Junior in College- Passionless and Confused

Student Lounge College Life
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I am a junior in college on the pre-law track, but I’m having trouble with where I am in my life. I feel like I am falling behind. I feel like I should be doing more. I am an introvert. I prefer being by myself and I have a difficult time putting myself out there. I don’t have many friends at school. That doesn’t really bother me that much. It sucks I don’t have any friends, but I not losing any sleep over it. I’ve just come to terms with that. Also, I’m getting to the end of my college career, so I’m just not concerned with making friends. With that being said, I feel like I really wasted my college years. I have not enjoyed college at all. I do not like the college I am attending. I just want college to be over. I just want to move on to law school and move on with my life.

This brings me to my next point. I feel like I am not a good candidate for law school. My freshman year of college, I did not put myself out there. My sophomore year, I tried harder and was really prepared to be even more active, but COVID interrupted my plan. Since we were sent home during Spring Break, I wasn’t able to really be as involved on campus. This summer, I struggled to find an internship because of COVID and now, with my junior year approaching and LSAT prep on the horizon, I feel I am behind.

I just feel hopeless. I am very school-oriented and I base my value on my success in school. I feel like I am failing and it’s just making me feel completely hopeless. If I don’t do well in my undergrad education and get into a law school, what am I? I know this may seem unreasonable to some of you, but I’ve always been brought up to focus on my education. Since I am also chasing fulfillment from my education, not doing well is making me sick. I haven’t opened up about this to anyone, but maybe I should. I just feel like no one can help me but me. I am just so disgusted with myself.

I have also realized that I have no passions outside of doing my school work. This is not good. I feel like i have nothing to offer the world. I draw and I am pretty good at that. I always get compliments on my work for people, but I don’t think my art is good enough. I feel like the stuff I like doing is no tangible value. Again, I like to draw, but it’s not good enough. I love being outside. I like riding my bike, running, and walking around, but that stuff has no tangible value. These aren’t useful in furthering my career. All they do is bring me joy. That–joy–should be enough, but it’s not.

I am not even sure I have any deep questions to pose to you readers except what are your thoughts? How do you all feel about what I wrote? Any advice? Can you relate? Can you not relate? If you can, how did you get through this slump? Well, it looks like I did have some questions.

Ignore any grammatical errors. Thanks for reading. Any comments or thoughts are appreciated. :slight_smile:

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If you feel that you lack direction, but intend to go to law school, then study for the LSAT.

Otherwise exercise, read, write, and visit a doctor for a check-up to determine whether you suffer from any vitamin deficiencies or chemical imbalances which can be easily corrected.

P.S. What is a “pre-law track” ?

The best prep for law school is reading, writing, and thinking.

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Thanks for the comment. The pre-law track is similar to the pre-med track. It means that I plan on attending law school after my undergrad education.

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There’s no such thing as pre-law. You major in anything you want and then apply to law school.

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There is no such thing as a “pre-law track”.

Pre-med, however, is very real in that certain courses are necessary if one wants to do well on the MCAT.

I read an article yesterday on CC that stated that law school admissions officers look for certain courses or types of courses on an applicant’s college transcript. This is ridiculous.

As an example, the author of the article wrote that law school admissions officers look to see if applicants have taken a course in logic. This is silly.

In fact, a course on logic can harm one’s performance on the LSAT. Not necessarily so, but the reasoning methods taught in Logic are different than those taught by the most prominent LSAT prep courses. (Some LSAT prep course instructors get frustrated with those who try to apply the methods taught in Logic courses because it makes their job more difficult.)

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A pre-law track is a guided pathway within a major. They are increasingly common at both universities and community colleges.

OP, you don’t have to go to law school if you don’t want to, even if you are on a pre-law track. However, you will probably be graduating into a turbulent time in the economy, so it’s wise to study for the LSAT in case you change your mind between now and graduation. In my experience, it’s common for college students to experience a “sophomore slump” where they feel directionless. Some of my best students over the years have experienced this phase. It’s exacerbated by the pandemic, I’m sure. Just keep on doing your best in classes and biking. Prepare for the LSAT, and maybe visit the career center virtually to explore possible options for a non-law path after you graduate. Good luck, and try not to get discouraged.

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@ccprofandmomof2: Could you elaborate on specific “pre-law courses” ? Thank you in advance.

P.S. The only “pre-law courses” I know of are LSAT prep courses.

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@Publisher I don’t know what college OP goes to, but you can look at University of Utah’s pre-law LEAP track as one example. Typically a student in a guided pathway majors in a common major for that field (such as history for a pre-law pathway student) but then selects courses that will presumably be advantageous to someone wanting to go into that professional field. There is often at least one core seminar course in the profession, and the school will bring in guest speakers and host events. Utah has a course called Pre-Law LEAP, and in fact offers three sections this fall. Guided pathways are part of the overall push toward pre-professionalization at non-elite institutions. I’m not advocating such pathways, just saying that the OP isn’t making it up. Perhaps OP can elaborate more. I think as we can see from OP’s post, the pathways might have some unintended consequences, as many students aren’t ready at 17 or 18 to declare their life path.

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OP-- hugs. You sound terrific and I’m sad you’re going through a rough patch.

A couple of facts for you- you do NOT need to decide on law school now as an undergraduate. Many, many people work for a couple of years to solidify their interests before even thinking about law school, so if worrying about your future and the LSAT’s is stressing you out- just decide you aren’t going to think about it for another year or so. You are WAY early- even if your college insists you are pre-law, you can major in anything and be a successful and happy lawyer.

The happiest lawyers I know (and I know a lot of lawyers) didn’t decide “I’m going to law school” and then figure out their passion. It was the reverse- someone who really cared about the environment, volunteered for several organizations – clean water, oceans, global warming-- and then boom- law school became the path and a focus on environmental issues. Or someone who was deeply concerned about criminal justice and racial profiling- and worked for a civil rights organization for a few years after college, and then ended up in law school and is now a public defender.

Etc. Law school is just a big, amorphous and scary goal for you right now. again- way too early before you’ve even figured yourself out yet.

Agree that making sure you don’t have some medical issue- depression, anxiety, thyroid? which is causing you to feel low is a solid suggestion. Making an appointment at your college’s counseling center (yes, telehealth is a real thing!) to have a counselor to listen and help you unpack what’s going on is a solid idea.

But back to you. Passions don’t find you- you find them. Do you live near a senior center or assisted living facility? They’d love to have volunteers (once the world opens up again) to teach a drawing class. Is there an organization near you that works with the developmentally disabled? They are always looking for volunteers- help kids take off the training wheels and bike, unassisted for the first time! Take a nature walk-- these programs require high ratios of volunteers to participants and they are ALWAYS short staffed. There’s an organization in my town that runs programs-- both for kids with disabilities of all kinds AND their families, who often don’t have any recreational outlet that they can do with all their children. A lot of the trainers at my gym volunteer there- teach a yoga class? Organize a kickball game? Take a group of 10 year olds outside who don’t always get to play in an unstructured way- just wander? Make piles of leaves and jump in them?

It’s not true that the things you love don’t have a tangible connection to your future- the best way to love what you do as an adult is… to love what you do. If outside is your space- great. Figure that out. Spend more time on what brings you joy and less time worrying about being pre-law and I think you’ll have a better time of it.

Have you ever had coaching of any kind on your social skills? There is nothing wrong with being an introvert and liking your own company, but if you get lonely, there are some simple tricks that can help you make a few buddies this year. And better yet- if you meet them while you are teaching kids to ride a bike, or while you are conducting a class on “still life drawing”-- you’ll already have something in common as friends!

Hugs. You can do this.