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Unsure about College

 
 
Reply Mon 11 Mar, 2024 12:17 pm
I am a freshman at my University. I chose this college because it’s not too far from home and is the only school in the country that offers my major as an undergrad. So far, college is not what I expected. I am just super unhappy and I wake up and cry. The classes I am taking are super hard and take a lot of effort for me to teach myself since the instructors don’t. I’ve gone to tutors and stuff but it’s better if I learn on my own. It is very hard to reach out to people and I feel like I’m always the initiator and go out of my way and people turn me down most of the time. They say they are busy or with someone else during that time. I am involved in clubs and organizations I just don’t feel completely happy here for some reason. Part of this is because I was super close to my roommate first semester and now we don’t talk. I’m not sure what happened but she just stopped talking to me and we are the same major and have all the same classes but she’ll ignore me when we are with other classmates. I do not have a problem with her but I think her one friend is changing her. One on one she’s fine but whenever she’s with this one particular friend she is rude and ignores me in class. Some of the people in class have reached out to me and asked what’s going on. It makes it difficult to go to class when I know I have to deal with this and it’s honestly defeating. I talked to my other roommate about this and she was sympathetic to me. She’s nice and all but I don’t see her since we are different majors and our schedules never line up. It is hard for me to get close to people and I’ve always struggled with it and we are basically just acquaintances. I see the same people in my class and they are all cliquey and it reminds me so much of high school and they were so rude. Everyday feels the same and the routine is killing me. My mom said that I could just transfer to a closer school where my sibling is at but they don’t offer my major there and I could only do my sophomore year classes and eventually transfer back to this college my junior and senior years. It’s just really exhausting and I feel overwhelmed all the time and I don’t have answers for any of this. I’ve taken career quizzes and spent a lot of time reflecting about what I should do but I feel like I’ve hit the end of the road. I just feel so depressed and I’ve never struggled with it before. I’ve had anxiety and it’s the worst it’s ever been and I’ve had to change to a stronger medication because of it. I’ve missed my periods because of stress and it’s taking a toll on my health. My partner has noticed that I’m not as upbeat as I usually am and tired all the time and not in the mood. I workout everyday and it temporarily helps relieve the stress. Any advice is helpful.
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Type: Question • Score: 6 • Views: 1,420 • Replies: 6
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tsarstepan
 
  1  
Reply Mon 11 Mar, 2024 12:26 pm
@emmast78,
First things first? When posting to forums, do us all a fair favor and provide paragraph breaks. Reading a giant block of text will scare a lot of people from touching this. I scanned over it so take my advice with a grain of salt.

2. A little geographical context helps. We get people from the US to Canada to Australia and countries in between. Most (decent and legitimate) universities in the United States offer academic and mental health counseling. Take a look and utilize what they offer. I mean... these services are often covered by tuition and semester fees. They're there for you to use.
emmast78
 
  1  
Reply Mon 11 Mar, 2024 01:08 pm
@tsarstepan,
Sorry, it’s my first time on here. I go to college in the US, thank you for your advice!
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CalamityJane
 
  2  
Reply Mon 11 Mar, 2024 09:20 pm
@emmast78,
Can you take one semester online from home? Perhaps that would help you get into your studies more deeply and at the same time you're at home in your familiar environment.
Not every 18/19 year old is ready to leave home and since most semesters
end soon you have several options of a) online learning and b) taking a gap year and try something else in the meantime.

Perhaps you'll be more ready in 6 months to a year and can go back to university. Nothing is written in stone, make it workable for you whatever it is.

Good luck!
emmast78
 
  1  
Reply Mon 11 Mar, 2024 09:34 pm
@CalamityJane,
I’ve thought about it as a possible option in the past, but now I will reconsider it fully. Thank you for the great advice
RPhalange
 
  2  
Reply Tue 12 Mar, 2024 10:51 am
@emmast78,
I agree CalamityJane - you should have an academic advisor at your university. Talk to your advisor about your struggles and that you may benefit by staying home a semester and can s/he help you with taking online classes. That was going to be my suggestion as well. Most colleges now have online classes available. You may even be able to finish your degree online; it really depends on the degree and college.

Another thought, transfer to a community college for a couple of semesters or more. They are significantly cheaper and smaller (and classes tend to be a bit less demanding). Take a variety of classes as you may find a new major or career route you never thought of. Do not worry if it ends up taking you say another year to get your 4 year degree; it does not matter how long it takes, where you start; it matters where you end up.

And your feeling is much more common than you think. I work with young people, usually teens, so I have seen and heard of very similar things happening.

Oh one other thought as you have spoken of medication, if you have some sort of mental health issues, reach out to the mental health office or disability office, you may qualify for some special accommodations like extra time to complete assignments or exams depending on your disability (if you have one). That lessened stress of deadlines might also help you out.
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Mame
 
  1  
Reply Tue 12 Mar, 2024 11:28 am
Agree with what these two learned ladies have said, and would like to add that maybe you're trying too hard. You have an image of what college would be like in your head - it's not matching up so you're disturbed. Can you just concentrate on your studies for a while and not think of social things?

The other thing I'd like to point out which will help you your entire life is that everyone is just like you. They have their issues, their problems, their stresses. Their behaviour towards you is not about you; it's about them behaving from wherever they're coming from. If and when you realize that, you'll be much more content. At this point, you're there to learn, so get with that. It often takes a year or more to gel or bond with some people. Don't be in a hurry. Just go to classes, do your homework, and call home.

Another thing: is there any way you can approach that former friend and ask what happened? You don't need to, but it might relieve you to know what her situation is.

As humans, we always think it's about us, that we're the centre of everything, but that couldn't be farther than the truth. In reality, each of us is the centre of our own world, and that's it. If a friend doesn't call us back soon enough we immediately think, "What did I say?" or the like, when it wasn't about us at all - they may have had a Dear John text or is in the middle of some family drama.
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