<p>I want to become a professional motorcycle racer, but that’s too risky and improbable. I also want to travel the world, but that’s too expensive. I’ll probably study abroad…eventually.</p>
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<p>The people here are very nice and will try to make friends with you (although it might have been because it was their first year) so that’s not the problem…I enjoy the city. I changed my major from aerospace engineering to computer science but I won’t be taking a lot of those classes for a while.</p>
<p>I feel like it’s a problem with me and I need to change myself to fit into college. Or maybe I am too scared to change and be more outgoing. So a psychology problem? I just want something to change so that these years don’t go by before I know it.</p>
<p>The fact that you feel there’s nothing you “want” to do sounds almost like you may be suffering from depression. I would definitely try talking to some school counselors to see why you aren’t having fun despite doing “fun” things, ie going to Six Flags, campus events, etc… </p>
<p>Different route:
Are you homesick? Are you not ready to be fully out on your own? Do you fear responsibility? Are you afraid of change?</p>
<p>Anyways, sorry for going all Dr. Phil on you ;)</p>
<p>So imagine… you’ve been standing behind the cash register since 9 this morning. Outside, the last rays of day are disappearing behind the sunset. Your back, feet, legs feel empty and exhausted. A woman comes to your line and shoves her groceries in front of you. She’s pretty. You smile at her and ask her if she found everything ok (as your managers have ordered you a million times to say to every single customer). She ignores you and doesn’t make any eye contact. You scan & bag her groceries one by one and she pays by credit card and walks out. Behind her is a group of college kids with an entire cart full of beer. You see these kids and remember back to your own short lived stint in college. You think… “why did I drop out again? Oh yeah… I was too lazy. I wish I could go back now… but how am I going to pay my car loan and the rent at my apartment? God my apartment sucks.”
All of that flashed through your mind in a single instant. This is uncharacteristic of you, but you tell those college kids with the beer to “enjoy college becausee it doesn’t last forever.” They just laugh and say “We don’t need someone like you telling us what to do.” Your cell phone rings to indicate it is 5. “Finally!” you think. “Now I can go home and sit on the couch and watch reruns of Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond.” As you walk out your 22 year old newly hired manager motions you over. He says “Sorry… we are going to have to let you go.” You respond
“I’ve been working here 10 years…
What are you talking about??
How am I supposed to pay the rent?
THIS ISN’T FAIR”
A crowd has gathered because of your screaming. Your (ex)-manager responds “Nothing personal… We’re just replacing all of our cashiers with those self checkout machines.”</p>
<p>Hope you guys had as much fun reading this as I had writing.</p>
<p>Welcome to the real college life. It’s all about time management. Some majors will have more free time than others. You just have to realize that you are in college to learn, having fun is secondary. If you want to party more change to an easier major, maximize your time management, or go to a Junior College.</p>
<p>If there is a school for me, I feel like this would be the one. And I don’t want to go anywhere else. So it’s like something I need to change.</p>
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I think there is a reason for my unhappiness, unless my own unhappiness is causing my unhappiness.</p>
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<p>I’m homesick for someplace I’ve never been. I don’t mind being on my own or having responsibility or even change. But I don’t feel like this is home. I don’t look forward to growing up either.</p>
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<p>It’s not really an issue of the difficulty. I just don’t my reason to be here be “just to survive” I want to have fun here.</p>
<p>I hate when people assume that you’ll have a ****ty job without a degree. I know many successful people that haven’t attended college. I don’t have a degree but I have absolutely no trouble paying bills.</p>
<p>Maybe you should try dropping out and doing something you love. You said you’re interested in computers, well, why not start your own computer-related business? Maybe intern for some company and get hired through showing them that you cal pull your own weight? There are plenty of things you can do that don’t require a degree and don’t leave you working at some minimum wage job.</p>
<p>I don’t like college either because it feels like a prison in comparison to real life work, especially when it comes to gen ed classes. I’m far from lazy, I just don’t see the point in slaving my life away to meaningless work. When will I ever need to learn about Shakespearean literature? </p>
<p>I can understand why they are the worst years of your life.</p>
<p>It sounds to me like you are mostly going to large, somewhat impersonal activities to find long-lasting friendships. While that can happen, not likely! Are there any computer science clubs, or any clubs relating to computers, like a graphic design club? Think about the base thing you do to relax: do you follow any particular TV shows? Have a favorite book series? Go to one of these clubs, and maybe bring your laptop with a desktop background that says something unique about you, and make it visible to the group. Also, you can oftentimes make friends just sitting in the downstairs area of your dorm. I met most of my friends through my dorm community, my clubs, and my classes, simply by having a cool desktop backround up, or by asking someone around me a question and striking up a conversation from there.</p>
<p>As for your academics, have you now completed your gen eds? If so, then you’ll be moving into your upper-level courses that interest you. These are usually a lot smaller, more hands-on, and more personal than big lecture classes. It’s usually the smaller, more discussion-based or hands-on courses that get people involved and interested in their studies.</p>
<p>If you’re finding that none of these work, or none of these are happening to you, then you might want to think about taking a year or two off. A lot of motivation and drive and interest in your field can come about when you realize that you can’t do most of what you want without a Bachelor’s degree. That’s what happened to my dad, and to a good friend of mine. There’s also the possibility of college just not being for you. If you don’t feel like a professional motorcycle career is possible or practical, have you thought about being an instructor? Or maybe doing IT or mechanics for a racing company?</p>
<p>I’ll also echo what a few other people have said, you really do sound like you have at least some degree of depression. I really do urge you to talk to both your academic advisor and any school counselors available to you.</p>
<p>I couldn’t help but notice your user name…Darko 21…Does it have anything to do with how you feel? It sort of sounds like you are exhibiting signs of depression; not able to enjoy anything, zero motivation, etc. Do you have a trusted doctor or counselor that you could see for an evaluation?</p>
It honestly sounds like your college just isn’t a good fit for you. A lot of students pick “elite schools” for the sake of rankings because that’s where smart students are expected to go - you might be happier somewhere else. It’s just a thought.
