Whats the point of college? I feel like I'm wasting my time

[emit_remmus]

I'm attending college just so I can go dig up artifacts. My parents aren't really supportive of this. Its just me. They keep telling me why don't I do biology or medical science. I spend most of my time reading books. Its endless. It costs so much money to even get to do things that will help me get a good career, things like field school. I want to go so bad.

 

I don't even like this school or the people at it. Transferring to another school sounds hard because then I have to pack up, move, find an apartment in the big city, find a job, meet new professors to suck up to, its a lot. I want to just quit college. I'm not going to be rich anyway. Whats the point? Lots of people live their lives without college.

 

I'm pretty much out of motivation to do anything. The people suck in this town. This town is a conservative sh**hole. I probably failed my first biology exam too. I feel like I'm not good at ANYTHING. I can't even think of one thing I'm good at.

[rocio]

Make a list of 10 possible options that you have open to you. For each of those 10 options, write down 3 things:

1. the worst possible outcome

2. the best possible outcome

3. the most realistic outcome

 

I'd love to read whatever you write.

[emit_remmus]

I can't think right now I'm sad. But if I do quit college, I'll join the Army. If I do transfer, worst thing that could happen is I end up broke, then I'll join the army. I'd like to travel and work overseas but that requires money. I want an out door job.

[rocio]

I think it's a very unwise decision to join the army when you have access to education and a better life. But that's just my opinion and, either way, I'm sure you'll make the right decision as long as you follow your heart. Hope your weekend gets better!

[Dako]

Are you paying for this education?

Seems like a great opportunity.

[emit_remmus]

A better life? The stuff I'm learning in college is interesting but I don't see how it will benefit me when I'm digging and surveying stuff. They have me washing dirt in the lab right now. Its really rocks. Or 12000 year old arrow heads. Whats the difference between barracks and a crappy empty apartment? I don't have money to buy furniture, I dont even need furniture. No one comes over. Which sounds more exciting? Is working as a waiter whenever I can striving to make enough money to pay the bills much better?

[rose2summer]

We all get discouraged in school and it's a very normal feeling. Exams get tough so we want to run. You will realize though that if you run, you will soon regret it in the future. An education can open so many doors for you that working cannot. Unfortantely that B.S. or B.A. can really make the difference in having job stability. Keep fighting the fight like others have before you. College is not a waste of time, it's to teach you how to be an intellectual thinker. College is priceless, so don't let it go to waste. I am the first to go to college and I will tell you, I just keep going on for more school, because I want stability in my life. I want to know that I will have a job because I busted by behind off to get where I am, and no one can just shuttle me off because I didn't educate myself. Don't throw away your dreams, fight for them!

[isidore]

emit,

I know where you're coming from. I recently received my B.A. in classical archaeology. Now I'm struggling to find a grad school. You're one step ahead of me: at least you've actually had some hands on experience. If this is your dream, don't ditch it for the army! Do whatever it takes to get to that field school. The uni I attended blew too; they had no real resources to offer or aid in finding digs to volunteer for, nor any professors who really had time for students. All I can say is don't give up! I've been out of school for half a year and working at a terrible job with no future. Don't give up on your dream.

[Weeblie]

I heard that if you have a Bachelor's degree, they start you off as a manager at Old Navy. Doesn't even matter what the degree is in. Ooooh. Ahhhh.

 

Yeah. I wonder about this degree stuff. People always talk about it as if it's some sort of magic wand for your future. Hmph.

 

From what I understand from life (which isn't a lot), it's all about who you know. Sounds like you've got some connections at this school, is there anyway someone can break you into this field of yours without all the education stuff?

 

My friend is getting his master's in marine biology. He just discovered that in order to get his ideal job (working at a place like sea world) he should've skipped school and gotten a part-time job at the place. They mostly recruit from within and it's extremely rare to get a job there.

[CaptainPlanet]

This statement is grossly inacturate. I have to say, there are many other passages to job stability particularily if you are young and outwardly intelligent.

[Dako]

I find it accurate.

I dropped out of college over 30 years ago, and have often regretted it.

Sure, you can do a lot when you're young and intelligent, but you can do much more with a degree, including getting a postgrad degree.

And what about when you are no longer young? It's much harder to go back to college when you reach a certain age. Best to do it when you can stay up and study without nodding off.

[CaptainPlanet]

There are many other options. If you do not know what they are, by now I suggest looking a little harder. At the end of the day, your employment prospects are limited only by how capable you are. If you are perceived to be a person who will add value to an organisation they will hire you. The most monetarily successful people I know never went to college.

[Siriana]

About the college.

