loss at what to do career wise...I make my own music and I act when the occasion arises and was an extra on Vikings and Faircity - infact I recently joined an acting agency just for something to do but...I just dont know what to do...

ivytwine

thedeadp0et wrote: »

I did two years of a Journalism Degree and it caused me to utterly loath the medium of writing while I was studying it. I eventually 'dropped out' as it was killing my will to write and that was something I couldnt have - writing was my reason for living; all I knew and all I loved. Now - even though I do of course write every day - I'm at a complete loss at what to do career wise...I make my own music and I act when the occasion arises and was an extra on Vikings and Faircity - infact I recently joined an acting agency just for something to do but...I just dont know what to do...

I did journalism as well and while it didn't kill my love of writing I lost all respect for the industry. I don't want to work in it anymore, which is as well as there are no jobs!

I work in customer support for a large Irish company, not what I want to do but anything's better than the dole. I am still debating about doing TEFL. Might take the plunge in a year maybe depending on what my finances are like.

OP this feeling is so common among our generation. You're not wasting 4 years of college if you decide to take a different path in life. I believe the Irish system is too rigid- a form you fill out when you're 17 can totally alter the way you go. And other countries allow a higher amount of flexibility when changing or taking on additional majors, something that simply doesn't exist in Ireland.

Don't worry about what others think about wasting a degree. Do what makes you happy.