College...Fun? I think not.

[kananumpua]

Reading the sad stories in the "If only I had gone over to say 'hello' " thread has led me to wonder if I am taking life too seriously. Everyone says that your college years are the best years of your life. I would have to strongly disagree with that statement, school is TOUGH. I'm only hoping that if I stick out these years that it will pay off later. My father assures me that it will. What if tomorrow never comes for me, will I have wasted my life? What if..... what if.... what if..... etc. I hope that once I finish my degree and gain some real experience I will be able to travel (via sailboat) to where help is needed and help whoever build infrastructure or whatever it is they may need. I pray that I never get stuck in the "rat race". I never want to work everyday so that I can afford the newest Benz or get my cell implanted out of necessity.

Ok rant off

My thoughts and prayers go out to you pirate, TrueBlue, and sailaway

[Cruisingdad]

Kana,

I was premed with a double major in Biology and Chemistry at Baylor. Every night, with few exceptions (including weekends) I would have my nose in the books until 2:00 am or better. On the weekends that I was not studying, I worked part-time jobs, usually commercial painting at nights for a college in Dallas. Again, there were exceptions, but that was the norm of my life. And you know what, outside of just the tests the next day, I had nothing to worry about. Yes, they were great years, but maybe not as "party" as most of my friends. It was learning and enlightening and being driven. You will look back on them with fond memories. Using sailing as an analogy, while you are in the middle of a strom offshore, you cannot imagine looking back and appreciating that passage. However, once you make landfall on the island, the storm was all a part of the memory (a positive one) that you will never forget.

It gets better. Hang in there. THe best years are probably right after you get out of school and still have no hard obligations other than yourself. Add kids and a wife, a mortgage, house payments, 8-7 working, school loans, doctor visits, lots of debt... that is when it ain't fun anymore.

- CD

[equitiman]

Life is good for about the first year after college when you finally have money to spend after being broke for the past 4-5 years. Then one day you will wake up and realize that your job sucks and you have nothing to look forward to except busting your ass everyday for people who could quite honestly care less about your well-being. Some people look forward to kids, wife, mortgage (see CD's list) but in the end many of those things seem to wind up being the final nails in the coffin of those dreams that you had when you were younger (for example when you were in college). Sorry, just kind of feel like I have wasted the past 6 years of my life behind a desk with nothing to show for it except less hair and more wrinkles. Let me rephrase that...

Yes college is great but the best year of your life is always next year...so just hang in tough and eventually you'll get there...

[astraeus]

College is tough. I made the mistake of not finishing. Considering that, I have done fairly well for myself, however, I am far behind my peers in income. As a result my long term cruising dreams are farther out of reach than if I had completed college.

It's true you do not know when your last day is upon you, but it's a safe bet that you will have many years to live.

Enjoy life like there is no tomorrow, but make sure you are planning on one.

[JodyKS]

[quote=kananumpua]Reading the sad stories in the "If only I had gone over to say 'hello' " thread has led me to wonder if I am taking life too seriously. Everyone says that your college years are the best years of your life. I would have to strongly disagree with that statement, school is TOUGH. I'm only hoping that if I stick out these years that it will pay off later. My father assures me that it will. What if tomorrow never comes for me, will I have wasted my life? What if..... what if.... what if..... etc. I hope that once I finish my degree and gain some real experience I will be able to travel (via sailboat) to where help is needed and help whoever build infrastructure or whatever it is they may need. I pray that I never get stuck in the "rat race". I never want to work everyday so that I can afford the newest Benz or get my cell implanted out of necessity.

Ok rant off


I think a college education is very important... I only went to a 2-year jr college, and regret it to this day... That being said... you don't have to go get a job... punch a time clock everyday for the rest of your life if you don't want to....
There is a book called "Rich Dad Poor Dad, byRobert Kiyosaki (may not be correct spelling)... it will give you an idea about making your money work for you instead of working for your money... Sure you may need to work and save a bit... for seed money... or so you aren't poor.... college is good for a background... but I believe it's important to do what you enjoy, and if you can make money at it you're lucky...

[donrr1]

What you are now learning in colledge is forming the foundation that the rest of your life will be built on. The importance doesn't necessarily lay with your major or whether you wind up with a good paying job from it. What is important is that you will have advantages, information to draw from and the power of greater inference. For you there will always be a stronger light guiding you than someone who has not gone through 'the grind' that you are now going through. You will have a level of assurance higher than the non college grad.

You may take a breath after graduation but the rigors of higher education will always be a part of you. You will be inquisitive for the rest of your life because of it. Your college education is planting the seeds of continual mind developement. It will allow you to find paths that others cannot. Paths that can lead you through and around the 'chasing the carrot' syndrome so embedded in the minds of 'civilized' societies. The anxiety that you feel now will turn into gratitude that you were given the opportunity to be where your at now.

Always, stay the course...

Don

[tigerregis]

So far you have received good advice. You betcha it's worth it. It also depends on your future plans. If grad school is a maybe, buckle down. Going to work immediately after graduation? Then compromise, work and play like the advice to Jack says. When I was going a "gentleman's C" was all that was expected. Even then I was a gadfly and went for "B's." Beer, Bridge, and Broads.
Good Luck with your endeavours.

[kananumpua]

Thanks everyone for the support!!

CD- I agree with you that there is great satisfaction in the learning process. I thuroughly enjoy talking with my professors about their cutting edge research. I also enjoy all the foreign students that I meet. They provide me with new thoughts, views, and ideas. My best friend is from Lebanon and my roomate is from Sri Lanka. Needless to say we get into some great conversations.

Jody- I have read the book. Very interesting book and makes to think "why the hell didn't I think of that", because it really is simple. My brother is a business major and has read the entire series. He thinks we can go into business together one day.

Tiger- I am not to sure of the idea of grad school. I feel that it is too focused and that I could gain that type of education from experience. I feel that I could be looking at it all wrong because most of my friends are either working on or planning for masters/phd. However I would like to continue school and get a Material science degree to compliment my BS in ME.

[cardiacpaul]

my degree(s) are now 27 years, oops, 28 years old, and I worked "in the chosen" field for the whole time. Worth it? Oh, hell yea. I had one prof tell me that "thruout your years here, you will get far too many opinions, far too few true facts, and far too much cold beer and bad pot. Screw all that, I'm going to teach you how to make money". God, I love that man. Other courses, a waste of time and money. trouble is you usually don't know which ones are which until you've been in the "real world"

I'd do it all over again in a new york minute.

[kananumpua]

I finally took the time to go sailing today. 77 degrees F and a steady 7-11mph winds on a JY. What a day.

Ok now back to the books for the rest of the weekend.

Question, how soon after an interview should you send your "thank you" letters?