Do you regret not going to college

I'm annoyed I didn't make more out of my time in college. I dropped out. The thing is I am academically minded and whould be far more comfortable studying all day long then being in boring job.
I went back years later and am now getting my first degree this year. Following on with a masters. Then probably another masters.

It means I'm now working to pay my way through what has become an addiction to education.

it was the mid 80's when i did my leaving and did not have the opportunity to go on to colllege - mind you my parents were happy enough since i completed my leaving - the only one of 5 to do so.

5 years ago i went to college and have completed a masters and am glad i got the chance -

Education is not for everyone but nowadays its common to go back as a mature student

I went to college but didn't do as well as I could have. Hopefully in a few years time I'll save enough money to go back and do my master. Then I'll be mature enough to get the best out of it.

As my body starts to tire,I regret not making the most of my brief stint in 3rd level education, I picked the wrong course for the wrong reasons(keep the ol man happy), I enjoy what I do(tradesman) but I also look back with envy and regret.

Only if the young lad is a complete doofus,will I encourage him to pick up the trowel.Otherwise,education,education,education. I'm not yet 34 and have tennis elbow in both elbows,a shoddy hip,lower back pains becoming more frequent,stiffness in the fingers(no jokes,down the back).

Like I said, I love my work,but for any young man full of hubris entering into the trades,just be aware that you will see broken men in their 40s and 50s,yet will soon be expected to keep working until 70+,be safe,take manual handling seriously,ask for help if something is heavy,don't take risks that could affect your health.

Deleted User wrote: »

I regret going to college to be perfectly honest. I was always one of the top students in my school, got 570 in my Leaving and it was just assumed I'd go on to do well at 3rd level as well. But I started college as a very naive 17 year old, ended up hating my course but was too scared/stubborn to drop out, suffered from depression but didn't tell any of my lecturers for fear that they wouldn't believe me. Ended up with a 2.2 (not a terrible result but by no means good either) and now struggle horribly to find a job 'cause employers only want someone with a 2.1 or higher, or even someone without a college education but with plenty of work experience.

If I ever manage to find a job I'll consider working for a few years with the aim of saving up some money and going back to study something I actually enjoy or care about. Just haven't figured out what that is yet.

Hang in there man,work hard and don't lose sight of your goals.

I regret leaving the education system! Back September for post grad so all is good

For those who do (seems to be a good few of ye) - There's plenty of evening degrees, some of which are better than full time degrees as everyone there wants to be there and it's mostly made up of adults who are doing it to better themselves, and not kids who had to pick something after finishing school.

Sometimes,when business is slow and money is tight.but by the time i reached 6th year i was sick to the teeth of the "education" system

I went to college in the mid-90s but looking back I don't know how much use it was to me as most of what I learned (Computer related course) was out-of-date by the time I finished anyway. To be fair though in those days there was a new OS almost every year and hardware was changing rapidly too.

I then learned that the big multinationals (which lure you in with promises of training and qualifications) rarely provide these beyond the basics, and where they do agree to "sponsor" you it usually comes at a cost of x years of additional service or you pay them back - which is fair enough I suppose.

The downside then is I have over 15 years experience but very little paperwork as I've always worked in busy environments where the last thing you want to do after a long day is start studying IT stuff (especially if that day involved maybe 2 hours from home remotely administering server updates/reboots after hours). I'm also the type who prefers to learn by doing anyway.

Also, I think you get to a point in IT where if you want to stay "technical" you have to spend a fortune keeping current with the latest certs/tech or spend a fortune on a specialty that hopefully will reward the investment, and you're going to be up against college grads who already have the certs and who can do the job for maybe half what you'd want/need (due to them having no commitments like a mortgage, family, loans etc)

But I have to admit, it probably hurt me a few years ago when I was made redundant but I managed to find something anyway and now I've set myself a few targets in terms of getting some certification to back up my experience.

These days though I manage the team so there's not quite the same pressure to keep up-to-date on all the latest and greatest to the same level as I would have previously, but I still keep current and know my way around the latest server OS's etc as IT has always been a hobby as well as a career.

Slightly off-topic rambling ends here