<p>Don't really know where to begin...long story short, I'm 18 and a 1st-semester junior at a small liberal arts college and I'm really not sure if I should stay or go.</p>
<p>I pretty much "skipped over" high school and went to community college when I was 15. LOVED it and learned a ton from profs who were passionate about their fields. I graduated from there this past spring and, after an agonizing transfer process, picked a small Christian LAC I was kind of ambivalent about. I've been there for about six/seven weeks.</p>
<p>I like some things and dislike others but I really wouldn't say I'm "happy" here, for a number of reasons, including the social atmosphere (friendly, awesome people, but kind of naive and feels more like Bible camp than college...). I'd tell other 18yos to stick it out, but because I'm a junior, if I was to transfer I'd need to do it soon because most won't take senior transfers and I'd be taking core classes that wouldn't transfer. So I'm thinking now of transferring in the spring, even though that was what I HADN'T wanted to do...</p>
<p>...but now I'm getting hung up on the idea of taking a semester off to immerse myself in the "great books" and legendary works on political theory, economic theory, philosophy, etc. I'm an Econ major and I hate being in class and not being able to articulate myself in the way I want to do...because I don't know a lot of the hard facts and foundations and I don't have a thorough enough expertise of the subject to be able to adequately hold my own...and we're not learning those sorts of things, we're not being immersed in primary sources, etc. I feel as though if I were to come to class "prepared" with knowledge of this kind, I might actually get more out of what I learn in college - because I can put it in context.</p>
<p>I'm also wondering if a semester off might help me get my bearings, realign myself, and figure out exactly what I want to do. Any thoughts...?</p>