Should I continue going to college?

[Gerto]

First of all, I wasn't sure which forum I should post this on, I posted it here, because it seems to be a bit in line with values, integrity and finding and living a your purpose.Sorry if it should be on another forum. After writing this post, I see that it's actually waaaaaay too long, I'm sorry for that!

So, right now I'm 18 years old and I'm in my first semester of university (studying economics). I've never liked going to school at all.I remember that when I was in kindergarten, I once bit the teacher in my arm when she tried to prevent me from running back to my mom crying . Well , that didn't improve in high school, I was always looking forward to the time school would finally be over.

I studied Latin, so everyone assumed I'd go to college. But in my spare time I used to make websites. And I wanted to start doing that full-time after high school. But, every single person I met always said that it'd be stupid to do that and that I'd really need a diploma etc. etc., I've heard it 10.000 times already. Also, because my mother has a handicap , she receives quite a lot of financial support from the government, now a big part of that would disappear if I started working (I calculated and all together it would be between 500 and 1000 $ a month difference), so it'd probably bring my mother in problems as well (she doesn't want me to take that into account when making a decision, but I feel like this is important as well). Anyway, so because I figured that it'd be much easier to go to college first and only after that have a business (than the other way around), I decided to go to college (once I made that decision I was completely sure about it and really wanted to go to college.

But after a few weeks, I felt really bad about my choice and really regretted it.I felt like I was wasting my precious time here. Now, I have talked to a study counselor, and decided I'd stop going to classes and study by myself (this motivates me much more, because I have much more control over when I study what and it'd also give me much more free time), and that was working quite well. But still, every 2 or 3 days, the doubts return whether I want to keep doing this FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS .

Sometimes, I can really motivate myself to study, but often that motivation only comes from trying a new technique that'd make studying go faster, or reading how Steve finished college in 3 semesters. So basically, most things that motivate me are just ways to help me finish college with less time and effort.

Now, when I read all that, the conclusion seems quite logical to me: I should stop going to college. Then again, there are a lot of things I enjoy about college: living semi on my own (on my own during the week, but at home during the weekends), meeting loads of interesting people, sometimes learning interesting things. And I also know having your own webdesign business is not easy at all. There are really many people doing this, and also, it's not always fun either, when I'm doing something else, it seems like heaven. But I know that when I actually do it, it won't always be fun, it will really be different when my income depends on it. And if I'd make the switch, my family would probably kill me , they're all always so proud of me going to college and things like that. They'd think I'm throwing away my life (my mother does understand me though). I know I should live my own dreams, not someone else's , but still, it's something I should take into account I think.

Well, so now I really don't know what to do, should I continue going to college or quit? I know it's something I have to decide for myself, but I hope some people here will be able to provide me some interesting views I haven't thought of myself.

Thanks,
Gert
(Sorry that the post is so long, I hope some people will take the time to look at it,I felt I needed to describe the complete context first )

[Scipio]

It sounds like you want to own your business rather than study economics. Is this correct? Is owning your own business what would make you happy? Would you enjoy it even if you didn't achieve much monetary success?

If the answers are yes, you know what to do. If you are actually serious, if you really work on your goals, there is no doubt that you will be earning a good income by the time the four years that you would spend in school is over.

Just don't let this be a rationalization for not liking productivity. I know people who dropped out of college because they said it wasn't where their interests lay, but then didn't do anything related to their goals when they got out. Interests aren't automatic, you have to explore things and see if you begin to like them. So introspect--see why your emotions are the way they are.

The things that you like in the college environment are not exclusive to college. You can meet people and live on your own.

About your family: You can live your life the way other people want you to, and one day find out that you didn't get to live your own life, they did.

I'm a teen and in my first semester at college too, so I've given this alot of thought. I took a gap year to find out my goals though.

[garg]

I didn't gain a lot from college but I'm still glad that I grinded through the experience.

My subject is computer sciences. I didn't get super enlightened about the subject. I think I learned most of it on my own and then just showed up for the tests. I ended up with a good GPA (or I will.. 1 class left till I graduate). I still think the experience was very good. It taught me self discipline. I made lots of important contacts. I have a good backup plan now just in case my business does not work out right away.

If you are getting an opportunity to do this then keep at it. Choose a fun, easier, lighter subject. I truly think that you don't get limited by what subject you take. After completing 4 years of this I think that the true purpose of college/university are the social aspects of it.

