I QUIT COLLEGE AND I AM DOING BRILLIANT!
Yeah, but you're 22 years old and one day there might come a time when you wish you'd have stuck it out to get that degree. That said, you are brilliant and I have every reason to expect you'll continue to kick ass in life, but you can't be sure that you or BLOB_CASTLE won't someday want that piece of paper. I didn't "need/want" it till I was 32. Hit a ceiling and it was a requirement. BS requirement for sure, but having it DRASTICALLY improved my earning potential and gave me a career I really enjoy as opposed to a job I moderately tolerated.
I completely agree. Plus, being in a creative field like me, talent and connections get you access to jobs, not a piece of paper. I actually just recently had a discussion with a guy I worked on set with and he respects me more because I dropped out of school and found my own way rather than stick it out. Different industries are different, and different people are different. He's a bit of a rebellious drop out rockstar as well so I think that similarity let us connect on a deeper level. That said, I'm a lucky fuck in a lot of ways and my story is probably not typical.
Plus, being in a creative field like me, talent and connections get you access to jobs, not a piece of paper.
I couldn't agree more, but you never know when you might want to change fields and you never know what the next path might require.
But is taking that amount of a precaution worth it?
Yes. You have nothing to lose by finishing really and you have nothing to gain by quitting. As I said earlier, the life of a moneyless nomad isn't going anywhere. Enjoy your camping trip, find some joy out there pal!
Good point again. Thank you, I hope a nice little vacation in nature will help sooth my mind.
Now that's something I've always been interested in trying.
Yeah jazz studies with emphasis on bass performance. Haha, you have a point. Sooner or later I will. I don't have any qualms about trying drugs that occur naturally.
Yes, a vacation might help a lot. Regardless, give yourself 2 weeks before you make a decision. I took 3 to make a final decision and I'm glad I did because my emotions and viewpoint swung back a forth a lot. Also, if you do decide to quit, make sure to go through the right paths and don't burn any bridges. Make it a leave of absence so you have a backup for a period of time. I was on LoA for 2 years and NYU still emails me today asking if I want to register for classes next semester.
Yes. I did 3.5 semesters of college at NYU - Tisch - Film/TV. I dropped out halfway through my spring semester in 2010, worked in NYC on set until November 2011, moved to Sydney, Australia until April 2012, got a job at this company, and just got my first promotion and raise. I do web design, code, graphic design, and produce and edit our company and product videos. We also now do videos for the client, so I have produced and edited 11 videos for a massive brand in Atlanta. I'm happy.
Do you regret leaving so late in your college career? How much debt had you amassed?
Debt wasn't an issue in my case. My dad only did a couple semesters as well and the fund his mother started for him 70 years ago was transferred to me and my brother when we were born. It literally has been sitting and growing for 70 years. I don't regret it at all. I was overly stressed and working too hard and doing way to many drugs to cope with the lack of sleep and lack of passion I was feeling towards film in general. I worked my ass off on projects I wanted to, kept close with my peers in my class, and continued to work with them. I just didn't do the classes anymore. I was still part of the community, which in a field like mine is a huge thing. Connections are everything in Film. Plus I'm a huge believer in "doing and creating to learn" rather than "study your butt off to learn." The classes like "Italian Cinema in the 1920s wasn't helping me in producing or editing films. NYU's film program, especially for the first 3 years, requires you to direct your own film. However I didn't want to direct I wanted to produce so I was juggling writing and directing my own shorts while producing or assistant producing on thesis projects. I got more out of producing for these projects than I ever did in the classes. Plus, my mental health was severely impacted by the workload I had taken on. If I had continued down the path I was taking, I would've definitely lost it. Something had to give and I chose to give up the piece of paper and classes over the thing I valued more - the set work.