Foo - Teh college? Bleh.

I'm unbelievably sick of school. I've been going for 3/4 years now and I'm just so tired of it. My grades are borderline mediocre, I hardly put in any effort, and I feel a sort of general disinterest in everything related to the experience. I still go, but man is it an effort. When I do show up, I usually show up half prepared and just sit awkwardly and tend to doze off.

Anyone in the same boat? I can't drop out because I've come this far (I probably graduate in a semester or two), but sometimes I do wish I could bring myself to take some time off.

Good thing for biking and endorphins and all that.

Ha. I took 8 years to graduate with a 2.01.
I loved college life a little too much. Studying, not so much.

Can you take a bit of a break? Maybe take only one class for a semester so you can work or do something else?

+1 for the one class for a semester idea.

Hawaii is Great isn't it?

Sorry to rain on your parade but teh work bleh will follow up soon and is gonna be 1000 times worst.

I hate going to classes because we don't do squat. I wake up early and drive 10 miles there for no reason. They only allow a 3 day absence and anymore will end up in the profesor dropping you or getting a letter grade lower.

Probably 25% of college students shouldn't be college students, IMO. OP, what DOES interest you? After this semester is over, take some serious "think" time, and investigate your alternatives. Would vocational education be a better match for you? Are you interested in the trades (building, plumbng, HVAC, electricity, etc), in computers (networking, repair, systems design), in health fields (LPN, geriatric care, dental assisting), in automotive work (repair, body work, diesel repair, driving)....... There are plenty of well paying careers out there which do not require a 4 year degree - some are 2 year programs, some certificate programs. Check your local state and public schools for such programs.

On the other hand, a month or 2 on a fishing/shrimping boat might solve your attitudinal problem, as might a visit to your local mental health clinic for a depression check up.

If you are a semester or so away from graduating, then I would be reluctant to jump ship just now. If it is at all possible to keep your head down and finish, you can do all the soul searching others here have suggested on the Sunday after your graduation. And thereafter for the rest of your life (I am still not sure what I want to do when I grow up).

j

probably 95% of college students shouldn't be college students, imo. Op,
ftfy

Probably 25% of college students shouldn't be college students, IMO. OP, what DOES interest you? After this semester is over, take some serious "think" time, and investigate your alternatives. Would vocational education be a better match for you? Are you interested in the trades (building, plumbng, HVAC, electricity, etc), in computers (networking, repair, systems design), in health fields (LPN, geriatric care, dental assisting), in automotive work (repair, body work, diesel repair, driving)....... There are plenty of well paying careers out there which do not require a 4 year degree - some are 2 year programs, some certificate programs. Check your local state and public schools for such programs.

On the other hand, a month or 2 on a fishing/shrimping boat might solve your attitudinal problem, as might a visit to your local mental health clinic for a depression check up.


Or the military. That should REALLY give you some perspective.

College is not something everyone should feel obligated to do. I think education is undervalued in this country just because everyone feels obligated by society to get a Bachelor's degree when they might be better off and happier going to a trade school or something. I used to wait tables with a lot of people with impressive-sounding, yet worthless Bachelor's and Master's degrees.

I worked in a grocery warehouse with a bucnh of rednecks during the summer. That motivated me to stay in school.

I spent my summers working manual labour jobs: Greenhouse worker at a nursery, dishwasher at an amusement park restaurant, generally things I didn't plan to spend my life on so I'd have incentive to go back to school. But, I also enjoyed school and I also enjoy my current job (in my degree field, no less!)

That said, college isn't for everyone. My brother never went and he's Sous Chef at some swanky golf resort in Arizona. He owned/opened some of the first Quizno's franchise locations in Ohio. He was the youngest cook at the time to have an item added to the Appleby's national chain menu.
He found something he enjoys doing, and ran with it. There's this overwhelming "you can't succeed without a degree" concept floating around these days; but it's bullcrap. A degree may help you get a foot in the door with certain types of companies, but if you have the drive to go after a good idea of your own, there's no reason you need a scrap of paper announcing to everyone that you sat in a bunch of classes.

