I need a little life advice right now.

[Schaefer]

WARNING: Long rant, advance apologies for irrelevance.

It took me 6 mfing years to graduate because I kept trying to plug through. I started out as a Chemistry major, wanted to quit after year 2 but "toughed it out" during my junior year and ended up with a sub-2.0 GPA for the year. I simply didn't enjoy what I was doing, never went to class and did zero work. I ended up drinking and partying a lot which was great but still doable with school if I gave a flying [censored]. During the summer I realized that I was getting too stressed by school so I blew up the whole thing and decided to change my major to journalism. I liked the classes and started to do better in school. Part of this may be because Communications classes are much easier than Chemistry classes but whatev. I was actually going to class and doing homework and stuff. After 5 years of school, I was 15 credits away from graduating but decided to take 5 credit/quarter to maximize my slack time during my last year at school. It was a fun last year and I found poker. Hooray.

The point of all of this is that the only thing I regret in my entire 6 years of college is the fact that I didn't just switch majors at the beginning of year 3. If you know that you don't like the material or will never use it in real life then WHY ARE YOU FORCING IT? Stay in school, tough it out, blah, blah, blah. I think it's crap. If you have other things on your mind and want to do your own thing then go for it. Believe me, it's much better than wasting a ton of money and torpedoing your GPA.

Also, why does everyone think it's all about money? The fact of the matter is that right now, Ansky would rather play poker than go to school, to the point where he can't focus on his classes and is becoming stressed out. He's using the money excuse as a rationalization but the bottom line is happiness. Happiness is in poker and drinking and bitches. Happiness is not grinding through boring ass classes.

I also disagree that going back to school is difficult. I'm interested in starting my own business someday with my poker money so I'm pursuing a JD/MBA. However, I didn't get in to my school of choice(largely because of my crappy GPA that was created while forcing myself through school toward the end of year 2 and all of year 3). So, I decided to enroll in some undergrad business classes at North Seattle Community College and I'm loving them. The professors aren't UW professors but I'm in school because I WANT to be there and that makes all the difference. I read my textbook, do my homework and participate in class. Why? BECAUSE I WANT TO BE THERE.

What the hell. If you don't want to be there, leave. If you never go back, so be it. If you miss it or find your calling then re-enroll. It's a lot easier to drop out then re-enroll than it is to return after getting kicked out for low grades.

Good luck, dude. I think it's a pretty important decision and only you know if (a) you can stick it out and not get too stressed/pissed or (b) you need to gtfo.

[Schaefer]

[ QUOTE ]

Just about everything you said here is correct, I'm sure a large part of my desire to drop out for a semester is because I just don't want to be in most of these classes. Unfortunately though, I really don't have a passion or subject that truly interests me that much.

I find some stuff in psych mildly interesting, but most of my classes bore me to death.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude, you're a young ass whippersnapper. There's plenty of time to figure out what you want to do. But why are you taking classes if you don't know why you're taking them? Because you're stubborn like me and afraid of letting people down. Well, ultimately, those people want you to be happy. I want you to be happy. Life is about maximizing happiness. Word.

[Schaefer]

[ QUOTE ]


If I drop all my classes my student visa becomes void and I have to leave the country. This is not OK because I do not want to leave my friends and my social life here.

If I just take 1 or 2 classes, there is a chance that I will not get my visa renewed next year because they will think I am some dumb American slacker. I basically have to keep a full course load, or maybe a slightly reduced one like 3-4 classes. Technically 4 is the minimum but I think if I do 3 I will be fine.


[/ QUOTE ]

Lol, I missed this post for some reason. I think you should go with just one class, the psych one that you kinda like, and take the risk of having the Visa revoked next year. Use the excuse that you were changing majors or something and maybe they'll let you keep it? It still sounds to me like keeping 3 or 4 classes that you hate isn't a good idea.

[Ansky]

That Schaefar is a smart man.

[JuntMonkey]

[ QUOTE ]
Taking time off from school just isnt worth it and isnt enjoyable. I took time off after having hip and back surgery from some track injuries. Over time you become distant from the things you were once a part of. A major part of the enjoyment of the college social life is balancing the fun with the school work. In short, the fun comes from being a student.

1.)not graduating with those friends youve made of the past 4 years hurts.

2.)Going back and getting back into the swing of school is tough.

3.)Stick it out, finish early, but dont push back school because taking a break from college, if you do intend on finishing, is pushing back your life.

4.)Poker isnt going anywhere.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually you just reminded me that I had to take a semester off too for surgery.

It's no big deal, I didn't have a problem with it.

[registrar]

I took a year off. Well, that's a eupehmism for I was suspended for acquisition and use of illicit narcotics. I found it pretty miserable trying to settle back in when all of my erstwhile friends were taking finals and I'd been travelling and acquiring and using from Kashmir to Krakatoa. The remainder of my second year was pretty grim. But the third year was fine and that's the best opportunity I've ever had to indulge my greatest love (travel, not illicit narcotics) so I'm all in favour of time out.

[uclabruinz]

Again I say, the EV of college is much more then checking a box on your way to grinding out days making someone else money. If you aren't excited about a significant portion of your classes you are not maximizing EV. Switch majors, try something else, etc. The light bulb for me didn't go on until I started taking philosophy and literature classes. That changed everything.

You're in a tough spot with the whole Visa thing, Ansky. But I really don't think this has much to do with poker or money. It has everything to do with how you feel about school. You're obviously smart enough that you can view college as a chance for you to learn and grow as a person and do it without any worry at all about what your degree will set you up for after school. Find subjects that you're passionate about and study those. I think you'll find that changes everything.