Employers have a lot of candidates for a certain job.

Usually the job asks you to learn stuff all over again and than you might ask yourself why you studied at all.

Well the college for a certain work position is one of the things that helps potential employer to eliminate candidates.

Maybe someone without one would be even better employee but employers can't risk that way.

College is a sign of you being able to persist in things even when they're not great. It means you're capable of making sacrifices because of the future results.

Also for you college means learning how to find information and how to process it. It opens you the door to educate yourself further in life. It gives you the boring basis to biult your knowledge on it.

So don't quit.

[Batya33]

This statement is grossly inacturate. I have to say, there are many other passages to job stability particularily if you are young and outwardly intelligent.

 

I completely disagree. If you look at current statistics, having a college degree these days gives you a much greater chance of job stability and of making a decent living. It's great to be young and intelligent but that won't cut it in many fields and industries if you want to have a good job with room for growth/promotion. Others have already posted about the benefits of a college degree - I agree with all of those, and then some. I would be nowhere, career-wise, growth-wise and socially even (because of the people I had the opportunity to meet and get to know) without having gone to college and graduate school.

 

Yes, there are certain careers/jobs that don't require a college degree- modeling, certain jobs in the arts, etc but that depends on the extent of your talents in those areas, your ability to compete with the many others with those talents, and the ability to support yourself while you spend the time - years sometimes - competing for decent jobs in those areas.

 

I also know of wealthy people who never went to college. Those are unusual cases and, since wealth can be lost in a heartbeat, if you don't have solid marketable skills to fall back on and at least a college degree it can be very difficult to get a job.

[Dako]

I left school to make money, and I'm not poor, but what about when you get tired of being limited to those fields that don't require a formal education? Once you have money, then what?

 

Money is a weak measure of success.

[CaptainPlanet]

I'm not doubting that there are benefits to going to college. But the OP doesn't seem to be very happy where he is atm. I thought it might be better that he were made aware that he does not have to go to college to have a happy life. The message I have gotten from the posts is that you have to go to college, you have no other option, he must finish his degree.

 

If he is able to get enough work experience in a particular area which is of interest to him, maybe not archeology he can work his way up. If the need for a college degree surfaces he can get one at nightschool, will have a wealth of work experience and be better posed to make a career decision.

 

Sorry, I am 23 years old and I work with a lot of college grads from vague majors who are constantly in the mindset - I finished college so what now ?

 

Seriously if you are male, fit, and all you want is job stability and decent pay ? Get a trade.

 

You cannot advertise college as a golden key to the city of a better job. It depends on market conditions and demand for your particular field. If there is no demand there will not be enough entry level positions, college grads will go without jobs. Have a look at the UK and china even little old Australia.

[poloplayer]

Hi,

 

Sometimes we get stuck between a rock and a hard place in life - this seems to be one of those cases. You don't really see the light at the end of the tunnel, and the big picture is slowly shrinking down to something very, very narrow. I think we all visit this place, and I think many people think and feel this way with school.

 

First, a college education is not necessary. Neither is a graduate degree necessary, UNLESS, you know that you absolutely want to work in a certain field or have a certain profession (i.e., if you want to be a lawyer you pretty much have to go to law school - you can take and pass the bar without formal legal education but you will be hard to market, same goes for medicine and other fields). There are plenty of people I know who never went to college and MOST of them are making more than those I know that did go to college and in many cases, they make more than those with a graduate degree. I wholely agree with this:

 

The most monetarily successful people I know never went to college.

 

Second, statistics are just numbers. They can support a claim, but in many cases they are misleading if you don't understand how statistics work. Money and level of education vary. I've met people who just have a bachelors degree in finance or math and they make more money than almost all lawyers or doctors will ever see. Yet, people cite how much the average lawyer or doctor makes. Your degree, or degrees, are only a small step in a much larger picture. Someone with tremendous ambition, great social skills, and tenacious drive will trump anyone who wields a wall of degrees and certificates but lacks the former. In many cases, where you went to school matters because it determines where you start off. The type of industry you get into matters as well - some professions are known for making money, whereas others are not. Also, many people with advanced degrees may not want to take certain high paying job because of the grueling hours, high stress, and the years it takes off your life, but some have no choice after raking up well over 100+k in debt throughout all of their schooling.

 

Third, why are you doing this? Why do you want to be in school? Take some time off and think about it. Make some notes and a ranking system. Evaluate this list, and how it fits into your dreams and goals in life, especially with what you want to do as work. If you really want to, then you must find a way to keep you going. You have to maintain your focus, and you have to always have your goals in the forefront of your mind.

