Hey there,
After months of mulling over my thoughts, I’ve finally decided college really isn’t for me. I’m a fourth semester sophomore Psych major (junior credit-wise), and it’s just now hit me that I’m not cut out for the traditional 4-year college experience. Before anybody tries to deter me from leaving college, I’ve already made up my mind. I don’t plan on dropping out and doing nothing with my life. I’ve decided to switch to trade school or find a job doing something I enjoy.
In high school, I excelled at everything. I had straight A’s, had a rigorous courseload consisting of Honors, AP, and Dual Enrollment classes, earned a great SAT score, held a job, and participated in extracurricular activities. Because of this, I thought I HAD to go to college, even though none of the classes I had taken really appealed to me at all. I decided to go for Psychology, since it was the only class I had a mild interest in. Deciding where to go was a stressful process for me, but I ultimately decided on an extremely large, public university since I was accepted into their honors college and received a great scholarship. I decided to look past the party-driven, D1 atmosphere of the school since I knew I would be a part of the honors program and saving a ton of money.
Fast forward to now. Freshman year, I earned a 3.9 GPA, had a part-time job, and joined several clubs/organizations. Being rather introverted, I did my best to socialize and made about 3-4 good friends, which I was content with. I went to parties and events on occasion. I really did try my best to fit in. The thing is, none of the things I did felt worthwhile to me. I don’t care about the experiences you find in college. All of the work I did felt meaningless. The grading and assignments put so much stress on me that it drove me to tears at times (I’ve only cried once or twice since elementary school; it takes EXTREME emotional stressors to make me cry). I got extremely depressed because I was unhappy with the atmosphere of the school, and the fact that I was unhappy pursuing psychology.
For awhile, I researched other degrees meticulously. I considered changing majors but realized I can’t see myself enjoying studying and pursuing a career in any “traditional” college field. It never really dawned upon me that there are other options besides a 4-year college.
Besides the education aspect, I really just don’t mesh well with the college atmosphere. I tried to find people with similar interests and get involved in clubs I was interested in, but I would much rather just begin working and establishing my career. Going to college parties and events, joining clubs/organizations, participating in research, spending hours studying, and generally living a college lifestyle just isn’t for me. I was told to give it a try, and I did.
A few days ago, I broke it to my family just how unhappy I am at college. I figured I’d be met with hostility, but they understood exactly where I was coming from. Neither of my parents went to traditional college, however both make a great living and are happy with what they do. Now that I know they support my decision, I will be leaving college after this semester to go to trade school or find full-time employment elsewhere.
The only true passions I have are music and art. I understand there are degrees for that, but I don’t have the desire to go to a traditional college to earn those degrees. I’d be much more comfortable finding a good trade program in one of these fields, or maybe even an online accelerated program. These two things are all I worry about outside of class and work, so it really would be ideal for me to pursue a career in one (or both) of these areas.
This turned out a lot longer than I thought it would be. I really needed to vent and type all of my thoughts out.
I guess the point of this post is, what is the next logical step? Are there any things I need to know about switching from a university to a trade school or online program? Has anybody else had a similar experience? Thank you all so much for your time, it really means a lot!
TL;DR - Decided I’m leaving 4-year college to attend trade school or find full-time employment. Any advice you can give me for the next steps would be great!!
