Short term sacrifice for long term gain?

LegacyUser

I'm going into 3rd year of college in September and just looking for some advice.

Basically, I don't get any enjoyment/satisfaction out of college. I feel like I'm only attending because it's something that I'm able to do, "it would be a shame not to" kind of feeling.

This apathy is making me feel miserable, however. I'm in a course I neither hate or love, doing reasonably well with little effort/attendance, with no real passion for the subject. I just don't know what purpose it's fulfilling for me besides giving me a qualification at the end of it. It's like I'm wasting four years I could be spending living my life instead of going through the motions every day.

I do suffer from depression, which may be leading me to have this "going through the motions" feeling but I can not be certain, and in any case I'm receiving help with regards to this and my feelings towards college have not changed, maybe this is just my "default setting" currently.

Any advice? Should I consider not continuing with college when I feel so disinterested in it? How could I become more interested? More motivated? How can I care?

My main worry with not going to college is being "stuck" working in a SuperValu on minimum wage for my entire life, living from paycheque to paycheque with no money to do the things I enjoy, to rent/buy a house, or to eventually start a family. What are the prospects for someone with no qualifications? Is there just no hope of making anything of yourself, career/finances wise?

Wesser

What do you mean when you say living your life. What would you like to do that you are not doing now.

Ursus Horribilis

In my opinion, you would be out of your mind to quit your course at this stage. There are two reasons I say this. The first is that a primary degree is now the minimum requirement for many jobs. You'd be shutting yourself out from getting anything half decent. The second is that it'd make you look flaky. Having a degree shows that you're capable of starting something and finishing it out. What explanation will you have for potential employers if all you have to show at 21/22 years of age is a half-finished degree course you dropped out of and talk of apathy and depression.

In terms of the course your're doing, are you OK with the general direction it's heading in? For many people these days, their primary degree is only a stepping stone to something else. Have you researched what you could study after your degree that could take you in a direction that interests you more? Or indeed, what other courses you could transfer into with the two years you've already done.

You're already half way through your course. A degree is no load and you would be better off with it when it comes to applying for jobs. Another thing to bear in mind is that returning to college once you've been out of the loop for a few years is bloody hard. Unless your degree is a step in the wrong direction, stick it out and graduate. You'll have plenty of time to "live your life" afterwards. Preferably with a better paid job.

zoobizoo

Finish your degree and then do a Masters in something that interests you.

Or take a year out after and then do that....



Was the course of interest to you before you started?

Teyla Emmagan

You are living your life. A lot of the time life is just very humdrum. If you are bored in college find a hobby that interests you.

DO NOT drop out. Any degree is better than no degree. It will bring you places in life. Much further than dropping out at the age of 20 (I presume) with no qualifications and no goal.

Ursus Horribilis

What were you expecting from college? Going by some of the threads I've seen here, there are people who think it'll solve their problems for them. I'm long out of college now and mostly what I remember fondly are my friends and our times outside of class. The course itself was a mixture of the interesting, the tedious and the downright painful. College courses aren't there to entertain you.

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Lux23

zoobizoo wrote: »

Finish your degree and then do a Masters in something that interests you.

This. You will be finished in no time, it will fly by and you will be glad you stuck it out. I mean, you're doing well with minimum effort, why not just enjoy taking it easy?

shesty

How do you think you will be 'living life' if you drop out?What else do you think you will be doing?

fizzypish

Call up your course head. I was able to defer my course for a little while. Take your break but finish your course. O and only defer if your sure you'll have work/travel. Don't just piss off home and do nothing. You don't need to work in that field when you finish so just get the last 2 years done.

Permabear

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Ursus Horribilis

What's more, the conditions in the sorts of jobs you'll be trapped in have deteriorated over the years. All you have to do is look at the labour disputes in the likes of Dunnes and Tesco to see that. Many of the jobs that used to be open to people with minimum qualifications have either degenerated into zero hour, minimum wage hell or have vanished altogether. At one time there were lots of factory jobs in my home town. Now all that's left is a meat factory and a couple of small operations in the local IDA advance factories. They've even cut the hours of the cleaners who clean my offices. The people at the lower end of the labour market in this country have really got the short end of the stick. You are in the very lucky position of being on a course that you're well capable of qualifying in. And you want to jack it in because you're....bored?