I empathize with the OP. College is crap now. I realized I studied the wrong thing and definitely went to the wrong school, and I find myself dozing off during class because of lack of interest. I've got two semesters left and I'm done, so it's a bit late to transfer. The problem for me is my stupid decision to take multiple math classes at once. I enjoy math, but I like it more as a class teaching a set of skills applicable to my major (economics). Instead, lectures consist almost entirely of presentation of a proof and a theorem, an exams are easily 50% proof.

I'm unbelievably sick of school. I've been going for 3/4 years now and I'm just so tired of it. My grades are borderline mediocre, I hardly put in any effort, and I feel a sort of general disinterest in everything related to the experience. I still go, but man is it an effort. When I do show up, I usually show up half prepared and just sit awkwardly and tend to doze off.

Anyone in the same boat? I can't drop out because I've come this far (I probably graduate in a semester or two), but sometimes I do wish I could bring myself to take some time off.

Good thing for biking and endorphins and all that.

that's about right. Then in about 5 years you'll decide to do night grad school, and about 3/4 of the way through you'll wonder why i started this like I did.

I was hit by a car, became a step parent to two 6 year olds, had a major medical trauma with my new family, had another medical issue with my family, and this all happened within this semester. I've lived here for 6 months and have no friends, I have no car, I have no health insurance. I worry constantly that I'm not good enough for my family and that I'm doing the wrong things. I get up at 6 AM every morning to make them breakfast before they leave and then I go for a 3 mile run, all before starting the day of homework, riding my bike to school, sitting in class, getting home to make dinner and spend time with everyone, then back to homework or, for 1 night a week, going back to class, and then going to bed and doing it all again.

I am working on my second Associate degree, and have at least 5 more years of schooling to go before I can think about a job.

So, STFU, finish the last semester or two and be glad you're not worse off.

By the way - if you are attending school using Federal Student Aid, please remember: The Aid you have now STOPS when you get a BA or BS... No more Pell Grant, even if you decide to get some sort of certificate. SO, if you're leaning in that direction - taking a break from your current program to pursue something "hands on" at a Vo-Tech school, and need a Pell grant to pay for it - do that before you get your 4 year degree, or plan to pay for it yourself!

By the way - if you are attending school using Federal Student Aid, please remember: The Aid you have now STOPS when you get a BA or BS... No more Pell Grant, even if you decide to get some sort of certificate. SO, if you're leaning in that direction - taking a break from your current program to pursue something "hands on" at a Vo-Tech school, and need a Pell grant to pay for it - do that before you get your 4 year degree, or plan to pay for it yourself!

Good point. I plan on attending some sort of professional school after my undergrad days. Is the lack of federal aid at least partially balanced by the fact that I'll be applying as an independent student, where aid isn't a function of my parent's income anymore?

Can you take a bit of a break? Maybe take only one class for a semester so you can work or do something else?

I suppose I could, but with just one semester left I'll probably just try the aforementioned "keep your head down" and plow through it idea.


Hawaii is Great isn't it?

Yes! Sometimes the weather is just too beautiful, though. It's always like 78-80 degrees with sunshine and the beaches, don't get me started on the beaches. Just kidding -- I don't complain about everything.


Sorry to rain on your parade but teh work bleh will follow up soon and is gonna be 1000 times worst.

QFT. I feel it would be ten times worse if I didn't follow through with the schooling, too. Which should be motivation enough, I suppose.


Probably 25% of college students shouldn't be college students, IMO. OP, what DOES interest you? After this semester is over, take some serious "think" time, and investigate your alternatives. Would vocational education be a better match for you?

On the other hand, a month or 2 on a fishing/shrimping boat might solve your attitudinal problem, as might a visit to your local mental health clinic for a depression check up.

I don't know what I want to do with my life. I'm an English major now and I'm thinking of becoming a teacher. I would actually love to work on a fishing boat, a friend of mine worked on a salmon boat over the summer one year and I think it'd be a great experience. I do have a feeling though that if I worked on a fishing boat for 3-4 years I'd get bored and feel the itch to try something else, too.

