I’m a biology major because I changed it from Adol Ed with a concentration in English. my school has a 6-year PharmD program, but they would not let me transfer into it as I did not apply to it and was coming into school with 9 credits. I wanted to go into med or pharm cause I was scared of being unable to get by with a meager teacher salary.
Skip to the end of my first ever semester. I’m more than miserable. I hate chemistry. I’m really trying too. I tried tutors, no help, the recommended questions in the text, nope. Nothing. It’s like no matter how confident I am it goes down the drain come test day. I know it might not have an effect, but two test were within two weeks of another, and in the time before during and after those tests it turns out I had an infection going untreated because it was misdiagnosed as a cold. I took those two tests with 100+ fever. so it threw me off. big time. I just try so hard and even kinda get it, and it just goes poof when I take tests. It’s frustrating that just those two bad days I was having are what’s reflected in my grade.
I have an A in an Edu class they never took me out of when I changed my major, and A minus in theology, a possible A-/B- in biology and no more than a C+ in chemistry though I think it’s probably a worse grade than that, with a total of 15 credits. I was going to give being a bio major another shot, but I’m scared my GPA won’t be able to handle another semester of poor work in chem.
I’ve got no idea what to do. I feel like my selfishness when it came to money if being punished, to be very honest. I’m also getting a lot of hassle from my family and SO (engineering major) for wanting to leave bio. They try talking me up, saying I’m so smart and I can do this, yet also criticise me for not working hard enough. It just makes me feel worse and worse every day.
I’m stuck. I don’t know what to do. I hate the sciences, I love my books. I’m a bookworm at heart. But I’m scared that field isn’t gonna be able to let me support myself in the long run when I’ve got a family of my own to care for. and YES, family is something very important to me, and I value mine very highly, so I do think about my future and take it seriously.
If you stay in a pre-professional major just for the sake of making a living and family pressure and you’re miserable in it, you’re unlikely to succeed in that profession.
Even if you succeed in the profession, you could end up like an ex who majored in Pharmacy, graduated, and found she hated the job but now feels trapped because she feels her extremely narrow pre-professional education won’t transfer to an alternative career and giving up a relatively secure high salary for the uncertainty of starting from scratch in her thirties.
Life’s too short to end up as miserable to the point of needing to complain about one’s job on a daily basis as she did.
That’s my fear. I know bad days are normal, I expect them, but I feel like if I stay where I am bad days are gonna roll into bad months. Kinda like now. thank you cobrat!! and yeah I know, I’ve just seen people who make a tiny bit less who barely make end’s meet. I don’t need the money for material goods. I need it for security. If that makes sense.
I got this a lot growing up – “you’re too smart to do X, you should be doing Y.” Nevermind that I didn’t particularly like Y or have any talent at it. Any bad grade (B or lower) was just because I hadn’t worked hard enough. I wish I’d realized as a teenager that I could have said no to my parents – who love me very much and were just being supportive in their way – and I would have been happy much sooner.
Your SO may be pressuring you because he/she has a vision of a future with a certain lifestyle, and that’s hard to let go of. I dated a man for longer than I should because he was headed to Harvard Law…I was an idiot, but I blame it on my youth, and I learned.
Your future HAS to be about what’s best for you. People who care about you will want you to be happy, and those who don’t want you to be happy don’t matter. Why set yourself up to be miserable?
And my SO doesn’t do it for that reason. He’s said it before. He just doesn’t want me giving up so easily and so soon. He said that if he was doing what I am and tossing in the towel, he’d be out of his major in no time flat.
My daughter wanted to be a HS Math teacher since 5th grade. She is smart and I heard some of the “a teacher, really?” and the implication of “but she could do so much better”…I encouraged her to major in Math, and then do a Masters in secondary math education, which she did. This way she could teach but if at any point decided that wasn’t for her, she could use the math degree. She is currently working as a Math teacher!
So maybe major in English (or whatever you are interested in) and then add the teaching later.
Same here . . . steered away from teaching, have law degree (not the most mommy-friendly profession in the world).
Been teaching/administrating (is that a word?) the last 9+ years as a homeschooling parent.
Life has a way of going the way it should go. Stop trying to force stuff and take some time to think about what you REALLY want out of life, and how to make that happen.
People who think anyone can teach have obviously never set foot in a classroom on the other side of the desk. Teaching well is difficult and important. Without teachers, we wouldn’t have any other careers in the world - someone had to teach them how to do it.
Well…no. Because what is security other than material goods? When people say they want “security” they mean they want enough money to pay for housing, food, clothing, child care, the basics, and then have a little left over for fun and/or to save up for a rainy day or emergency. But teachers make enough to do that. In most places, teachers start out making $35K to $45K a year. As a single person, that’s enough - particularly in a low-cost area of living, but even in an expensive place like Manhattan or San Francisco - to live frugally. (I know because I did it. Managed to save, too.) With some years of experience and potentially another income in the household, you can live a middle-class lifestyle on a teacher’s salary.
