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stuck

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
I'll try and summarise the problem ;p

Basically I started my course back in Sept and the first term was a bit crap.. Thought i'd persavere until this term (we started new modules) and now it's even worse imo ... I can't find the motivation to get any work at all done as I find it really boring ... and then when i get myself round to doing some I don't understand half of it as I haven't paid much attention in the lectures etc...

I don't think I knew what I wanted to do when I came to uni... i just came cos it seemed to sort of follow on from 6th form (and i like holidays :D)... and I still don't know 100% what i'd enjoy doing, so if i changed course I wouldn't know what to change to... Also I don't wanta leave because most of my m8s that arent at uni atm are all going this september so i'd be stuck working at tesco's or something and feeling like shit probably..

So I could either really try, scrape through to the next year and then hope I start to enjoy it more (while getting into more debt for no return)... quit now and not know what to do, or get kicked out in may/june for not having the grades...

I really feel stuck atm :( Has anyone else been through something like this or have any idea? help would be appreciated :cool:
Post edited by JustV on

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i would go talk to your personal tutor or department about this. they should be very supportive and help you to make the right decision. i think a lot of people go to uni not knowing what they want and end up disliking their course. i think people usually just try and pass the exams in 1st year or fail and start a new course. im pretty sure the university wouldn't kick you out if you failed 1st year, they would probably just allow you to start a new course.
    i would have a think about what subjects you enjoyed at school, what types of subjects you were good at e.g creative, maths, science, reading. and then have a read of some in the module handbook.
    but definitely go speak to your personal tutor.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    One of my flatmates last year was unhappy with her course. She tried to stick with it for another term, but after that she was just really depressed, and finally decided to leave. I would say don't force yourself to do it if you aren't happy. Like lipsy said, you still have lots of options. But talk to people at uni first ofc!
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    thanks guys ...

    i'll think about what you said ... just going to my tutor they'd ask questions that i can't answer (what do u want to do about it etc)...

    I just need time to think with no work pressure, so i can just sort of be totally relaxed... I just feel drained nearly all the time atm, it's hard to concentrate on stuff and keep happy ;p

    Maybe i'll go through till easter and try and get myself sorted then :)

    I appreciate the ideas a lot though, cheers.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i spent most of last year doing something i didnt want to do... i wanted to leave after xmas but didnt because like you, i didnt really know what i wanted to do instead. i knew everything i didnt want to do but not actually what i wanted to do. i finished the year and passed the year but over the summer i knew i didnt want to go back - i knew i could have completed the 3yrs and got a good degree but it wasnt what i wanted to do. so i basically had to sit down and really think about what i did want to do, or at least what i would enjoy doing even if it wasnt what i wanted to spend the rest of my life doing it.

    in the end i chose a new course, totally different to what i was doing and at the other end of the country and i absolutely love it.

    it's hard to know what you want to do, i think very few people are completely certain but if you know you dont want to do this, then dont. if you're not enjoying it now its not very likely you'll suddenly start to in the future.

    the only thing to do really is to look at loads of different options... maybe try and do some volunteering in different areas you feel you may be interested in, read up on different courses, different jobs etc and see if anything appeals to you.

    do you know what sort of area you want to do something in? even broadly? you know, like media or business or retail or teaching or sport... because that would be a good start.

    id talk to your personal tutor anyway, mine last year was very good. firstly he made me really think about why i didnt like the course - if it really was the actual content or if it was because of other reasons. and then he helped me work out what things i was good at, what things i wouldnt mind doing and put me in touch with people i could talk to.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kat_B wrote:
    i spent most of last year doing something i didnt want to do... i wanted to leave after xmas but didnt because like you, i didnt really know what i wanted to do instead. i knew everything i didnt want to do but not actually what i wanted to do. i finished the year and passed the year but over the summer i knew i didnt want to go back - i knew i could have completed the 3yrs and got a good degree but it wasnt what i wanted to do. so i basically had to sit down and really think about what i did want to do, or at least what i would enjoy doing even if it wasnt what i wanted to spend the rest of my life doing it.

    in the end i chose a new course, totally different to what i was doing and at the other end of the country and i absolutely love it.

    it's hard to know what you want to do, i think very few people are completely certain but if you know you dont want to do this, then dont. if you're not enjoying it now its not very likely you'll suddenly start to in the future.

    the only thing to do really is to look at loads of different options... maybe try and do some volunteering in different areas you feel you may be interested in, read up on different courses, different jobs etc and see if anything appeals to you.

    do you know what sort of area you want to do something in? even broadly? you know, like media or business or retail or teaching or sport... because that would be a good start.

    id talk to your personal tutor anyway, mine last year was very good. firstly he made me really think about why i didnt like the course - if it really was the actual content or if it was because of other reasons. and then he helped me work out what things i was good at, what things i wouldnt mind doing and put me in touch with people i could talk to.

    So did you just re-apply through UCAS after the summer that you left?

    And also thinking about what you said about stuff I enjoy... I used to be a pretty decent student (got all the work done/good grades) up until about year 10... then after that I sort of stopped enjoying most of the work and realy found it hard to motivate myself to get any homework done etc... I keep thinking maybe if im more enthusiastic about the course and put loads of effort in then maybe i'd get to enjoy it... anyway i don't know where im going with this lol :P

    I'm sure i could think of something I'd enjoy doing a degree in..takes time to realise i guess ;p

    Oh... on a random sidenote, did you actually have much contact with your tutor before you decided to leave? I really never speak to mine unless i've missed a class, nd thats only an e-mail...

    Anyway, thx for showing what you went through, gives me a sort of idea of what to do i spose :)
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    yeah - i re-applied to ucas over the summer. obviously i was too late to actually put down any institutions and courses but i had to apply so i could get a clearing form and do it that way. which actually worked out better than i thought. i really didnt think id be able to find anything in clearing but its right what they say, if you're flexible there is actually a lot of choice. i also phoned the places i was thinking of going to over the summer just to have a chat, find out more about the course, find out if i would be suitable and if it was likely there would be places in clearing.

    if i hadnt done that the other thing i was going to do was to take a year out, maybe do a bit of travelling, try out a few different jobs to think about what i really wanted to do. it does take time to realise. when i first went to uni i was convinced that was what i wanted to do but it wasnt... sometimes it just works out that way.

    also, maybe uni isnt for you. if you ask me, too many people nowadays feel they have to go to uni and have to get a degree which i dont think is right. yes, for certain careers you have to and i guess a degree is always useful but i know plenty of people who dont have a degree, who started work full time after school and are doing well for themselves and love it. so maybe look into jobs as well as other uni courses.

    i guess if you were more enthusiastic you might like it but its kinda like a circle - you have to like the course in the first place to be able to be enthusiastic about it!

    and no, i hadnt had that much contact at all with my tutor. id exchanged a few emails if id missed a class and then sent a few saying i wasnt that happy but that was it. it was fine though, i just went along for a chat one day and he was more than happy to help. they want you to be happy and to enjoy being there so they should be helpful.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ok thanks for the info :)
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