Shitty first semester

[Templor]

I am pretty sure I am dropping out as soon as I fail a couple of finals. This is half-way through my second year and I've only passed a couple of classes. I've had an extremly well paying job since my junior year of highschool and I grew used to never having to worry about money. When I started going to college, I couldn't work as much and I was barely making 15-20 hours a week which wasn't cutting it. I couldn't standing not being able to work full time so instead of just taking 1-2 classes, like I should have, I listened to my parents who were encouraging me to take 4-5 and I'd end up either dropping them or just completly forgetting about them. Well, mom and dad, that shit didn't work out too well!

[Lyrical]

There is a ton of bad advice in this thread. Everyone I knew that dropped out of school to "find themselves" never came back. What the hell is there to find, other than to find your way to class and into the books? And most people that drop out are going to have a worse standard of living than those that got their undergraduate degrees (over a lifetime).

[painbringer]

>There is a ton of bad advice in this thread. Everyone I knew that dropped
>out of school to "find themselves" never came back. What the hell is there
>to find, other than to find your way to class and into the books? And most
>people that drop out are going to have a worse standard of living than
>those that got their undergraduate degrees (over a lifetime).

I happen to know several that did get back to it, but also some that didn't.

If what you need is discipline, go for the military, or as stated elsewhere, find a job as construction worker or some such.

Basically, hard labor.

This gives you a perspective.
Even flipping burgers does given the right places.

If, however, you go for an easy job, IT, selling t-shirts, walmart, anything with a low stress factor, it's worth squat. - and probably worsens your situation, since you get used to doing fuck all.

There's a reason people comming from the countries where the bananas are hanging low, generally has a poorer work ethic, and an alot lower productivity.

[Bralkan]

If traditional millitary isn't for you, remember we do have a Coast Guard that has many of the same educational benefits of the military. You might even get to fight some Pirates!

[James]

Originally Posted by Bralkan

If you're a gaping pussy, remember we do have a Coast Guard that has many of the same educational benefits of the military. You might even get reamed in the asshole by a pirate! Arrrr!

Fixed.

[Samus Aran]

Hey, I think I'm in almost the same boat as you are. I only know that I'm going to pass 2/5 classes. The other 3 are a toss-up because I just don't give a rat's ass. I went into this year thinking I was on the right path and all, but lately I've been thinking about how I would rather do other things with my life. I've pretty much lost all motivation for doing well Calculus/Architorture. If worst comes to worst, we can just go to State or Perimeter. ugh.

I wish I could move to California and go to a good Art College.

[Renolin]

Don't listen to all the assholes who say you're a lazy waste of a human being. College is nothing like high school. If it was so simple, the school wouldn't have all those free counseling services and the such, which I encourage you to take advantage of. Quite possibly the worst thing you can do is be in trouble and not talk to your academic advisor/proctor/RA about it. They can help you now, not when you've lost your scholarship and are forcibly removed from the school.

[Luthair]

Originally Posted by Lyrical

There is a ton of bad advice in this thread. Everyone I knew that dropped out of school to "find themselves" never came back. What the hell is there to find, other than to find your way to class and into the books? And most people that drop out are going to have a worse standard of living than those that got their undergraduate degrees (over a lifetime).

Not really, if he gets a shitty job with poor pay for a while he'll get the motivation he needs.

[Bralkan]

Originally Posted by James

Fixed.

Saw that coming i <3 james

[Ahnkosis]

Wow, I didn't know that so many other people had similar experiences to me. I started out community college good, with around a 3.0 or higher GPA, then after three years of that (was injured from a kick to the nuts which caused other things bla bla bla, consequently causing me to miss one of a sequence of classes having to wait a year to take again), It was off to the state university to finish up. First term, my GPA was like 2.0, then things started going even further downhill as that hit everquest high time. I failed a few classes in that time, and ended up getting nearly rejected from the school of engineering, but appeals later, I was back with a second (and subsequent third) chance. Kicked EQ, sold my character, bought a new computer, got a girlfriend (who became my wife) and finished school, lining up a job the week before graduation.

What it sounds like is you're in a funk right now. What you need to do is find the nastiest, fattest, grossest piece of woman you can and have sex with her. Double bag it for safety. When you wake up the next day running from her house in fear that she might eat you for breakfast, the world will seem a much brighter place, as it can't get any lower than what you just did. I like to call that a "slump buster". Then, when you get back to school and studying, you will find yourself working harder and better, as you don't ever, EVER want to do the "slump buster" ever again.

P.S. I have ~10+ friends who have joined the military and over half of them have been fucked over royally. I would steer clear of anything relating to military, especially the National Guard.

[Gauss]

I can sympathise with the OP. The previous spring semester for me was absolute hell. I was a first year in college and I thought I was hot stuff taking a bunch of advanced classes like Abstract Algebra (which by the way was in no way related to my major Electrical Engineering) and theoretical physics among others. I'm sure I could have done well in those classes (I got a C in AA and ended up dropping physics because I didn't want a second C), and I got B's or B+'s in the rest of the whole freshman bullshit intro to [Relevant major course], but my priorities were so wrong. I logged around 60 days of /played between Nov 23 and when the semester ended in mid April in WoW. I know ditching class to play WoW was the issue because I had an 18 credit load and a 3.9 GPA in the fall semester (which thankfully ended only a few days after WoW came out and I had studied prior).