So? He has to make different choices than you.
Quitting is much maligned - people often say “you should just work harder, don’t give up!” But there IS such a thing as tilting at windmills. Sometimes - often - quitting is the right answer. If you discover that something isn’t for you, then quit! That could be because it’s too difficult, or because you don’t like it, or because you simply changed your mind and prefer something else. There’s not always value in working really, really, really hard at something. Sometimes if you’re working too hard and not succeeding, that’s evidence that you need to move on. And if you are working really hard and feeling miserable, that’s stone-cold proof.
YOU are the only one who is going to have to work the job you pick - not your dad, not your SO, not anyone else. You’re the only one who has to finish your prerequisites and go through pharmacy school. If you hate it now, what will you feel like learning the chemical makeup of drugs? Nobody else is going to be able to complete it for you no matter how much they protest that you shouldn’t give up/quit.
And if your SO is criticizing you day in and day out, ditch him. You don’t need that kind of stress in your life. You can’t choose your parents but you can certainly choose your partner.
OP, other peoples opinions are not gonna pay the bills. Do what you like and do it well.
Its better to make an average income if your happy rather than make above average salary and you hate your job
Just remember you will spend 8 hours day 5 days a week at it.
Good luck
It must be extra hard for you – instead of having a family that supports you when you’re struggling with classes you have the additional pressure of a family that just criticizes and says you’re not working hard enough. They may be thinking that you’ve only been at it a few months, you may just be having a rough semester, and classes are not indicative of what your career would be like. Did you pick the major to make them happy?
They may have some practical concerns. How is college being paid for? Will switching majors mean you’re in school longer? Does your school have a combined undergrad/masters/teaching program? If you’re serious about switching, having answers to practical questions will help a lot.
Thank you guys. But no, since I’m just ending my first semester as a freshman I will graduate on time, and with my science prereqs over with now. But you’re all right. I need to listen to myself and not others. I just applied to transfer from my school’s liberal arts and sciences college to its college of education.
“Well…no. Because what is security other than material goods?” As someone raised by a single parent with no higher education, I’ve seen my mom struggle to make ends meet. and she makes just a smidge less than teachers. (At least in NY) That’s what I’m basically trying to prevent. I want to break the cycle.
I’ve been busting my butt with such poor results. It’s frustrating and makes me feel totally worthless. I know for a fact I want a higher degree, that’s why I’m so scared of doing poorly. I don’t want to apply to grad schools (whether it be med, law, pharm, l kid you not I’ve thought of every one of those paths and more) with low grades.
I’m just tired of working hard in something I don’t like, nor can see myself doing. I’m not against hard work, but it’s just more satisfying to do it somewhere i feel more comfortable.
Read books. Embrace your bookworm. It never really matters what major you graduate in for your undergrad if you simply want to make money. There are millions of ways to make a ton of money, and not all of them are as difficult as as becoming a pharmacologist or doctor.
Being able to think analytically and write clearly (the two tenets of the English trade) are some of the most versatile skills. You can go into business, become an entrepreneur, or go to med school (Lit majors are the #2 choice for med school).
You can do almost anything with an English degree. I’m an online educator and tutor (not a teacher in the school system) and I make a 6-figure income with what I learned from my English classes at Berkeley.
It just matters who you are and what you’re capable of. Rather than dropping out, I’d recommend switching majors. Statistics demonstrate people who graduate with a Bachelor’s make way more money than those with just a high school education. The degree can get you some money, sure, if you go toward a traditional career, but more than that, I believe it’s the education that allows people to make more money down the line.
Knowledge is power. Education is immeasurably valuable. Don’t give up, just get it right. Do you what you want to do and you’ll figure out how to make money in the end. Or you won’t. But that’s totally up to you.
In whatever way you can - you need to remove your family from this equation.
Are they going to classes with you? Writing your papers, lab reports, taking your tests, studying with you?
No, they are not.
Your education should be about YOU. What do you want to learn, what do you hope to accomplish… No one else can do this for you, as you already know, so why do it for someone else? Do this for yourself, first and foremost.
What is it that YOU want… now and in the future…?
It sounds like you are just not really into Biology and Chem. It sounds like you would have preferred to stay with Adol Ed. Your family is living vicariously through you. Why don’t they go back to college and major in Bio or
Pharm?
Besides, you got to where you are today because of teachers, so…
Now that you have just yourself to answer to… Again, what is it that YOU would rather do? It’s your life and no one else can live it for you, although it sounds like they are certainly trying to…