In desperate need of advice.

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>Hello, let me give you some background. I've been attending a University for about two and a half years now. Over that time, I've skated through all my college gen ed classes with C's. I've also been pushed into majors by advisers that clearly aren't for me. Allow me to explain:</p>

<p>I was undecided, then my adviser told me I needed to decide,or else I would run out of classes. She told me to do Psychology. After a semester of trying it out, I decided it wasn't for me for employment reasons. After taking more gen eds, this semester was my worst by far. I was a double major in International Business and Corporate Financial Management. This turned out to be my biggest mistake because not only was this not for me, but I am currently failing three classes. Intermediate Algebra (For the second time!!), Principles of Accounting, and Spanish 201. I've received my lowest exam scores ever this semester. (Int Algebra exam 2: 25%, Accounting Principles exam 2: 26%, Spanish Exam 2: 47%, and the quit after was a 37%.)</p>

<p>Maybe I'm failing so bad because I know I'm somewhere I don't want to be, and just don't care. I'm not motivated, passionate, and could ultimately care less. Maybe it's because I can't grasp the fact that I'm paying all this money for nothing. Currently, I work and go to school, because I have to pay for it. It's about $1600 a semester I have to scrape up, and it's very stressful. I also made a very expensive mistake last summer, in which I had to pay all fines and penalties (out of my own pocket.) for a DUI, in which I lost my car and license. </p>

<p>I'm currently trying to get my life back on track, and I need help. I decided if I'm going to be here, I just need to chalk up this semester to a loss, and start a new, probably on academic probation. I've been tossing around a few things, but I also have my concerns. I'll explain a bit. The three main things I'm tossing around are Journalism, Political Science, and Criminal Justice/Sociology. First off, I've always been good at writing, I've always been able to bust out BIG papers in a night, and get a good grade. I love critiquing other people's work, and I find somewhat passion in it. I find myself writing about my own experiences, sports, and political issues a lot, hence Political Science. I once wrote a six page paper on the legalization of gay marriage and I was passionate about it. Criminal Justice and Sociology because if I don't get into grad school, I can just be a cop. I'm terrible at math, and I only passed a stats class with a C when I was in Psych.</p>

<p>With those majors, you need to be in grad school, and my GPA, especially after this semester, waved "bye bye" to me long ago. This is my dilemma. Any suggestions? Drop out and pursue law enforcement? </p>

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<p>Here’s the thing: you need to realize very quickly that you’re going to be doing plenty of things in life that you don’t want to, but you still have to give it a fair shot. Just skating by and using the excuse “I could care less” is recipe for a pretty piss-poor life full of dissatisfaction. If you can’t fix this issue right here and now, there’s no amount of advice that’ll help you. Underachievers rarely get to do what they want and enjoy doing it.</p>

<p>Now, with that said, it sounds like you could pursue something that would combine two of your passions: journalism and political science. A double major would allow you to write about both topics. As far as grad school, I don’t think that’s required for a job as I’ve known people that got because journalists with an undergrad degree. Depending where you find work you’ll most likely be writing about what your boss tells you to, so there’s a pretty good chance you want get to do exactly what you want (now do you understand why my initial advice needs heeding?) HOWEVER, put in the time and eventually you’ll get some leeway to follow your interests a bit more.</p>