I've decided that I'm quiting college.

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I've finally decided that I'm going to quit college. It's my second semester as a freshman. Course selection is next week and I'm not going to sign up. My whole college experience has been hell for me and I can't take it anymore. I'm going to spend more time working at the family business instead. I just had a mental breakdown today because of college and that was the final blow that lead to my decision to quit. I don't like my job very much, but it's better than college. Hopefully my job will get better after I change to a new position. If things don't work out for me there I'm going to try to find a different job, and if things still don't work out I'm probably going to ditch the country without telling my parents and try to start a new life, and if that doesn't work out I'm probably going to commit suicide. I talked with one of my acquaintances who is also unhappy with his life, and we agreed that ditching the country together to support eachother is a possibility. I think I'd have a hard time going through with it by myself, but with someone else it'd be easier to do. I don't really know what to do with my life now. This is a time of major change for me. Hopefully I can find happiness.

First, you really need to take some deep breaths. Then you need to sit down with a pen and paper to make a list of things you like to do, and have some ability at. Then you need to see if there is any way to make money at any of these things, either working for someone else, or self employed.

Also, have you considered taking at least some of your courses online. Some are free, but the free ones usually don't come with a degree or certificate, but it can still be listed on your resume.

Have you considered vocational schools. We are not all cut out for academic type jobs. Many people are happy with the kinds of jobs they get from vocational schools. Also, those schools tend to be cheaper.

I'm taking it course by course, there's no way I can do a full load- i'm very close to doing the same thing as you are. Quitting it all..

My job however is hard labour, literally working in the dirt. And it makes me miserable- if you can fall back on your job and tolerate it then I envy you! For me it's school or death. No safety net.


The system for university/college is designed to trap us in debt.

It's all very depressing, but if you have money they will let you in. Passion and creativity count for very little.


If you find happiness tell him I said "hi"!

I hear what you are saying.
And it all does seem very bleak right now.

I struggle with these same thoughts every day. But I am scraping by.
And if school isn't for you, that's ok. I couldn't hack college, even though
I'm really smart and love learning. College isn't about that anymore.

The world has just surrounded young people nowadays with one shill after another, and
it is awful.

I don't know what to tell you, but if leaving school is the best decision you can make, do it.
But look for other options. There are other options than the two you listed.
They may be scary, or seem out of reach, but things are changing quickly now.
We don't know what interesting developments are around the corner of our lives.

Cultivate hope when things seem hopeless.

I finally quit college for good because I just couldn't deal with college on top of all the stress in my life and all my psychological issues, not to mention the endless debt I would be in if I kept going. Unfortunatly I did not drop out my freshman year I transferred, then within the first month stopped going to class and proceeded to spend the next couple of months on drugs quite a variety and then of course I dropped out that semester.........then I spent about a year in Minnesota helping my dad with some work and doing a temporary job, then crap got out out of hand out there so I came back to Colorado and went to community college for 3 semesters and failed the third because I missed the last two weeks as I was too busy being severely depressed and yeah I guess feeling sorry for myself.

College is certainly not the only thing one can do....but yeah I'm looking for seasonal work and/or part time jobs just so I can make a little income and try and figure out what I really want to do with my life.........I think leaving the country sounds awesome but I don't know that I'll ever have enough money to do that unless its to go to some folk metal festival or something and then return. Or maybe I would just get lost in the forest But anyways I hope things work out for you and that you find happiness.

I'll tell you this from personal experience:

1- You will deeply regret leaving college later on. I dropped out at the end of my 2nd year because I could never find something that interested me and saw no point in it. 10 years later I found the very thing that I loved and I'm just 2 semesters from graduation. Those 10 years were spent in jobs that brought me only a paycheck and little satisfaction... looking back at it now it really was nothing more than a waste of time.

2- The first 2 years of any university education are the hardest. The required coursework seems to be purposely designed to blow your neurons into orbit. However... once you complete those required courses and start taking the classes related to your major..things change dramatically. You are then studying something you are interested in, that you really want.

I look at the classes im taking now as I near the end of my major and compare them with the required classes.. holy crap the required ones were EASY stuff compared to this. Yet.. the fact that I LIKE what I'm studying makes it far easier for me to learn and get A's in the class than when I had to force myself to learn 'easier' stuff on subjects I could care less about.


Finally, if its the college workload and difficulty that's overloading you then I'd suggest you lower the college workload to minimal levels and advance slowly through the hard courses (which I'll assume are the mandatory classes and not your major-related classes). You're working and going to college..that in itself is a recipe for burnout.

Try taking just one class per semester and then two if you can handle it. Get the hard required classes out of the way first (maths, heavy writing classes,etc) this way. Take advantage of online courses as well as they tend to be more reading and at your own pace type classes rather than sit in class and get tossed make-do-work for a grade. Summer sessions are excellent to make up for the single or dual classes you take in spring/fall..many colleges offer 'mini-semesters' in the summer.

You can take these mini-semesters one class at a time and by year's end you can end up completing 8 classes (2-2-2-2) which is the equivalent of normal students taking 4 classes in fall/spring and taking their summer vacations.