Lost the biggest battle, should I continue?

[tylerdurden]

I have recently found out that I have indeed failed my first year at Uni, this as come as quite a shock as I got exceptional coursework results but my examinations clearly did not go well.

Focus: I have been allowed to take retakes, but recently have been swayed due to the fact at my part-time work I am surrounded by graduates with degrees etc and not earning any more then my part-time job? I am stuck to where I should go next:

1) Go back and do retakes and push harder
2) The unknown i.e. open busing, work way up to the top of a company?

I want suggestions, any experience, recommendation, advice what to do now with my life.

Thank you and look forward to peoples replies.

[LifeFirst]

I'm in a similar situation.

I failed many classes at my university, I failed nearly ever exam because I have terrible preparation skills, and plus I have test anxiety. The bigger the test is, the worse I choke.


But I'm still here, I'm still making little improvements day by day. Giving up has rarely crossed my mind. You have to care about yourself, because other people won't care about you much. I mean, I don't know if you have gone for help, but if you know where to go for help, I think you should. Or else nobody is going to care about you.

Because when you fail, you feel as if you fail alone, that you are the only person who have failed while everyone is graduating and succeeding. It's best to talk to someone who wants to listen.


Good luck.

[JimOfferman]

There's only one thing that really matters: what do you want to do? What purpose does university fulfill for you? Do you need to finish university to achieve your goals? Or are there other ways?

[Remiel]

Originally Posted by JimOfferman

There's only one thing that really matters: what do you want to do? What purpose does university fulfill for you? Do you need to finish university to achieve your goals? Or are there other ways?

I would voice the same opinion here. What is it that you want to do? What is your purpose in both busing and in the university? Find out what you want to do in your life and find your purpose. Then answers like university become far easier to answer. For example if you wanted to be a doctor then the answer is a no brainer. Return to school. If you want to be a cars salesman then no a degree is probably not needed.

[writerros]

I agree. It's important that you are clear about what you want to achieve.

What are your motives for wanting to complete your University degree - a way of getting to the career you truly want - or just to be able to say you have a degree?

Once you start to question yourself in this way, the answer may become clear.

Ros

[Lauxa]

I would say do the retakes and do whatever you can to get your grades as high as possible (I assume you are only retaking the tests, not the entire courses). Then take some time off to figure out what you really want to do. That way if you ever do want to finish Uni you will not have a bunch of failing grades dragging you down. And it will also give you a sense of satisfaction that you have done your best and closed out this project correctly.

[Ladrebaa]

1. You said your friends that has degrees earned the same as you did?
* Your friends had to low ambitions
* high unemployement rate in your country(this will change eventually. Most of the people you see will change work because they can. Those that stays are the ones without education)

2. As for your degree that is a matter of your own conciousness. I choosed to do half my education. That means just my bachelor degree so that I could exploit the work market and get a good job that I might not have gotten with a master degree 2 year later.

- If you struggle with exams: my choice was to select the courses that was critical for me and do good at that. I went to economics school. That means that math and economics courses was my priority and I motsly got A's there. Courses like phsychology in businesses and etc. I call em soft courses got very little attention there. I got mostly C's in those courses.

I can garantee that when an employer looks at your score card they will look for the subjects that are directly relevant to your job and not course like in my example phsychology.

Point 1 is just speculation, when you read it you can see if it fits the description of the situation. Part 2 is my experience, iknew I couldn't do very good in everything. So I choosed my battles wisely.

[g00dz]

The one and only thing i have to say today is. There is no failure.

Failure is an invented concept, the more you 'fail' the more you learn and improve as a person.

i have taken up the sport of boxing. Believe me, ive gotten beaten up and bruised before.

After every battle, victory or defeat, i have learned from mistakes and corrected them.

You made some mistakes, time to learn and progress.

Good luck to you brother.

[darthangel]

Failing uni first year is nothing, your blowing it right out of proportion.

Thats not even a "problem" in my book. Just start your 2nd year with a bang and get all "A's. Thousands of people have risen from low GPA's to high ones.

