I did this and I second it. Don't drop out, get a leave of absence and work on what you need to work on.

From what I understand, you should want ANY degree. My great-grandfather once told me some stories about people (relatives?) that had degrees in geology, or disassembling things, or something useless and weird that got good jobs at Nice locations that would seem to need Important and Specific degrees. And my step-dad told me every week of my senior year of high school that the person with a degree in Basket Making will always get the job before the guy that doesn't. I think it was based on a true story....


Slightly related, I start college on Monday, probably wont get my replacement cell phone until Tuesday, and still have no driver's license. :sigh:

Probably for your great-grandfather and even father's generation, this was true. I think it's somewhat less true, now.

On the one hand, people are realizing that there's very good money to be made in trade skills (unlike in Lusternia), so taking an apprenticeship over a degree can be a lucrative deal depending on your interests and talents.

On the other hand, perhaps as a result of grade inflation or a glut of people with degrees or what have you, most companies are not actively differentiating between people with or without a degree unless the field is particularly specialized or the company is still run the way it was run in 1950. This is assuming, of course, that the applicant has solid experience behind them. I'm speaking from personal experience, of course, and others' mileage may vary.

I'm just saying that I think the "having to get a degree" idea is quickly becoming obsolete. That's not to discourage anyone from doing it, but going into the work force without a degree -now- is a lot different than going into it without one thirty years ago.

This.

The issue here is that for many, many people the 100k of debt to get a degree won't make near as much difference as any internships you take while you're in college. I'm in a rather nice IT job, and have never taken a single college course.

Of course, my situation is a bit different than most, I've been doing the things I do for a living for a long, long time now and was able to demonstrate it beyond any doubt in the interview... my company also has 5-10 hour interviews where you're grilled by up to 20 people.



In the end, you really need to look at what you want to be doing for a living. An apprenticeship/internship is going to be far superior for many, many jobs out there than any degree.

I know how you feel, I'm literally taking classes and wasting money so I can keep my health insurance. But, there's hope- you can take a leave of absence, or you can see if your school has some sort of student accomidations center.

The accomidations center doesn't work in every case, but it's worth a shot, of course, each school has different policies, but there is a good chance that they can help make it easier for you. They might be able to scheduele a way for you to talk to a school psych before you go in to class if you need to, give you a pass for going in a little late, or allowing you to take a short break in class to relax if you need one.

Anxiety can be a difficult thing to manage, there are medications out there but not everyone can afford them. There are other ways to try to help manage anxiety, it might not work for what sounds like extreme anxiety, but, they might help. Exercise, the scent of lavendar, a healthy diet, and relaxation breathing can help. Sounds like Bull but they help when it's not extreme or when there isn't a hormonal imbalance.

I had a problem with my phone earlier this week and I took it into the place where they could fix it/give me a new one. Turns out the new one they gave me was also broken.

Another issue is that many, many people can get by with spending well under half that (like I did), but take no issue with spending $40k a year for a typically low-earning degree, such as communications. If you have a reasonable profession in mind that doesn't need it, you can probably get by without college, but if you don't, I'd agree that a degree in anything is better than no degree. I've definitely seen job listings that want a college degree with nothing specific listed. At the same time though, I've see interesting figures comparing the average lifetime standard of living of plumbers and doctors, and they came out very close. The plumber got into the workforce many years before the doctor, and had the advantage of starting off debt-free, while the doctor started off late and with tons of debt. The plumber had a rather smooth but gradually increasing standard of living, while the doctor started with a very low standard of living that increased sharply throughout his life, but averaged out they were very similar.

Basically, my opinion is that if you can't figure out what you want to do, the best choice is to take the path that leaves you the most options later, and that path is usually more school.

I'm letting everyone down with my job performance. Myself, my residents, my coworkers... everyone. I was in tears tonight from trying to care for 20 residents because we were working short. We're almost always working short, and even at full staff it's a bitch. Something really needs to change, whether that's me magically finding more time in a night or me getting a new job. I desperately need not to get fired or quit, but my stress levels are through the roof and I can't keep this up for long unless it gets better.

Ten hour drive home because people can't (censor) drive in the rain.

Needing to take the long bus ride to Sault Ste Marie a few days before I need to fly to the UK. Stupid paper signing

About 80% of my herbs/salves/potions... gone. Because I decided it would be nice to touch up an old curing system. I'll just bloody wait for MM to come out and gather up the 60 credits... which will take me literal months at this rate.

I hate it when family members/friends of the family die. They always pick the worst possible time to do it. Like right as I am taking my freshly baked bread out of the oven and cutting off a slice so I can slather it in yummy butter.... the phone rings telling me "So and so just passed away." You have your entire life to die! Stop picking the few enjoyable moments of mine to do so!


Also now I have to go to a funeral for a close family friend

Failed to properly log my first exposure to group combat (in which I lost a level).
-Looked at what little I had and realized I'm not competent enough at lusternia combat to know what to look for anyways.

The internet doesn't want me to buy a cell phone, the store made me Less Happy just being in it, and I hate the company, so I feel even less happy about trying to find a way to get a cell phone.
-Being in college without a cell phone sucks, amplified because I don't have a driver's license.

I still need a job.
-No previous job experience and too reclusive to have any references.

I REALLY need that cell phone! >_<

Why is it that shows I would like to watch from Netflix not available for instance queue!?

No I don't want to watch Murder, She Wrote. I want to watch CSI on my xbox damn you! Blargle.

GET OUT MA HOUSE!!!

>.> Is it the Murder, She wrote comment or the Netflix? Cuz if it was the former then I'll have to say if I really wanted to watch that again I'd create a time travel machine and go back and watch it when I was younger and was sick/no school. Atleast I have Man vs. Wild to watch

They have SeaQuest re-runs though!

My GD RRRRRRRRR key isn't working unless I beat it down into submission. I tried to say "poRk" earlier and it came out pok... I try to type Rub and it comes out UB. aaaaagh

I just bought a lamp for my new dorm room, and it has horrible black shades and I can't take it back because I ruined the box taking it out.

Oh well. *sticks it in common room*

Going to be working with three people tonight. At two, we can't legally operate. Full staff? Four.