 

I do agree (for my own reasons) with the poster who mentioned their regret about leaving education behind. I do not want to be 40, or 50, or 60 and wish I had this X degree. For example, I want to get a professional degree. I don't need one though. My colleagues at work tell me this, AS WELL AS my clients. My B.S. is enough, and the rest falls upon my experience, my skills, and my network. Furthermore, if I do go full time I lose out on a lot - opportunity costs from working, saving, investing and being productive, paying an exhorbant amount for a piece of paper to a school which is just another business, and in the end, you won't see a big spike in your pay. So why do I want it? To say I have it, and as extra insurance for myself. And I'll get it in a way where an employer fronts most of the cost while I go part time, because the debt is not worth it unless you have no choice.

 

This is a serious issue. Most people do not think about it in a serious way. When you are young and naive you just go with the flow, and think that by going to school it means great job, great life, and the easy life. Most people get crushed when they graduate and either (A) have a hard time finding a job, or (B) get a job where it was not what they thought it was going to be like in terms of tasks, pay, etc. You really have to be proactive about this, unless you know plenty of the right people in which case you are set.

[Dako]

Always happy to amuse you.

[Batya33]

I don't think college is the only option - it depends on whether the OP is willing to close certain doors forever (any career that requires a professional degree in medicine, accounting, law, teaching, etc.) and whether the OP enjoys, is good at and/or has connections in a wide variety of work that doesn't require a degree (blue collar work, the arts) and whether he is willing to risk financial difficulties. It's a balancing test but my opinion is that since he can afford to go to college, he should just suck it up and finish it, get the degree under his belt so that fewer doors need to be closed.

[rocio]

The thing is that he doesn't know what he wants to do. His best option is joining the army, which might be exciting. But it could also bring you home to your family in a body bag. Putting that kind of stress on your friends and family who love you simply because you got bored with college and didn't have any better ideas of what to do with yourself is selfish, to say the least. I also think it's quite irrational.

 

If someone has a dream of what they'd like to do with their lives, and college doesn't fit into that equation, then I would totally encourage them to quit college and follow their heart. But if you simply have no idea of where you'd like to be going, college is the best place to be because it keeps the most doors open. It also gives you the opportunity to explore different options.

[Batya33]

What she said!

[Siriana]

Yeah hazey amber, you said that right, more eloquent than I did.

[CaptainPlanet]

Serving ones country is not selfish.

 

"I want to just quit college. I'm not going to be rich anyway. Whats the point? Lots of people live their lives without college."

 

He does not want to be there. He is not going to get good results he is going to achieve nothing at college but waste his own time and money. He should go out, work, if needs be return to college with a better attitude.

[Batya33]

There is a high risk he will not return if he leaves now particularly with no clear idea of what he wants to do. Life circumstances change - there may be greater or different responsibilities, less financial or time resources in order to go back, etc. Serving one's country is not selfish but he can do that later on after college if he desires.

[herenow]

"Transferring to another school sounds hard because then I have to pack up, move, find an apartment in the big city, find a job, meet new professors to suck up to, its a lot."

 

If you quit college altogether, most likely you are going to have to pack up, move, find an apartment in some city, find a job, and meet new bosses to "suck up" to a boss, if that's how you choose to view your current relationship with your professors. I hope you can see that quitting school and joining the work force as a responsible adult who pays his own way through life (as I assume you will do) is not going to be easy, either. It may be the right choice for you, but just don't expect it to be piece of cake necessarily.

 

And the attitudes that you carry with you into the workforce will determine your happiness level--you might not be any happier working than you are in school, if you don't like taking direction from bosses, doing tasks that make no sense to you (even if they make sense to someone else), etc. I wouldn't mind you leaving school, but I would strongly suggest examining your attitudes before embarking on a new adventure. The world is going to respond to whatever attitudes you carry with you.

 

Also consider that when you start at the bottom (especially without a degree), very often you WILL be taking orders from someone else and doing the repetitive tasks, until you learn enough to be promoted to do the more interesting tasks with bigger responsibilities.

 

Sometimes people have a great talent for something and make it big right away without starting at the bottom, but it's rare...and if those people don't have an education, it can be very easy for others to take advantage of them. Think of all the sports stars who make millions during their active years and then get "help" investing it, and end up with nothing ten years later while the people claiming to help them walked away rich. Boxing was notorious for that. Leon Sphinx, former heavyweight champion, is working in a McDonald's.

 

I don't think it makes sense to spend all the time and money for college if you can't see that going to get you something that you want in the end. It's a lot easier to make the sacrifices if you have a goal that excites you.

 

Why not take a leave of absense from school for a year and work with the goal of finding something that excites you?