I want to take a year off.

College Confidential Community
1

<p>Hello all, I was hoping to get some advice on whether or not I should take a year off from school.</p>

<p>I am a 21 year old male currently attending Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. I never expressed any interest in college and in my senior year of high school I even decided I maybe didn't want to go. This was met with vicious resistance from my parents. "Well, what ELSE are you going to do?" they would say condescendingly, redfaced and veins popping out of their heads. This pissed me off to no end, but since I couldn't actually answer the question, and my parents, frankly, are rich enough to send me, I went, declaring my major as International Studies (the only major I had any interest in).</p>

<p>And from the beginning I hated it. I was intelligent enough to get through my first year without putting forth any real effort, however, sophomore year was a bit harder and now I'm at the end of my 5th semester pulling my hair out and looking for any escape. I will end this semester with 6 of the 15 credits I originally signed up for.</p>

<p>Here are my reasons for wanting to take a year off:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Before this semester started I was diagnosed with severe clinical depression. As a result I have a lot of emotional problems, but the worst of all in respects to my school work is the utter lack of motivation or interest for pretentious malarky I don't care about. My grades having taken a horrid downturn, and I am stressed beyond my limits.</p></li>
<li><p>I still have no idea what I want to do with my life. How about I get some freakin time to figure it out before throwing me into this enviroment. If there is no goal in reach, I won't have the motivation to complete the work. Period. I hate performing tasks simply because I am told to with no personal goal in sight. A degree means nothing to me if I pay for it with wasted time and effort, only to find I have no use for it later on.</p></li>
<li><p>I feel like I am wasting my youth here. I hate it here. I don't feel I've had any worthwhile experiences since the day I got here, other than sitting in classrooms and waking up at 4 in the morning in someone's bathroom. (OK maybe that was fun the first few times)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>There is one thing however, that I have gained from college, and that's my interest in the German language and culture. My German isn't great, but it isn't bad and I feel like I've got a good basis on which to build fluency later in my life.</p>

<p>What I want is just some time to figure out what it is I want out of life without all this pressure. I want to get a shitty job to teach me discipline. I want to travel maybe to Europe. I want to volunteer. I want to find what gets me off emotionally so I can apply that to my life goals. I know if I stay here all I'm going to do is be miserable and waste (another) massive load of my parents' hard earned money. And lastly I want time to get my depression under control.</p>

<p>Is any of this sensible or reasonable? Or am I just being childish?</p>

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<p>I don’t understand why you can’t do the things you mentioned in the last paragraph while you’re in college. I have a job and volunteer during college. Many people study abroad (to Europe). I don’t understand what you mean about the emotion, but I’m sure that can be accomplished in college as well. Stop partying (waking up in other people’s bathrooms) and maybe you’ll have more time to do these things.</p>

<p>Ask your parents for a year off if you must, but make sure you are doing something during that year. Actually get a job. Actually volunteer. Actually travel. Explain to your parents that you are concerned that you’re wasting their money. Give them ideas of what you’d like to do during your year off.</p>

<p>Perhaps instead of taking a year off, you could go to school part time for a little while and get a job. Your parents might be more amenable to this idea.</p>

<p>By the way, if you’re interested in German, why not major in that?? At least its something you enjoy. Maybe you really like languages all around and could study linguistics. There are more possibilities than you’re opening yourself up to. Maybe you’d like to study in Germany. The list of possible life experiences doesn’t have to be limited by blinders that have been put on by yourself or your parents.</p>

<p>You definitely sound depressed and I hope you’re getting good counseling. Do your parents know about your depression? Maybe they don’t seem like a great support system but they probably care about you a lot.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>