Anyway I interned over the summer under the head engineer at a local pharmaceutical company and shit got put in perspective. 5 days a week I was up at 7AM, at work by 7:45 and gone at 5 just like a real job. I learned discipline and more importantly got to see the shitty lives of the $10/hour workers. I got to listen how all the blue-collars either dropped out of college or high school and have been working there ever since, how they're all hunched over or walk with a limp from too much tedious labor, and how their minds are so far gone from doing the same thing day in and day out that the only thing they talk about besides their failed pasts are different mixtures of pharmaceutical rubber that they produce.

Even though I learned the right path from the summer, this fall was the final straw. I'm taking only 14 credits to reevaluate my threshold, but I still ended up getting D's on the tests in two engineering classes. It only took one thought that if I get any more D's I'm going to be some gimp at a factory who can't shut up about how well I can corrugate iron with the big machines for me to fly straight. I stared at single pages of my textbook for hours until I truly comprehended it, went to my professors' office hours, and God forbid did homework 2 days in advance. I haven't my final grades but I don't think I've gotten less than a 94 on anything since I got those D's. My point is, like has been said in just about every post, Go to class. One thing that really helped me get my shit together was going directly from class to the computer lab for a few hours to do work. Your room has way too many distractions. On top of that, I met a lot of people in my major that I otherwise would have ignored had I continued to sit in my room to play WoW. Speaking of WoW, I play it still, but I've cut back to 5 or 10 hours a week, however long it takes for my guild to tear BWL and MC a new one.

Your education is a terrible thing to waste. I blame the culture that emphasizes achieving as much as possible while doing as little work as possible. That whole mindset is going to sink this country.

[Ibliss]

I have ~10+ friends who have joined the military and over half of them have been fucked over royally. I would steer clear of anything relating to military, especially the National Guard.

How do you get fucked over royally by the military? Your contract basically says anything can happen to you, even death. You get free food, board and insurance. Then when youre done, free college.

[Everlast]

Originally Posted by Coffee and TV

I wish I could move to California and go to a good Art College.

Not to sound like a dick, but that is a terrible mindset to be in. I am willing to bet that whenever something bad happens to you in school, be it a bad grade or a missed class the first thing you say to yourself is something like "Damn, if I were in California going to Art College this wouldnt happen!" - the problem is you never accept full resposibilty for the action because you place all the blame on you not going to college in Cali.

If it truly is your wish to go to college in Cali. then do good in college right now and transfer there, quickest route that dosnt put your life in mortal danger (military).

[Mippo]

One thing you have to realize about advice is that you have to put it into perspective based on where that advice is coming from. People will give you advice based on their experiences, but that doesn't necessarily help you.

The reason that education is valuable is because it puts you into a position to meet people that are valuable, not because of the actual education itself which most people forget anyway. Secondly, it creates respect off the bat when creating a first impression. If someone told you they never went to college, wouldn't you create assumptions about that person's intelligence simply based on that statement alone? Granted some people are successful without the college degree, and their achievements speak for themselves but that's the exception, not the norm.

The reality is that while many people can perform a job, unless you can give off the impression that you can perform it better then someone else, you will never get the chance to do so. The degree is nothing more then a foot in the door. Once you are in the workforce, people would rather know how you did at the job, rather then how you did in school.

The education itself doesn't really help you, it's the degree that helps. Anyone can get a 4.0, it doesn't require much intelligence but it does show your character. The way you can get around good grades is by portraying your character socially.

Life is not about who you know, but what you know. That's something that is extremely important that you don't learn in college. While you are in college, create a social network. It comes down to this, birds of a feather flock together. Associate yourself with people that have similiar goals and ambitions or people who are already where you want to be. Be friendly and courteous to everyone, because you never know who that person will be. I'd strongly recommend becoming friendly with your professors as well, especially in your major. Don't be a 'teacher's pet', but develop a relationship with them because they are a great link to the community and they can help you long after you have left their class. Having a professor put in a good word for your internship could easily be the difference between you getting it, and not getting it.

As far as actual grades go, they really don't matter that much once you have your foot in the door which you can do socially. It's the degree itself that matters.

According to the academic record of millionaires in America(Sample size of 715), the average GPA is a 2.92 and the average SAT score is an 1190.

[Samus Aran]

Originally Posted by Everlast

Not to sound like a dick, but that is a terrible mindset to be in. I am willing to bet that whenever something bad happens to you in school, be it a bad grade or a missed class the first thing you say to yourself is something like "Damn, if I were in California going to Art College this wouldnt happen!" - the problem is you never accept full resposibilty for the action because you place all the blame on you not going to college in Cali.

If it truly is your wish to go to college in Cali. then do good in college right now and transfer there, quickest route that dosnt put your life in mortal danger (military).

You have me all wrong. What I mean is, I would much rather pursue an art/animation career before an Architecture career. From what I have been told, Cali is the best place for that. I'm not sure exactly what I want to study, but I'm starting to believe that I might enjoy art a bit more than what I am doing right now.