That’s how I felt about my Gen Ed requirements - read a book, memorize the plot or some facts, regurgitate it for a test. The classes for my major, those are the ones I look forward to, the ones I enjoy, the ones that aren’t just memorize-and-regurgitate because each class builds on the other and they’re connected, and I love the subject and want to do research in this area. Sure there’s boring classes that are just required, but not too many. </p>
<p>Please don’t make yourself miserable: This semester, try to get more involved. Join an intramural sport or go out more or something. If you’re still miserable by the end of the semester, transfer to a new college. Because college is supposed to be fun and you sound kind of depressed.</p>
<p>Do you go to GIT? Maybe technology,engineering, etc. aren’t your thing. Some of my friends have switched from pre-med to english based majors and they’re perfectly happy… you never know what you like… it could always change. I’d recommend transferring to a university with a broader spectrum of majors than a technological university.</p>
<p>Darko, it seems that you are bored with the typical scenery that you have been fed through all your life. In that case, I can’t recommend travel higher. You say that that is too expensive, but I beg to differ. There are ways that you can travel and learn wonderful lessons that can’t be taught in schools. Members of my family have served in the Peace Corps in developing countries, and have acquired skills and experienced things that are inaccessible in a lovely typical American College. </p>
<p>Please don’t assume that there is anything wrong with you or your emotional well-being. Finding your passion and the way to pursue it is all part of “the best years of your life”. Sky Pilot’s story of his teacher exemplifies this perfectly.</p>
<p>This guy has one of the biggest entitlement complexes I’ve ever seen.</p>
<p>Help you? No. Help yourself. It’s nobody’s job but yours to make you happy. You are one of the lucky few people in the entire species that has the opportunity to live for 4 years at a place where EVERY SINGLE THING is designed for your use, consumption, and entertainment. There is not something wrong with the college or your major, there is something wrong with your attitude.</p>
<p>Yes, classes are designed so that the people who work harder do better. Don’t like this? Wish you could just sail through classes and life because you’re just so naturally talented? Think you can do it all without listening to someone else talk about it for an hour? Be our guest. Go out into the world with that attitude. The people who shut up and listen and get the work done will pass you by every single time. This isn’t about college this is about you.</p>
<p>Darko, your little display of existential angst pales in comparison to the real struggles of students who have to work countless hours on top of classes and studying just so they can scrape by and pay their tuition. The problem is with YOU, not with your particular college or the institution of college in general. You think college is monotonous and repetitive? What are you smoking? You have unlimited access to vast amounts of knowledge in every subject imaginable, you can tap the experience and skill of the best scholars in the world, you are surrounded by literally thousands of intelligent members of the opposite sex (which will never happen again), you presumably have good food and social outlets, etc. Stop whining like an entitled child.</p>
<p>1) Get off the pity potty. If you don’t like where you are, change it. You say you like to cook? Get a job in the best restaurant you can find ASAP and start doing it.</p>
<p>2) It’s OK to stop college. Check out the 6 year graduation rates for Ohio State (71%), University of Florida (81%) UCLA (90%). LOTS of people do other things than college.</p>
<p>3) Be who YOU are, and do what YOU want to do. I am sure that I am the only person who graduated form my school who took classes in the 60s , 70s and 80s, and I am doing fine, thank you. Worked, traveled, did many things before college ended up appealing.</p>
<p>Kei</p>
<p>P.S. If you do think you’re depressed get help to feel better, NOT to get fixed so thjat you can go back to go back to college. First things first: take care of yourself.</p>
<p>First of all, I never said the problem was with my college.</p>
<p>Second, I don’t really understand why you’re trying to “devalue” my situation by comparing it to others. You can do that to anyone really. Hey go tell rape victims or people who have lost family members to suck it up since the “real” sufferers are the ones in Africa.</p>
<p>Lastly, you assume that everyone’s role in life is to be a scholar and as long as you are fed well and living well you should be happy. I’m not going to “suck it up” just because I’m expected to be content.</p>
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<p>I never said I wanted to sail through life. I don’t know where you got that from.</p>
<p>The entire conflict I’m having is that while I am avoiding having to live out on the streets, without a job, without a place to live, etc by being here, my spirit is not “in it”. It’s like telling someone since they don’t have to experience the troubles that other people do, that they should automatically be content and happy with what they’re doing.</p>
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<p>And what should my attitude be? To force myself to like school? Put a fake smile on?</p>
<p>Anyhow, sorry for the delayed response. As ■■■■■■■■ as it sounds to me, I’m just going to assume it’s a depression or emotional issue or I wasn’t hugged as a child enough and try to find something that I half-enjoy doing here in order to distract myself from having to do studies, hopefully until the major-related courses.</p>