At a crossroad in my life

Just for some background, I'm a 20 year old college sophomore (I'm a double major in Philosophy and Political Science), a member of a fraternity, and over the last few months I've really started to feel the pressure of the system. I've already racked up over $10,000 in debt and in a way I think this is the point of no return. Either I get out now, or I continue down the path I've chosen and go where it takes me.

If I end up graduating, I'll have a degree and I'll probably end up with over $50,000 in loans to pay back plus interest, leaving me stuck in corporate debt slavery for essentially the rest of my life. Not only do I despise what corporate America is and what it stands for, putting myself so thoroughly behind the 8-ball with so little certainty I'll even be able to dig myself out of it the way the economy is being destroyed. I feel like I'm in a prison and if I don't do something to get out of this trap, I'll never be able to get out. At least now I feel like I can still cut my losses and make a change in my life. I really want out of Scamerica and to make my own way.

I don't know what alternatives I have though. I'm very smart, and while I don't have stellar grades because I don't apply myself, I know there's something terribly wrong with this country right now, and I want no part of it anymore, and I want to build something of my own, or at least be able to live without constant fear and live a happy life. I don't know if that life is possible if I stay in The U.S. or keep putting myself in debt. I'm sick of all the lies I've been told and the promises that have been broken, and I don't know what to do. I don't think my soul can take much more of it

I know most of the people in my life can't relate to this feeling and my professors don't have my interests at heart. Honestly I want to spend the summer abroad and maybe not come back and start over somewhere new. I just wanna live a happy life and I don't see it happening at the pace I'm going. I hope someone here can give me some perspective or advice so I can make the decision that's right for me.

 

Why do you think leaving the country will solve your problems? This is a worldwide economic crisis, even China's growth is slowing. Youre being narrow minded by thinking you can just run away from it.

Also, I dont think studying abroad and not coming back is a good idea at all because you would be an illegal alien when your student visa expires.

Its okay if you dont want to go to school, but running away and expecting to find utopia abroad is not the way to go.

 

After graduating from high school I didn’t want to put any further financial burden my parents (who were already putting my sister through college) so I joined the military and took advantage of the Montgomery GI Bill.



Hotwater

 

Well, the idea of wanting to leave America isn't so much based on the economy as it is a personal choice. The world economy is fucked, so it really doesn't matter where I go in that sense. It's more a matter of the character of the nation as a whole, and I may as well travel and see what else is out there. I'll never know what's really going on in the world if I don't see it for myself. I want to experience something different from America if only because I feel like there's something missing. Maybe there is, maybe there isn't, but I won't know for sure until I experience something different personally. I don't think of it as running away, I think of it as an experiment, and if I find I want to come back, I can. It's more of a journey than a destination.

 

Your majors are stupid and useless. I would not continue with those. Luckily for you, most of the stuff you do your freshman and sophmore years do little with your actual majors, rather generals.

Running to another country will solve nothing. In fact, good luck with your visas and what not.

Anyhow, the fact of the matter is, you're going to have to work. Don't try and escape it. Embrace being a productive member of society.

Quit college if you're not goin to pursue something more useful, like accounting.
I'm up to $60K in college debt. My degree is BS. I got an ok job, but it's definitely not worth the weight of debt I'm sitting under.

 

I actually value these majors very highly. So far, majoring in Philosophy has been one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life, with my previous choice being Chemistry before I came to campus. It's taught me to think a lot better, and I think for me it's better to have a varied background I can do multiple different things with, as opposed to being confined to one career by my degree. Political Science I don't find as valuable, but I still find it useful for the reasons that I added it last semester (I could graduate in the same time frame with an extra degree and therefore more qualifications). I would never drop Philosophy as a major.

I am interested in what your degree is in and what kind of job you got, if you don't mind me asking. That would give me a lot more perspective on your opinion.

 

Yeah, people are totally going to pay you to do that....

 

If it would make them money, they would. I'm willing to take my chances.

 

yeah, your Philosophy major has got your head all fucked up. You're thinking there is more out there than there is.

 

I don't miss being 20. You're at that stage in life where you're able to make large decisions, like incurring large amounts of debt, but still unable to grasp the realities/consequences of said decisions.

Philosophy is a useless degree, especially as an undergrad.

 

As for me, I started off as a poli sci major. I thought it was interesting. I was also attending a $35k a year private university. Interesting wasn't really cutting it. I was never going to be a big political hotshot.

