Life purpose - which do I choose?

[Rauros Falls]

There's already been a similar post on this... about a guy choosing between the military and music. But my options are different, so I thought I'd ask anyway.

I'm 19 years old, attending university, studying biochemistry. 2nd year. But I find myself lacking any sort of passion or motivation for this. I also tend to get anxious, as I don't feel connected to the community around here, I don't enjoy buying lunch and eating in public places. I've been depressed, though currently I am not.

What I really want to be doing is translating japanese hentai games. I want to quit university. I'd be okay working in a coffee shop or something and translating/ learning the language in my free time. It appeals to me more than university. Maybe I could develop passive income.

But I'm scared shitless. Firstly, because I feel like I owe something more to society, and my parents. Biochemistry is probably more valuable than hentai and my parents are glad I'm doing it. Secondly, how on earth would I tell my parents? They're pretty easy-going but dammit - it would suck telling them "I'm going to devote my life to sex." Especially my mom. She's been so nice to me this past year.

I read this article

Life Sucks, Then You Die

but I'm still scared.

Any advice? Should I try to change my emotional state or my life setting? I mean, hentai isn't as pretty to say in conversation as music.

[boogiemonsta]

Have you thought about continuing college and moving to Japan to become an english teacher. My friend has been doing it for a few years now and he gets bounced around Tokyo teaching for 6 hours a day 5 days a week making $4,000 a month. I have other friends that started as english teachers and worked hard on their Japanese and picked up other jobs there.

Or you could attend a language school in Japan. I believe you could stay up to 2 years on a student visa. You could work on translating hentai games in your free time and figure out how to make an income doing so. Or finish college where you are and do your post grad in Japan.

I know what you mean about not feeling connected to the community around you. I dont have much interest in things where I'm from but when I'm in Japan I lose my voice frequently cuz I cant shut up cuz I love Japanese things so I instanly have lots of things in common with the people there haha.

thanks for posting that link, nice read at my time too.

Check this out. Kintaro Walks Japan

You dont have to jump into college right away perhaps. You could go do this and pick up Japanese really fast and have a huge fire burning to get to work on translating hentai!

If I was to meet someone at a party or bar and make small talk I would find talk of hentai much more interesting than their musical tastes!

[Rauros Falls]

whoa, whoa, easy there. I don't want to go to Japan. That's a distant possibility, but not something I'm considering right now.

Right now, the only thing I'm considering is to quit university and see what it's like just living a regular life with a job and translating/learning japanese in my free time. Even if I quit, it's not permanent and I can always go back to it.

Especially considering that I'm currently miserable, it seems like a good idea. But it's just so scary. I've never done something so independent before.

[Mynder]

Hm. Is there a way you can start out in the hentai business part time, so it doesn't completely interfere with biochemistry?

That way, you could try it out as a job (when you are expected to deliver results on time, unlike it being a hobby), make some money on the side, and if it turns out you can really make a comfortable living off it, you can still divert more of your time into it, right?

Just saying, things don't always have to be either/or. Often, it is better to try both ways, even in parallel, and go with what works.

[AshNZ]

People rarely enjoy university even when the work itself is something that you love. Me for example, I absolutely dread boring lectures, meaningless assignments etc but I love the work itself.

Also, I've realised that if you try to make money off your hobby, it may turn into a job that you won't enjoy that much. Can you imagine yourself translating games 40-50 hours/week? Can you imagine yourself having to translate a game that you don't necessarily like but have to do since that's how you get paid? This stuck me after I left high school. I loved cars and thought cars were my passion. I got into tech, learned a few things and then got a job. When I got the job, I was hit with a reality check. Fixing your own car on weekends is fun but fixing other people's cars for a living isn't. That's when I quit the line and got into something else.

That has been my experience so far. I wouldn't recommend quitting university. I feel that having a degree as a back up is very important (many people will disagree).

[Rauros Falls]

Thanks for the advice.

I agree that things aren't black and white and that I should not expect pursuing hentai to be some kind of solution to all my problems. If I was expected to do a certain amount each week, I may not enjoy it.

It's just that I've been in some turmoil for the past week or so (and over the longer term) and I didn't want the pattern to continue, especially with a new semester starting. So I start looking for any kind of solution that can help me, but nothing works, so I start trying more and more drastic things and then I think that maybe hentai really is my passion or something.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. I seriously contemplated dropping out of uni for the past 2 days or so, I told my parents, went to the registrar's office, skipped classes. And my conclusion? I'll stay put, because at this point I can't get a refund and all of a sudden I feel like I can handle a semester of uni (that's why I posted. I didn't feel like I could handle/ enjoy it anymore).

