Can't settle!!

LegacyUser

Just wondering if anyone at college has ever went through a period like this before or able to offer me any advice??!

Basically im about to go into 3rd year medicine and im not really sure if im doing the right thing, im the youngest in my family, ive 2 sisters, one a pharmacist and the other a lawyer, parents are unbelievable when it comes to academic stuff, always has to be the best bla bla, i actually do kinda like the medicine but i dont love it, my last year at uni was a total mess, i broke up with my gf of 2 years and i basically lost the plot, i went through thousands on drinking and gambling, only 2 ways i could make myself feel better, i work on a site the whole summers so i had a lot of cash about me. I failed one exam, basically i didnt do any work for it, on the tear the night before it, now i cant seem to get myself round to revise for it, its in 2 weeks and i know i could pass it no bother but i always have this thing on my shoulder telling me im only fooling myself and i dont really wana be doing medicine i really am scundered atm, parents are in a state of shock at me failing a exam and im just pissed off. I could really see myself being involved in some kind of business of that, entrepenuer kinda thing but i haven't a clue wot to do. I would love to travel for a year, was looking on the net i could play gaelic at any of the clubs in america and travel for a year. Do i needa year out to settle myself and figure everything out or wot should i do?!?! Anyone ever felt like this before?

Do i just needa catch a grip and get on with things or should i genuinely give sum thought to where my life is going?

LundiMardi

If i don't like what you're doing then don't do it.
If you'd rather do something else then stop what you're doing now and go do it.
If you're doing this because of peer pressure then tell them to go fúck themselves and that you'll do what YOU want to do.

Live your own life, not someone elses.

crazymonkey

live your own life or you will never be happy,,

Skip

I failed several exams, but I always knew why and that my subject was the thing I wanted to do best, I never had to ask the question if it's the thing for me. So if you ask the question, that already means you don't want to do it. Leave it, if it's not in your heart

And also, talk to your parents about it, trying to be honest but keeping calm.

cordelia

Your parents are not living your life. You are.

Have you talked honestly with them about what is bothering you? It could be that your parents are worried about the failed exam not because of the grade itself but because of your general unhappiness. Most parents really do just want their kids to do well with their lives and be happy.

It sounds like you need to take some time to sort yourself out. But it also sounds like you need to talk honestly and openly with your parents about what's been going on in the past and in the present.

You only have one go around. What you do with it is up to yourself entirely. It's like the cliche: you don't regret the things you do, only the things you might have done.

Good luck.

seamus

I honestly believe that everyone should be at the very least allowed* to take a year or two out after doing the Leaving, go and work, or travel or something. It's very tough to leave school, you've become a young adult with new freedoms, money and all the ideals in the world. Many people find it tough to maintain an academic lifestyle with all of this going on around them. I know I did. By 3rd year in college, I think I went to maybe 10 lectures in all subjects, and pretty much scraped the exams after repeating them.
I was already fatigued with the academic lifestyle before I went into college. I was good at the course, but I didn't have the motivation. Now I've been working for two years, and I could honestly say that I would like to go back and do it again, because I know that I'd do it properly this time, with a little bit of perspective on life. There's nothing like 9-5 days, motor loans and bills to give you a little perspective

It's just tough that you chose medicine. It's a long road, and all credit to you for getting there in the first place, it's something you need to be passionate about to maintain the interest for the full length of the course.

See what your options are as regards taking time out. Ask yourself what you think you'd like to be doing now. Doesn't matter if it's right, if your parents think it's right, or even if it would suit you. No harm to give it a go. You'd be shocked how much of your life can change in two months.

*There's a general stigmatism with regards to taking a year out. Many people would see it as a waster just being undecided. Many parents worry that the child won't go to college. Ultimately I'd like to see schools presenting multiple options for what to do immediately after school. They tend to just tell you what further academia you can pursue. There is zero harm in putting your education on hold for a few years. You have loads of time.

Santa Claus

I went through a similar situation with over-bearing parents wanting me to do a course in Uni that I really didn't want to do.

My advice would be do the revision and try to pass the exam in 2 weeks if only to get the parents off your back and to avoid repeating th year.
Once that's in the bag, speak to someone in the college about deferring/ taking a year out.
Use that year to work/travel and decide if medicine is something you really want to do. If it is, then after the years break you'll come back refreshed and be able to pick up where you left off with more enthusiasm for the course.
if you decide medicine is not for you, then you can look at option of transferring to another course.

That's what I did and I found it helped no end.