I understand where you're coming from when you mention depression, but my lack of interest in school is not necessarily equating to a lack of interest/malaise toward everything else in life.


I was hit by a car, became a step parent to two 6 year olds, had a major medical trauma with my new family, had another medical issue with my family, and this all happened within this semester. I've lived here for 6 months and have no friends, I have no car, I have no health insurance. I worry constantly that I'm not good enough for my family and that I'm doing the wrong things. I get up at 6 AM every morning to make them breakfast before they leave and then I go for a 3 mile run, all before starting the day of homework, riding my bike to school, sitting in class, getting home to make dinner and spend time with everyone, then back to homework or, for 1 night a week, going back to class, and then going to bed and doing it all again.

I am working on my second Associate degree, and have at least 5 more years of schooling to go before I can think about a job.

So, STFU, finish the last semester or two and be glad you're not worse off.

I'm truly sorry you were hit by a car, as someone who bikes it's among my worst fears. That and the fear of growing older, finding myself trapped with responsibilities I willingly took on and am now second guessing while I find myself growing bitter and lashing out at anonymous people on internet forums. Those are my two worst fears.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Just reading the thread, I think there's something to be said about the distance from which one views the experience. Just generalizing, but it seems a handful of ex-students look back on it fondly whereas a few current college students posted saying they're bored with it, too. I have no doubt that in some ways college will be better than working full-time, and I have no doubt that as I get older I will look back on my college years and think only about how they have shaped my life for the better. That still doesn't change the fact I find myself bored now.

I think I should mention a couple things..
- I wrote this as I was thinking about an essay I was supposed to be writing at the time.
- I've taken six classes a semester for the last two years.
- I've got about three weeks left in the semester before summer begins.
- I've worked thirty hours a week since the beginning of the semester -- I'm burnt out.

All that aside, I still think I'm pretty sick of college in general.

Hey man... I'll be in college for 6 years...
1st year didn't actually knew what to do. And then second year I was denied in the program I wished to enter... same with third year that I'm currently wasting in the wrong program. Though all my general classes are almost over now yay...
but next year I finally got into something I really like but it's a 3 year program and I can't do anything about it... so 6 years of college for me !

I'm unbelievably sick of school. I've been going for 3/4 years now and I'm just so tired of it. My grades are borderline mediocre, I hardly put in any effort, and I feel a sort of general disinterest in everything related to the experience. I still go, but man is it an effort. When I do show up, I usually show up half prepared and just sit awkwardly and tend to doze off.

Anyone in the same boat? I can't drop out because I've come this far (I probably graduate in a semester or two), but sometimes I do wish I could bring myself to take some time off.

Good thing for biking and endorphins and all that.

The knee-jerk retort: "welcome to real life!" :)

The more thought-out response: If you're disinterested in school because you're disinterested in the program you're in, this is what I would recommend (though it might not sound at all appealing):


Finish (break? on one to two terms from graduating? Yeah...not a good idea.)
Find some interesting fields to intern in before you finish
Do an internship in one of those fields
Get a Master's if you like it. (Because it will come in handy)



That's my two cents; back to senior year responsibility!

I went in the navy for 4 years after high school.

When I got to college, 4 years later than my classmates, I was motivated. I got good grades and finished half a semester early.

Had I gone to college right after high school, I would have effed it up royally.

I needed a strong dose of the real world between HS and college.

Good point. I plan on attending some sort of professional school after my undergrad days. Is the lack of federal aid at least partially balanced by the fact that I'll be applying as an independent student, where aid isn't a function of my parent's income anymore?

No - Some aid is UNDERGRADUATE (Pell, SEOG, FWS, most state aid), and as a graduate student, you may avail yourself of - yuo guessed it - LOANS - and NOW, DIRECT (brought to you by Obama) LOANS ONLY. Best make friends with a department head and have good grades so you are offered a FELLOWSHIP (teach Whatever 101 to freshman in exchange for your tuition).