College is much easier than the real world. Believe me, suck it up.

[Grophrane]

Listen. No matter how slow your brain may be, examinations is a question of questions and answers. Anybody with an average or even low performance brain will be able to pass if they do enough studying. The difference between intellect and intelligence is simple. Intelligence can be obtained only by being yourself and questioning all beliefs and structures moving on your own path that you create as you move on it. Intellect can be obtained easily, just read a book and you've gotten more intellect. If you pass an examination you will be an intellectual no?
After all it's just a matter of studying since the examinations are nothing more than questions and answers. If you work on the abilities you need, it's certainly not wrong to say you will pass next time. But i don't know if it's you, or if it's not you. If you feel like studying, study. If you feel like doing something yourself, do it. But spontaneously. Don't think so much about consequences, just take a jump into the ice cold lake. But you must move, otherwise you will freeze in the cold lake no?


A little bit of courage is invaluable de-gozarou. Come follow yourself.

Nobody else can make the decision for you.

[abcZen]

I failed my first year at college, started again and then quit after the second year because a job opportunity came along (the reason I was in college) that I just couldn't refuse.

If you need the degree / qualifications then go for it, otherwise it might be best to seek an alternative route.

[FrancesL]

Hello there.

Firstly, I'm sorry to hear about what's happened. Failure is always difficult and upsetting when you're in the middle of it. If you haven't done it already, I would suggest that you talk to your university's student support service. They are usually filled with fantastic people who have helped many a student in your situation.

Now, perhaps the first thing to do is consider WHY you failed.

Was your coursework on the same subject as your exams? If so, it doesn't look as if you have a problem with understanding your subject, otherwise you would have got bad marks on your coursework too. If you are capable of getting exceptional marks for your coursework then your failure can't be down to your subject-comprehension. That's good!

So what is it? Were there any extenuating circumstances during your exams - for example, were you feeling depressed, panicky, emotional? Were there other things going on in your life, like family or relationship problems, that distracted you?

Or perhaps you find the exam format difficult? Some students are excellent when they can refer to their notes and materials, but struggle with memorising the facts and ideas they need to reproduce for exams. Some students are excellent when they have plenty of time to plan and redraft their essays, but struggle to produce quality answers within the tight time-frame of an exam.

These are NOT insurmountable problems. You can improve your memory with preparation, practice and by learning memory techniques. You can improve your time management in exams by learning exam techniques and doing practice papers. Nearly all British universities have resource centres (whether that be a specific person, talks you can go to, or webpages) where you can learn about tools and techniques like these.

I honestly think, from what you have said, that if you chose to continue through university, and worked hard at improving your exam technique, you would see significant results.

The next question is - do you actually want to succeed?

It's possible that you failed your exams because you didn't want to pass them! Did your enthusiasm wear off after doing your coursework? Did you perhaps not do as much preparation for your exams as you knew you should? If so, why do you think that was? Maybe it was because you were afraid of working hard and then not doing well regardless. You might have rejected the exams before they could reject you. Or maybe you were feeling ambivalent about university in general...

The bottom line is: there is no point working hard for something you don't want. If you don't want a degree, if you feel like university isn't for you, then you don't have to stay. But if you DO want your degree, the only thing stopping you from getting it is some hard work on your weak points, like exam technique.

You mention that you work with some people who are graduates but who only have part-time jobs. I would urge you to ask them about their experiences rather than assuming that their degrees have been worthless to them. Are they lazy? A degree won't help a lazy person. Or perhaps they have part-time jobs for another reason?

I can totally relate to this - I have a degree and a Master's degree, but I still work part-time for a relatively low wage. Why? Because I have other things I want to do with my life, things I am passionate about, and a part-time low-stress job gives me the extra hours every week to do those things. This doesn't mean I wish I hadn't bothered with university. On the contrary - I am SO glad I went to uni and learned the things I learned there.

I hope this helps you a bit, and I wish you all the best with your situation.