starting to get seriously burnt out in college

[grittykitty]

first i wanna agree with the first few posters on their advice, especially the "do something completely different" idea. a road trip or a short vacation to a place you've never been will help reinvigorate your interest in school. if you can, look into study abroad! even just a temporary summer program would be cool - in most cases study abroad costs the same in tuition as staying at your home school. also, i think some schools allow a domestic "study abroad" option: a friend at my old school in texas got to study in virginia for a semester and didn't have to deal with the whole transferring process and i believe tuition was the same price since it was a sort of exchange program. that might be something to look into! i studied for two semesters in japan as an exchange student and that helped renew my interest in school.

now, to get into what this topic fell into afterwards - i myself quit school 4 1/2 years into it. i was going through a steady 2 years of feeling burn out before i finally decided to focus on my job at the time and give up school. then, last summer i finally quit that job and didn't really have any prospects. i had a nice, long vacation though! i think it did a lot of good, but recently i got the idea to go back to school (if i go to a different university, i can change to a major i actually want [japanese] and graduate more quickly that continuing a political science degree). yes, school is not for everyone, YES it can feel like a huge waste of money (especially if you're paying for it all yourself) but it certainly can't hurt your chances of landing a job and/or getting paid more.

you know what sucks? looking on craigslist for a job and seeing EVERY awesome job you want (video game translation and localization! argggh!) require at least a 4-year college degree... i'm not looking forward to applying to be a dishwasher, work behind a cash register, stock boy, or even to a temp agency. it sounded great when i quit school 2 years ago and was into the punk rock lifestyle, but now working that sort of job is, for me personally, not looking so fun.

in short - do something fun and exciting to reinvigorate your interest or at least to maintain your sanity. maybe go try sky diving or something? i think this could be relevant to relationships/marriages too. sounds valid...

[dsheinem]

Job market isn't exactly doing super out in the real world, either.

When was the last time you heard the job market was good?

I can't recall anyone ever saying the job market was good... Ever.

I think if you've got a marketable skill you're probably going to be safe, provided you aren't part of a union (not a knock on unions, but the parent companies seem pretty rough on them).

If all else fails, everyone could get an HVAC license. People need heating and cooling right?

Actually the job market for graduates was good just last year:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2 ... ects_N.htm
http://www.jobweb.com/studentarticles.aspx?id=1219

In fact, there have been many good years for the job market since the early part of this decade (especially for new graduates). Things have only just recently gone to shit.

[sakicfan84]

Actually the job market for graduates was good just last year:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2 ... ects_N.htm
http://www.jobweb.com/studentarticles.aspx?id=1219

In fact, there have been many good years for the job market since the early part of this decade (especially for new graduates). Things have only just recently gone to shit.

Things have really gone to shit quick though. Those articles are projections about the number of graduates that employers expected to higher in 2008 based on results in 2007. The outlook has definitely changed a lot in about a year:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02143.html
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29301838

Unemployment for college graduates was a little over 1% in early 2007, but it is expected to be closer to 4% right now. Ignoring that the unemployment rate understates the number of people that are really unemployed, 4% is still a huge number for college graduates. We're not talking about graduates who aren't able to get a job in the field in which they have a degree, we're talking about around 4% of college graduates who can't find any work.

The job market for college graduates a couple years ago was actually really good, but it's not so much anymore. That number is still far better than the unemployment rates for people with lesser education, but it is definitely far from being a good job market right now.

[vash23n]

hehe these might not be the best things to post as a response to our friend who is looking for college motivation! i can testify, first hand, that it is harder to get financial aid these days also. get your fafsa in early!

[sneth]

I went to college and I didn't even end up getting a job that makes use of my major. My current job didn't require a degree and I make more than doing what I do now than if I had gotten a job that pertains to my degree. As a matter of fact, the part time plumbing & heating job that I had while going to school was more fruitful for me than my degree. So a person with no degree can get a above average six figure career if there smart and ambitious enough. I make more than most of my friends that use there degree and I have complete freedom and with no boss breathing down my neck. Although, we were bought out not long ago by a UK corp and I'm not a big fan of this companies new policies. But it is one of the most secure jobs out there.

i would say less than 0.1% of people without degrees have the potential to make 6 figure salary.

It's no secret that you don't use 90% what you learn in college, but as another posted stated, it shows you CAN learn something.
In times of recession, people go back to school for a reason. that reason is not to have fun.

[otaku]

I'm in my first year. Its pretty damn tough but part of that was working a full time job which I just quit to focus on my studies more (hopefully) one downside to going to school close to home is your family is still up your ass driving your nuts

And its so damn expensive (private school) so I may be forced to take time off. I plan on some day getting a degree though I know its worth it and I want one its just very challenging financially, mentally, hell even physically (not enough sleep and sick more often)