I ended up graduating with a degree in Communications/Marketing and got a minor in Human Resources. I realize it's a strange combo. After years of not making really great decisons, I realized I needed to graduate. I didn't "want" to do anything in particular. That's what worked for me. I'm working as a loan processor for a large bank. I don't want to do this work forever, but its a foot in the door.

Unless you continue on to grad school, your philosophy degree will probably get your foot into being a server at Denny's.

 

Depends on your definition of useless. By my definition of useless, it's anything but. What do you define useless as?

 

Useless - doesn't make a living

 

it kind of sounds like you've already made up your mind..

 

Pretty much this.

I obviously don't care what you do.

 

Any discipline that can impress people at a dinner party; but you can’t make a living at.....


hotwater

 

better bring your 'nocs (binoculars) if you're going to be finding yourself at a crossroads.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WCiBPjckTg"]The Professor Brothers - The T.A. Interview - YouTube
watch this video for good advice

 

I was thinking the same thing.

 

There is nothing wrong with getting a degree that doesn't have a high job potential after graduation as long as you don't mind paying $50,000 in education for education's sake only.

You could also switch to something that will enable you to pay off your student loans and study philosophy on your own time.

 

I'm attending a university that costs half of that, so the fact that I'm spending less to get a degree means I can take the risk of getting a degree that has less tangible reward. Also, no one said you have to be a politician with a PoliSci degree. I hold most politicians in very low regard given the means they use to reach their own, self-interested ends (though I wouldn't rule out public service as a career path). I'm very open to the idea of grad school post-graduation (law school is actually on the short list of things I'm considering).

As for your situation, I don't know what you mean by "not making really great decisions". I assume you mean that as being a Political Science major, and I agree, I would never be a Political Science major alone, but PoliSci is a much smaller part to my path than Philosophy is, and it's another good major if I intend to go to grad school. I also assume as you changed your major that you also include being in school longer than you intended to be, and therefore spending more money, as one of those mistakes. It seems to me that being a PoliSci major wasn't a mistake for you in the sense that you had no options with that degree, it was that you weren't comfortable with your ability to live a life that lived up to your standards with that degree in your situation. In that sense, majoring in Political Science was a mistake for you that you ended up paying for, but that doesn't necessarily make majoring in Political Science a mistake for everyone.

I also think there's a disconnect between "want" for you and I. You seem to think of want as this utopian, idealist concept, but for me, "wanting" is the idea that I can get a job that challenges me mentally and I make enough to live a decent life. I didn't choose Philosophy/Political Science because I wanted to do something. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I chose that combination because I DIDN'T want to do anything specific. Coming into college, I had a very limited view of the world and the opportunities it holds, so I chose a field that would make me well-rounded and capable of a variety of jobs, and someone that could choose from a myriad of opportunities that would ensue from that. If I had chosen Chemistry as a major like I intended to, it would've been because I wanted to be a chemist or something chemistry-related. In this sense, I chose the path that had the least "want" attached to it. I "want" no specific job, I want a job that challenges me mentally and gives me enough money to support myself and a family, if I ever have one, and I feel like I've put myself in a position to do exactly that, and anything after that's just icing

That's not to mention the incredible spiritual benefit I gain from Philosophy. I think so much more critically, logically, and analytically than I could ever imagine. I was a drop-dead atheist and I managed to find and make my peace with God. It encompasses so much more than sitting on a rock with your chin on your fist. It covers everything really, and I think people underestimate how important spirituality is in our lives. I truly love what I study, and most people can't say that. That just motivates me to be a better philosopher, which will in turn make me more successful in my practical life.

I'm not getting a six-figure salary out of undergrad, but I can get my foot in the door with my field of study in internships and show what I can do with my unique perspective of thinking, I can go to grad school, I can get a job with a solid salary that I can pay my loans, my taxes, and my bills with, or so much more. People call me closed-minded for this way of thinking, but isn't going to college with the idea that you just want to be prepared to do one specific thing for the rest of your life without little to no thought on your part closed-minded? To me, that's the most closed-minded you could be. You made the choice that was right for you, and I'm happy for you, but my majors are neither uninteresting or preparing me for minimum wage. I'm happy with them, and I wish I could say this thread stayed more in line with the idea that this was more about the spiritual deflation America seems to put onto people like yourself and that I wanted to avoid such a circumstance at almost any cost (though having a crappy practical life as an expense isn't ideal, either). It was supposed to be more about being balanced and making sure I was really making the right choice for me before I put myself in a practical financial situation I couldn't get out of by means other than a unilateral existence of debt and the servitude of such debt.