No Future

Going into the service may not be a bad idea although I imagine that during boot camp you'll wish that you had stayed in college...

Do you have access to career counselors? If so, take advantage of their help.

Theres tons of people in college right now that don't know what they want to do. Some of them are there to party while others are forced to go by their parents. I would say just get involved as much as you can. Check out a few different clubs/classes that you would never really see yourself in. You never know, you might like it a lot. If you don't like it just get a refund for the class while theres still time or don't go back to anymore of the club meetings. Just see what you're into and go for it. You won't known until you try. Theres usually always time to switch fields/jobs. Just follow what you enjoy.

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Original post by SKATIN_HARD Just follow what you enjoy.

That's exactly the problem - I've never found anything I really enjoy doing. I'll probably take your advice and go out and actively look for new things to try (it can't hurt my grades at this point) and see if I can find something to motivate me.

Look for things you and enjoy and while doing so stasy in college!
Wether its bad or good our world revolves around degrees. Many people actually dont like to even hate college/uni but its only a short time and it is probably the single most usefull thing for your future. So just stay with it. If cs isnt your thing consider changing to another subject. Although cs is not of the easiest subjects im sure there are tons of people in it that arent all to good at it. Still many of them get through. Even if later on you decide not to do something computer related. Merely having a masters in something is all you need in many cases.
Therefore my advice stay with it! And it being one of those hard times in life just makes the degree worth more.

-CProgrammer

TBH this sounds like it has nothing to do with your actual abilities, and everything to do with motivation and self-confidence. If you think you suck at everything, then you're not going to enjoy doing it and you won't do well at it. Basically, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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Original post by Stupendous Man Mushu, ... but I want to stress how important it is to finish up with school. I was also considering dropping out a few times (...) I understood that wherever I was going, having a degree (forget about the specialization) was a very important tool to getting your foot in the door in a lot of places.

Just wanted to stress this again.

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It certainly would piss off my parents.

Lots of things I do piss off my parents but, I certainly dislike being puppet-fied too.

Recently my best friend went through the same "no future" fustration. Lucky he gone to Thailand and stay there as a monk since July. By following his progress now and then (contact through SMS during his session break), I believe his "no future" problem has gone. He is a more lively person now. He'll be out of monkhood after his session ended.

do more stuff, spend less time behind your computer. that way you might actually have a change of finding something you like.

a great many people i know are in varying degrees in the same situation btw, so youre far from alone.

I thought computers were going to be my thing. In fact, that's how I wound up here. I started to do some programming and I was like, "Wow, this isn't fun at all." And then I started to look at the complexity of a game like, say, Super Mario Bros. and I can remember thinking that I would rather punch myself in the balls repeatedly then program that. I don't know what kept me at it for so long. So many people here warn that, if you going to be a successful programmer, then game programming is going to have to be something you love passionately. I guess I took that as a challenge. On a sub-conscious level, perhaps, I wanted to show people that I could become a successful programmer despite the fact that I hate it.

I still think I could! But that sort of motivation doesn't last long. I now simply have no desire to.

Now, I have the benefit of not being in college, which is actually a detriment too because I'm 24 and I'm not getting any younger. But this has given me the free time to explore other subjects.

One day it hit me that I love biology. I used to hate biology. Like, literally the day before, if you had asked me what I thought of biology, I would have stuck my tongue out at you. I never would have thought that biology would be my thing, but here I am 6 months later and I can't get enough of it. It keeps me up at night I love it so much. Back in April I was dicking around with my thumb up my butt. Here in October, I'm reading papers on human chromosome 2 out of research journals. What the hell happened?

This literally came out of nowhere, from the direction I least expected. So don't give up hope! Perhaps, if you have time, it will help to go back and try on some of the stuff that you dismissed as dull. You may find, after giving it an honest chance, that you love it (as I did with biology).

P.S. Chemistry was something else that I hated. Now I can't wait for organic chemistry.

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Original post by Mushu .. I'm about to fail Calc 1, after already taking (and passing) AP Calc BC. Maybe its just bad study habits, maybe I just suck. ..

OR maybe you suffer from ADD

Im with you Mushu, you might as well be describing me. What'd I do about it, I moved to Africa thinking that the change would help. Did it...no. Truth is, this feeling will follow you anywhere you go, army, menail labor, college or back home and since you cant drive, outrunning it isn't an option.

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Original post by LessBread Going into the service may not be a bad idea...

I would think twice before doing something like this. No, 1000 times.

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Original post by slowpid Im with you Mushu, you might as well be describing me. What'd I do about it, I moved to Africa thinking that the change would help. Did it...no. Truth is, this feeling will follow you anywhere you go, army, menail labor, college or back home and since you cant drive, outrunning it isn't an option.

This sentiment is absolutely 100% true. The only thing that can possibly change how you view the world is you. Running from problems not only pushes them down deeper, allowing them to fester inside and affect your day-to-day life (in many cases sub-consciously, and almost always negatively), but it will also give you a false sense of expectation, and can lead to more feelings of self-doubt, and emphasize feelings of depression.

Having said that, however, imo one of the best methods for changing your world view is actually changing your world view, whether it be from a change in locale, diet, friend group, hobby, fashion. All of these things can have a profound impact on how you look at life and how happy you are, but they are not a solution in and of themselves. If you view them as such, I think they'll hurt more than help.

I can't give you any advice on school, other than I think you should finish through with it, if not for any other reason than to give you some sense of accomplishment. Perhaps you could explore via elective an area of study in which you have no current knowledge? This is beneficial for the soul since the only direction you can go is up. [smile]

Two final rants: never think about suicide, it's never an option; and try not to intentionally piss your parents off - it's up there with suicide.

We've gone/will go all through this. I guess it has to do with the age. Who, at college age, hasnt had those dark moments, when everything sucks: (college java parents whatever sux I don't want to die i sometimes wish i'd never been born at all i'll join the army & pour napalm on civilians bla bla)
I'd say dont worrie, live one day at a time, like some wise man said once (it was rambo, if i remember well). A break may be usefull too, leave computers for a while, get laid more often (they say it works).

good luck

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Original post by fnm get laid more often

yeah i forgot that one.

SanguineRaven runs up to Mushu and gives him a great big hug

For some people, college is like the Mouse Game at county fairs. You got dumped out of a dark box onto a big spinning wheel. Some people are betting you'll go down one hole, some are betting another. If the mouse had a preference, he'd go to the hole he wanted, but he doesnt have time to weigh decisions.

Just pick a hole and run for cover.