Stay in school. It's a good buffer between now and real life. Experiment, enjoy, discover who you are. Best time to do all that is in college.

[Nemo]

Always try to learn whatever you can - you never know when you'll need it, even if it seems to be useless at the moment. You are young, you'll still have plenty of time to build your own business afterwards.

[Brutha]

What would you do when you wouldn't go to collage?

Designing websites is something you could do part time. That design business doesn't need fixed hours so there is nothing that would stop you.
You could limit the amount of your courses and spent some time on website design instead.

[geekchic9]

Have you ever considered going to a community college instead and getting a certificate or an associate's degree in web development?

[Lucas]

Don't go to college because you are supposed to, go because you want to, and if you don't want to, then don't. I am about a semester and 2 classes away from being done with my degree, and I stopped. I had to take a semester off. I had been doing worse and worse and finally I was honest with myself and said, "I need a break, plain and simple". I took one, and the past 6 months have been some of the most spiritual and peaceful times of my life.

I went to school for the sole reason of getting away from home. It was time. At first I thought it was for education, but I found that I didn't like the way college was structured, there were very few classes that were challenging my paradigms, and for the most part they are structured the same way as High School, absorb the facts and regurgitate them. I would say 5-10% of all my classes in my 5 years and 3 majors were actually anything eyeopening.

The best part about going to college was outside of class, learning to live on my own and function with roomates, social skills and meeting people. The class part was droll, and anything but progessive and liberal.

My suggestion is to stop at the moment and re-evaluate. What do you want to accomplish at school and what school is right for you? I love my college (Kent State fyi), but if I were to do it all over again, I would have looked elsewhere for a better program.

Dont be afraid of stopping or the fear tactics family and friends may try to use (you wont have a fuuutuuureee1!), be honest with yourself, and accept it if college isnt what you want to do. Chances are you'll find a school you like, but if you dont, theres plenty of lessons in life.

[Gerto]

Wow, thanks everyone for the comments!

@Scipio:Having my own business certainly seems a lot more appealling to me. I'm not completely sure if this would be what'd make me happy because I haven't done it yet, I know that it is what motivates me though. I also know that what I'm doing now does not make me happy at all. And I somehow don't feel that getting a degree I may never need is not a good reason to feel bad for 4 years

@Garg: Well, I don't think there are any really easy subjects at university, and what I'm doing now interests me the most. I've sent you a PM as well

@Nemo: Yeah, maybe that's true. But somehow, If "learning what I can" doesn't make me happy, it makes it very hard for me to go on.

@Brutha:I do the scripting part of sites, but that's not really important :-).The idea of limiting the amount of courses doesn't seem too appealing either because I now already hade the thought that I'll have to study for four more years.

@geekchic9: I've looked into that (where I live we don't really have community schools, but there are some types of schools that only take 3 years instead of 4). I've looked into them , but the classes didn't seem too interesting either

@Lucas: I think maybe it's indeed time to stop and re-evaluate. The way I see it now is that I'll continue doing my best for the next 4 weeks, until the end of the semester. Then I'm going to really try to succeed for the 4 classes I'm having now. And after that, in the second semester. I'll just take a break from college. Spend some time starting up my business, and trying to figure out what I really want. After that I can either go back to college completely motivated because it's really what I want, or I can go on doing something else. I think it'll be easier for my family to understand this as well.

That's the way I see it now. But I'm still open to all kinds of suggestions off course! Thank you all so much for all the advice already!

-Gert

[Nemo]

Hi Gerto,

Originally Posted by Gerto

@Nemo: Yeah, maybe that's true. But somehow, If "learning what I can" doesn't make me happy, it makes it very hard for me to go on.

I don't know about you, but it seems to me that many people connect learning with something like labor, strain or stress. When I was at school I thought that, too . But eventually I discovered that learning is quite the contrary: it expands your view of the world, it lets you see connections you were never aware of, it deepens your understanding of things, it provides the base for thinking independently, it can show you new things to enjoy; in short: it is absolute *delight*. Once you come to understand that, all opportunities to learn will make you happy.

Of course you will find some things that make you happier to learn than others. It is a good idea not to limit yourself to one area of knowledge too early. Try to discover as many different fields of knowledge as you can; you'll eventually find one that best suits you.