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comment by BLOB_CASTLE
BLOB_CASTLE  ·  3989 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Should I Quit College?

I've already been in a horrible period of depression since the school year began. The thought of quitting school isn't new, it's been going for about 8 months now.

I ask you for your personal opinion: is another year of school worth the additional years of debt it'll bring?





JTHipster  ·  3989 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Think of the tradeoff.

You quit now, you have no degree, three years of debt. You stick it out, you have four years worth of debt and a degree. Either way you have debt, but this way you have a piece of paper.

Want to be depression buddies?

BLOB_CASTLE  ·  3989 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Exactly, it's just a piece of paper. Not that I wish to hoard money, but the CEO of the company I work for buys a $200,000 car every month and didn't go to school. So even if I didn't finish and did end up wanting to become a money hoarder, the potential exists to do so.

Yes. There hasn't been anyone around who understands my anger/frustration.

JTHipster  ·  3989 days ago  ·  link  ·  

There is that. I dunno.

I like money too but I'd rather feel like I'm doing something with my life than contributing to a business. I suppose that's at the core of the situation, really: is the thing you are doing something that you love?

I hate college. I really do. Its tedious. I hate my Gen Ed courses, I hate busywork in courses I otherwise like, I hate having to gamble on whether or not the professor is going to know less than me on the subject every time I take a class. Its frustrating. But, I really do like what I've been able to see of Communications, far more than I've liked history. And if I want to get in to the field, I know that at least some of the courses I take will be useful.

So what if I end up poor? I don't have kids. I don't have a girlfriend, and even if I did if she would dump me for having no money then I wouldn't want to date her in the first place. My one ex is down in California with no job, but she's happy because she's doing what she likes.

I'd love to get in to editing, for TV or film, doesn't matter. There's busywork on the way but an education is going to help, even if its just another hurdle. And if that saddles me with debt, well, so what? I'd rather be in debt than spend the rest of my life doing something I dislike.

If you want to chat in messages on anything more private I'm all ears man.

BLOB_CASTLE  ·  3989 days ago  ·  link  ·  

We haven't quite gotten personal enough for private messages I'd say. But when the time comes for tears, we'll head that way. Plus, the more others see about what I'm thinking will allow them to provide a more specific answer.

This is my favorite Alan Watts Speech. Especially what he says at 1:14.

I don't want to be poor though. I want nothing to do with money. With lack of an attachment and dependence to money comes wealth in life I think.

_refugee_  ·  3988 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Hey, B_C, I would hasten to point out here that the times are changing. I work in the finance industry at a pretty advanced, let's say, mid-level position. My immediate bosses in the past years have been assistant vice presidents or VPs and up. This sounds like I'm a pretentious douchehole talking out my ass to sound important, I'm sorry, and I'm not.

So anyway, in this position, several of my co-workers have not had college degrees. They are older (50s) and they have essentially hit the ceiling, partially due to their lack of degree(s). I can say this with certainty because I am in my mid-twenties and I was hired into this position precisely because I had a college degree.

Yes, that's right - I'm mid-twenties and I'm starting out at a place where other people are ending their careers because of one stupid little piece of paper. My degree isn't even relevant to the work that I am doing! But there is a big push to get these mid-level degrees filled with people who have diplomas, as opposed to the people who have been entrenched in the system for 20 years, worked their way up to good earnings, and are now at a ceiling.

In all honesty, that is that CEO of the company you know. He has managed to work his way up during a time in which college degrees were not so important. Think about it; he was probably part of the 'trench warfare' in that company in the 80s, when a college degree was much rarer and a more significant deal. I highly doubt that you would be able to replicate his sort of success today with the ubiquity of college degrees and the growing requirement of employers that the people they interview have this requirement.

BLOB_CASTLE  ·  3987 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I understand what you're saying. I'm so gung-ho about my dream that I am perhaps letting my vision of the future become jaded. I'm not necessarily allowing for the possibility of joining the system to come true. In part I do that intentionally. In not preparing for that situation I'm even more determined to make my dream a reality.

lil  ·  3989 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It might be a good idea to ask if the depression is directly a result of feeling that you are going in the wrong direction, that you are not writing the script for your life that you'd like to write, and that you've lost control of your life -- in which case quitting school and doing something that you are MOTIVATED to do will help lift the depression. OR if the depression is caused in part by homesickness, not enough sunlight, genetic or biochemical factors, neurotransmitters being blocked -- i.e. physiological causes that would be completely unaffected by quitting school.

It might also help to revisit your passion for music and look at the reasons why you wanted to study in the first place. Depression might be taking up so much room in your heart that you've forgotten those things. It would probably be a good idea to talk to a school counsellor - make a couple of appointments if possible so you could look at all sides. and finally, quitting school now, working for a few years and paying back some of your debt doesn't mean you can't go back later with greater passion and commitment.

JTHipster, depression is pretty awful. I hope you get some help as well. Also watch this if you haven't already. It's the best explanation of depression I've ever heard - especially if you have what might be called "clinical depression."

BLOB_CASTLE  ·  3989 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I would attribute it to a lot of things, my thoughts about going down the wrong path included. I was one who denied the validity of depression, claimed by those who didn't know how to be happy. I was always known by everyone to be the happy person. But then a massive shit storm of terrible occurrences came about and I lost the ability to find beauty in things. I didn't want to (nor do I still want to say) I was/am depressed, but it might be so. Things I'd attribute my depression to: the realization of how much debt I have, relations with roommates going sour, missing my family, the struggles of not agree with the concept of college/money, and winter and the lack of light it brings along with the inhibition of going outside.

I believe my passion for music has been waning not because of my sadness, but because of the hindrances I feel the educational system puts on the creative aspect of the music. I feel as if we're getting way too into crazy scales and things to play over chord changes that it's not even about the expression of oneself. I've begun to rebel in a sense and superimpose time signatures over the ones the rest of the group plays to not necessarily throw them off, but to realize not everything has to fit into the mold the professors are telling us it has to. I sort of have taken an interest in hip hop bass lines as that's about solid groove and not fancy shmancy scales. I don't know that the program would allow me to take a break, but it's definitely something to consider and talk about. I don't have time to watch this now as I'm about to leave to go camping with my girlfriend for the weekend, but I will once I get back.