Struggling student, need advice on changing to right major, not good at anything

Hey y’all,

So I’m currently an environmental science major and have about 3 quarters left to graduate. The problem is that I’ve been struggling with ALL my classes, not just ones related to my major. I’m down to an embarrassingly low gpa of 1.5. I’ve taken a variety of different classes to explore other majors but the bottom line is I don’t enjoy anything. I’ve been an alright student my whole life but ever since college started, I’ve been failing miserably. Everyone I know is good at something, whether it be sports, music, math but my problem is that I’m at the same level for EVERYTHING. I wish I had a passion for something and the motivation to reach a goal but I just feel like blah. It’s not that my classes are hard and maybe this will sound cocky but I know if I put in the work, I can do really well, but somewhere along the line I just give up. I’m realizing that graduating in environmental science will not give me the best job security and honestly I just chose the major randomly. I am a 5th year and although I just want to graduate, I need to think about my future and what my degree can do for me. My parents are insisting on environmental engineering but none of my environmental classes would transfer over so it would mean another 2 years of school. I don’t want to completely change my major bc I’ve already taken so many classes so I’m thinking of maybe double majoring or taking up a minor. Do you think that would help? What would go well with environmental science? I’ve taken C++ and Java and got A’s in both so I was thinking of minoring in computer science but would that make a difference? I want to choose something stable. But another problem is, will I struggle in those classes too? I seem to be struggling in everything.

Please help.
Thanks.

Seriously, take a leave of absence and get a job. This will stop the clock and preserve financial aid eligibility and will stop the bleeding of money. I’m not saying never go back, but there is really no point in going back if you are just going to go through the motions and aren’t on a track to do something that you are excited about. A 1.5 GPA is not an education. I don’t see what the degree is going to do for you without the education. Learn for free using EdX or Coursera and find out if there is something academic that will make you happy or draws your interest.

It may be that you find a direction that doesn’t require a degree yet makes you happy.

Well, I agree with ClassicRockerDad. You should at the very least take a step back and consider whether you WANT to be in college right now. It sounds like your failing is due not to a lack of talent or intellect but a lack of motivation and desire. If that’s actually the case, what is the point of - as he says - spending the money? Maybe you need a break to re-evaluate what you really want to do.

Many students treat college as a time of exploration and self-discovery. Still many other students simply do college because they know they need a bachelor’s for a career that they want - and some of those students hate almost every minute of it. That can be okay, but if you fall into the latter group you need to develop the kind of discipline and motivation that will push you through finishing things even when you kind of don’t want to. My husband was in that latter group, and he found the discipline after serving in the military for 4 years. The solution needn’t be the military for everyone - but maybe working for a few years and figuring out what you want to do will help. You may decide to take up a trade, you may teach yourself to code, you may work retail and realize that you hate it so much you need a degree to escape it. Who knows?

But take a break and give yourself the space to figure it out.

@stressed911, you contradict yourself (it seems to me.) You say that “I know if I put in the work, I can do really well” but then you talk about struggling in all of your classes. You say that you need to think about the future and what your degree will do for you. Are you truly struggling academically; struggling because you are clinically depressed (and don’t realize it) ; or unmotivated to try hard because you don’t know what you want to do and therefore feel that working hard makes little sense to you?

You need to get to the bottom of this. If you think you may be depressed, get help immediately, because the situation will not resolve itself on it’s own. It’s hard to see anything in a positive light or find the will to work if that’s the case. You said you used to do well before college, so what has changed? Are you eating well, getting enough exercise, sleeping enough and doing the things that will keep you healthy?

If you are simply unmotivated to work on anything because you don’t see a direct relationship between the coursework and whatever you will be doing on the future, it is important to change your mindset and habits, and put one foot in front of the other. It’s almost impossible to enjoy anything or do well at anything when you don’t invest yourself in it . Fully enjoying something is not a prerequisite for working at it. Success can bring its own enjoyment, or at least satisfaction. What’s more, you will pretty much reap in the future whatever you sow. If you majored in environmental science with a 3.0+ average you would lay a path for a future…whether or not you liked it or ever worked a day in that field or went in a completely different direction. Graduating with a 1.5 will not prepare a path in the same way. I would say at this point, your particular major right now probably does not matter as much as getting your GPA up as much as possible and graduating, period. Life unfolds one step at a time. So do the best you can, one step at a time. Even people with strong goals and passions can’t see what the finish line will look like, exactly. It’s important to forge ahead in the faith that if you do the best you can with the choices you make…even if you don’t stick with those choices forever… the future will unfold in a more interesting way than if you sit back passively and let life happen to you.

If you feel I’m being critical , I’ll tell you I was a bit like you in college, and became a little paralyzed thinking there were a thousand different paths I could take. I had to learn the hard way that’s it’s best to focus well on the thing in front of you, regardless of what that is. Like building muscle strength, it gets easier with practice. Working at anything creates competence, and that brings a degree of confidence. Only then can you begin to discover what path is the right one for you. Sometimes the “right” path combines the skills you’ve built (whether they were ever a passion or not) with new-found interests that develop along the way. They develop by caring and immersing yourself in life.

Here’s an example: I had a friend when I was younger. She majored in biology, but questioned whether she wanted to be a field scientist (as she had originally thought.) Two years after graduating and working a nondescript job, she decided she really loved writing. Because she had good undergraduate grades she was able to get into a master’s program in science journalism. She built a freelance career in this, and did creative fiction on the side. She didn’t anticipate that path earlier.

Enough said…wishing you success…