Am I depressed or just apathetic?

[jackfrost1031]

I have done miserably in school this term. I love learning, and my classes are reasonably engaging, and of topics of interest. However, I almost actively avoid doing coursework. It's like I set myself up for failure and at the end of the day, or test, I don't really care.

The only person who can stand in the way of my getting my degree (which is pretty essential for the job I want to have: engineering) is me and I seem to be doing a damn good job of it right now.

I just feel like I am spinning my wheels aimlessly and I find no fulfillment in college. I really enjoy working, and have (co-op/internship) and had a good time and really felt like I was doing something. But, when I wake up to go learn some more ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that I most likely won't use or just solving a problem to get the answer in the book, what the hell is the point?

Anyone with some motivational tips? Diagnoses? Comments?

[Call me Boges]

You are not truly passionate about it and engineering seems like something you dont really want to do.

Plus you are wasting alot of money.

I suggest taking some time off and do whatever you feel like doing for the next 6 months. Then re-evaluate your stance. Perhaps your experiences will give you some insight.

[jackfrost1031]

I am on the fence about whether or not engineering is what I want to do. Based upon what I spend my free time researching one could quite easily draw the conclusion that it is something that would be great for me. But then again, hobby =/= career.

I think if I were I to pick something else to do it would be teaching, honestly, but I do not want to be 24 years old and starting teaching as a career. I have never really felt like people who have done nothing but teach have as much to contribute to students as those who have some sort of experience.

I really like applying what I have learned in school, seriously. But, I just don't like getting there this year.

[Call me Boges]

sometimes it helps to step back an take a look at the big picture. we are always so focused on details we lose site of the grand scheme of things.

you want to teach, maybe engineering or whatever.

in order to do that you will need your degree. yeah reading some pointless crap in a textbook now seems like a waste of time and in actuality it is but the point is that it is what you have to do to get where you want to be.

like i said you can take a break after this semester and then come back to it, ya dig?

[jackfrost1031]

I'm scheduled for a work term (co-op) in January but I think I will cut it short and give myself a month or two off in the summer to do whatever and get some perspective on things.

Until then, I am still lacking motivation but I will work my way through it.

[jenlili]

Either way, the treatment is the same. Find an objective audience and talk through it...this forum may be enough, but a visit with a good therapist every couple weeks is in order if friends or the forum don't help (friends are rarely objective though, even if they want to be or think they are). Watch what you eat...there's a definite food-mood connection. Watch what you drink as well. Keep in mind, if you drink, that alcohol is a depressant. You don't say how long you've been in college, but perhaps you're just a little burnt out on "thinking." So make sure you're getting that endorphin high on a regular basis...exercise/activity that gets your heart rate up and makes you sweat is essential.

I'd discourage taking time off to reevaluate. At least until you've tried the lifestyle changes (if indeed they are changes and you don't already live this way). You can keep up with your studies and still reevaluate, you don't have to <i>enjoy<i/> it. It's just that in 1983, I decided to take a semeter off and my life has gotten in my way ever since...every time I think I'm ready to go back to school, something serious happens...job loss, having a baby, moving to a different state.

Good luck to you.

[danijelg]

This may sound as oversimplification, but it seems to me that you need to have some fun I think that the time off is a great idea. Give yourself some room to breathe. And don't take yourself too seriously, believe me it is not a good idea - I've been there

Good luck to you, my friend!

[jtracy]

I think that you are apathetic, not depressed. If you are depressed then you are apathetic in all areas of your life. Since you enjoy work, you aren't depressed. It is probably true that even though you can't see a connection between what you are learning and the work you enjoy doing, there must be one. You say you enjoy applying what you've learned. Taking some time just to think about what you want and what you need to do to get it is a good idea. I agree that it would probably not be a good idea to quit school until you are clear that it is the best thing for you. It is very hard to get back to going to school after an absence. Sometimes a change of scenery helps us see things differently. Sometimes we think we want something when what we really want is some aspect of it that can be obtained in a completely different way that is much better for us. Get clear about what you really want and then explore your options.

[The Cloud]

Originally Posted by jackfrost1031

The only person who can stand in the way of my getting my degree (which is pretty essential for the job I want to have: engineering) is me and I seem to be doing a damn good job of it right now.

Unless there are two of you, you can't stand in your own way. Which one is you, and who is the other one?

[Miss Moo]

hey,

I'm studying engineering as well and I find I have the same problem. I was also on the fence, took 8 months off and worked as undergrad engineer. I loved it and I know that engineering is what I want to do. When I started back at uni this semester I was very motivated and excited to be there.... then the assignments/quizzes/exams start rolling in and I lost it. So many of them seem pointless, especially after working in the field.

If it's really what you want to do, then the only advice I have is to suck it up (like me ) and get through it.