I read plenty of Pavlina and Pete Michaud's post about how you have to dictate your own existence and find your freedom. Well, I think that really did help me. How? By going out all the way to the brink of dropping uni, I realized that I really am free, and that I do have the courage to quit if I want to. Therefore me staying in uni now is not a reflection of my parent's will, but it's my own value. I could quit, but instead I'm choosing to stay. I think maybe this sense of freedom was my problem.

[AshNZ]

Originally Posted by Rauros Falls

Thanks for the advice.

I agree that things aren't black and white and that I should not expect pursuing hentai to be some kind of solution to all my problems. If I was expected to do a certain amount each week, I may not enjoy it.

It's just that I've been in some turmoil for the past week or so (and over the longer term) and I didn't want the pattern to continue, especially with a new semester starting. So I start looking for any kind of solution that can help me, but nothing works, so I start trying more and more drastic things and then I think that maybe hentai really is my passion or something.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. I seriously contemplated dropping out of uni for the past 2 days or so, I told my parents, went to the registrar's office, skipped classes. And my conclusion? I'll stay put, because at this point I can't get a refund and all of a sudden I feel like I can handle a semester of uni (that's why I posted. I didn't feel like I could handle/ enjoy it anymore).

I read plenty of Pavlina and Pete Michaud's post about how you have to dictate your own existence and find your freedom. Well, I think that really did help me. How? By going out all the way to the brink of dropping uni, I realized that I really am free, and that I do have the courage to quit if I want to. Therefore me staying in uni now is not a reflection of my parent's will, but it's my own value. I could quit, but instead I'm choosing to stay. I think maybe this sense of freedom was my problem.

I'm happy that you've decided to stick with the university. Good luck.

[shannon smith]

the problem is most "regular jobs", suck. doing something part time is a part time cop out. what about the regular job? You should think about what you really enjoy, maybe since childhood, and think about ways you can make money off it and then go for it. have a burning desire and let nothing stop you.

[metamorph]

How about changing your attitude towards uni? Do you realise it is a privilege? Do you realise how many people would love to go to uni, but either cannot afford it or did not have good enough grades? A degree will open you many doors (even doors unrelated to biochem).

[Drew78]

Originally Posted by Rauros Falls

There's already been a similar post on this... about a guy choosing between the military and music. But my options are different, so I thought I'd ask anyway.

I'm 19 years old, attending university, studying biochemistry. 2nd year. But I find myself lacking any sort of passion or motivation for this. I also tend to get anxious, as I don't feel connected to the community around here, I don't enjoy buying lunch and eating in public places. I've been depressed, though currently I am not.

What I really want to be doing is translating japanese hentai games. I want to quit university. I'd be okay working in a coffee shop or something and translating/ learning the language in my free time. It appeals to me more than university. Maybe I could develop passive income.

But I'm scared shitless. Firstly, because I feel like I owe something more to society, and my parents. Biochemistry is probably more valuable than hentai and my parents are glad I'm doing it. Secondly, how on earth would I tell my parents? They're pretty easy-going but dammit - it would suck telling them "I'm going to devote my life to sex." Especially my mom. She's been so nice to me this past year.

I read this article

Life Sucks, Then You Die

but I'm still scared.

Any advice? Should I try to change my emotional state or my life setting? I mean, hentai isn't as pretty to say in conversation as music.

An excellent website for adult webmasters and business people is Netpond ™ .... I did this for a while, and my mother balked, but I eventually came out of it. I needed to get the crazy work out of my system, and now I'm happier working in a corporate job and doing freelance translation on the side. You might try it, and you might find that something as drastic as dropping out of school isn't necessary.

Drew

[pyrogen]

Originally Posted by Rauros Falls

There's already been a similar post on this... about a guy choosing between the military and music. But my options are different, so I thought I'd ask anyway.

I'm 19 years old, attending university, studying biochemistry. 2nd year. But I find myself lacking any sort of passion or motivation for this. I also tend to get anxious, as I don't feel connected to the community around here, I don't enjoy buying lunch and eating in public places. I've been depressed, though currently I am not.

What I really want to be doing is translating japanese hentai games. I want to quit university. I'd be okay working in a coffee shop or something and translating/ learning the language in my free time. It appeals to me more than university. Maybe I could develop passive income.

But I'm scared shitless. Firstly, because I feel like I owe something more to society, and my parents. Biochemistry is probably more valuable than hentai and my parents are glad I'm doing it. Secondly, how on earth would I tell my parents? They're pretty easy-going but dammit - it would suck telling them "I'm going to devote my life to sex." Especially my mom. She's been so nice to me this past year.

I read this article

Life Sucks, Then You Die

but I'm still scared.

Any advice? Should I try to change my emotional state or my life setting? I mean, hentai isn't as pretty to say in conversation as music.

If you have to actually logically make a choice about which one is your life purpose, neither one is.