So I get it now.

This is my fourth year in college. Started in 2010. All the time, my friends would post statuses like "So stressed right now. Too much homework." "Tired from all the studying." blah blah blah. And I'd laugh and be like. "Whatever. You guys whine too much."

The problem is I've never been a full time student. I'm always part time due to my job. The other problem is I've never said "Man, an A would be pretty nice." My motto has always been "Man, a C is passing, amirite?" So when I picked classes this semester, my counselor told me I could be a full time student and I'd have my Associates' by the end of the year. Matter of fact, all I take next semester is ONE math class and I'm done. So I'm like "Dude. Sign me up." Counselor then looked at my GPA and went "Eh... Your GPA is worrying me. You have a 2.4... Which isn't horrible, but you might not get into as many colleges as you'd like. Think you can get mostly B's and A's this semester to bump it up to maybe a 2.7?" and so I'm like "Yeah. Easy."

20 hours a week job. Full time student. Get A's and B's. EZ PZ Mode.

Flash forward. Week seven. I haven't had sex in two weeks because I keep ACTUALLY doing homework and not spending time with the lady. I'm literally habituated to coffee now. As in, I now require coffee or I get upset and anxious. I've experienced "stress." which is this weird feeling that makes you feel like you're forgetting something even though you're not, like "DID I DO MY MATH HOMEWORK?! IS IT PACKED IN MY BACKPACK?! LET ME CHECK MY BACKPACK AGAIN AT 2:00 AM JUST IN CASE" I can't sleep, but I'm always tired, and all of this is going to a degree that probably won't even land me a job. (Eventually a Bachelors' in Journalism.)

Are you guys in college? How's that workin' out for you? I know there's a couple of high school kids here, possibly some middle school kids. How're you guys doing with your classes?

Also, side conversation, favorite classes, and electives of interest? Next semester all I have to take is one math class. It's an hour drive to my school, so I'm thinking about taking guitar, too. It's a cheap class.

I was in college, but graduated last May. I started at 16, and graduated with 2 degrees at 20 years old Magna Cum Laude. I worked part time through all of that and was always a full time student. Last year, on top of being a full time student and working part time, I volunteered on average around 70 hours a month to non profits.

No sex? For those 4 years, I didn't even go on a single DATE. I had no time. My worst was this one summer semester that I had 21 credit hours of classes jammed into 10 weeks instead of the normal 15. College is what you make of it. You can spend all your living hours working at your education, or you can kick back a little and enjoy yourself (like I never did and wish I had done every once in a while now.)

I've got a useless Bachelor of Computer Science degree. I enjoyed the classes, but the degree isn't doing me much good, and I don't know if it ever will. Still paying off the loans, years later. Worked my way through college as a full-time student. Fortunately, I was able to get A's without studying outside of doing the homework, or I'd never have had time to relax or spend with my wife.

The thing about school is that while it might teach you some of the skills necessary to survive in the real world, there's one critical difference: In most classes, for any problem you have to solve, any question you have to answer, it's already been done, and you just have to figure out what it is. The answers are out there, if not practically encoded in the question. You're expected to find them. Compared to the real world, it's easy. In the real world, problems aren't guaranteed to have solutions. If you're doing something really worthwhile, you're forging new ground, into unknown territory. You're not guaranteed to succeed just by applying yourself.

On one hand, getting an education and really learning something from it is the best thing you can do to improve the rest of your life. Too many people choose to sacrifice their future for enjoying the present. On the other, if you're always sacrificing today for tomorrow, then you'll never actually reap any rewards from your sacrifices.

I'd love to go back to school. I just can't afford it. I filled out my final semester with fun courses unrelated to my degree, since I only had one or two requirements to fill. Logic was a lot of fun, and so was Language and Culture.

No offense, but the opening post makes you sound so spoiled. I'm tired and I haven't had sex in a while? Most people who take college seriously barely maintain a life outside of it and do so for years, yet here you are complaining about it after doing it for almost one semester? All while trying to get an AA? I'm gonna be serious with you right now, you might as well finish what you started and try for another job that you don't need a degree for. There are plenty of jobs that do not require one that you can make into a career and live off of. An AA is a cakewalk compared to anything else. You won't be able to handle anything than what you do if you are already struggling that much. My mom got her second Master's degree, while teaching full time (she has one education and now in English as well).

(02-26-2014, 11:02 AM)RepentantSky Wrote: No offense, but the opening post makes you sound so spoiled. I'm tired and I haven't had sex in a while? Most people who take college seriously barely maintain a life outside of it and do so for years, yet here you are complaining about it after doing it for almost one semester? All while trying to get an AA? I'm gonna be serious with you right now, you might as well finish what you started and try for another job that you don't need a degree for. There are plenty of jobs that do not require one that you can make into a career and live off of. An AA is a cakewalk compared to anything else. You won't be able to handle anything than what you do if you are already struggling that much. My mom got her second Master's degree, while teaching full time (she has one education and now in English as well).

I wouldn't call it spoiled, so much as maybe being a bit of a prima donna. To me, spoiled would entail college is being payed for by someone else, along with my car payments, my rent, etc. and me not having a job. My job is to pay for everything. That's not really spoiled, as I'm taking care of myself financially without much help. whining about the travesty of working hard isn't spoiled. Just somewhat inconsiderate considering the problems many others may or may not face in their daily lives. I had a feeling I'd come off that way as I wrote my opening post, which is why post-rant, I wanted to know what others here were doing in terms of their education-- If they had classes they liked, if they were in school now, if they graduated, etc.

There's more to the discussion than just me, I assure you. Just think of my stress as what it's like for a post high school graduate coming into a community college for the first time and finally learning what real work is like. As if I'm a Freshman in college. a 21 year old Freshman, who has been a "Freshman" since 2010.