College....

Sorry, I don't have the energy to make a flashy/interesting title right now.

So I just started my senior year of high school and my parents are pushing me harder and harder to make decisions about college. They want me to tell them what colleges I'm interested in, what classes I'm interested in, etc. But I have no idea and I'm having a difficult time making myself give a shit about any of it.

I'm figuring out who I am right now and I would like to make that the focus of my life, instead of continuing down this road and making the discovery of self a secondary objective. I'm very interested in perhaps joining a traveling commune and trying that out for a while. But this is absolutely not an option from what my parents have told me so far. Once I tried to explain to them that I would like to take some time off after graduating high school instead of going straight to college, and my mother shat. She told me that simply will not work.

I don't give a shit about college right now, or what my salary will be one day, or what kind of career I want. I'm not saying those things aren't important, but right now I'm more interested in shit that isn't so fucking stupid and material and systematic and designed for/by a society of walking corpses. But at the same time, will I stunt myself by perhaps putting off college now? What if one day I regret it? It'll be too late to fix it. But I can't have both; I have to choose.
Lately I've been discovering who I am. I've been long interested in philosophy, and lately I've added psychedelics to my list of things that assist me in my search for.. whatever it is I'm looking for. Sometimes I'm not sure, but I think it's important and even beneficial in looking for answers to sometimes be unsure of the question.

K. That's it.

 

i have no idea.. you'd have to talk to your parents..

 

Your situation has a few variables...

1) You're about 17 right (senior) that means mom & dad's house, mom & dad's rules. You're living there for free I assume. You should at least respect that. (I'm not saying you don't) But to some degree you have to please them.

2) It's good that you're developing passions, but everyone (mostly) around your age develops that urge to ramble. It's an urge to bust out and do something big, angst. Your parents just want to see that you have direction. It's fine to have interests, but what do you plan to do for a living? Example, I absolutely love poetry and philosophy. When is the last time anyone made any money doing either for a living? The 1800's, and even then they were poor.

There are many communes out there. But You'd have to do a lot of research and talk to a lot of people who have done it to really commit to that lifestyle. It isn't easy, nor as glamorous as you may think.

I and many people I know did the same thing, "Just take some time off after school" That turns into a few years and a job working for minimum wage. I'm not saying you should go to school. But you should at least develop interests that can earn you a living. Philosophizing will not. Travelling around will not. Some people make that work, but it may not be what you think it is.

3) It's your right to choose but at least be realistic about it. You wanna be living at home when you're 26? Hell no. So you'll need a place of your own. That costs money. You'll need to eat, that costs money. You can choose to live a simple life, but you'll still need to do something. Perhaps just develop some interests that have the ability to earn you money someday and perhaps your parents will lay off. They just don't want to see you look back when you're in your 40's and say, "Fuck me, I should have listened."

But you can still do what you wanna do and have them be comfortable too. Good luck. Peace

 

go to india for a month after you graduate.. maybe your guru will find you. take a swim in the ganges and find your spirit animal..

 

Theres nothing wrong with wanting to explore yourself. I think that education in the US puts too much emphasis education for a degree's sake instead of education for learning's sake. However, the more educated you are the more knowledge you will obtain to apply towards your search of self discovery. You're interested in philosophy? You can definitely learn about philosophy on your own, but you'll learn so much more in a structured environment with other students to debate with and a professor to help guide you.

I never finished my degree and its my biggest regret. A college education is not just important, its completely neccessary in today's world. I don't care about money or material things either, but I do care about not being stuck in the shit ass job i'm stuck in right now because I can't get anything better without a degree. Trust me, it sucks. If I had a degree I could do something I love. It wouldn't matter to me if I made more or even less than I make now; the only thing that would matter is the fact that i would have the chance to do work that challenges me intellectually and inspires me creatively.

I really can't stress enough how important a college education is. Its hard to see that when you're in high school with no adult responsibilities, but trust me, one day you will wake up and realize that you don't have very many options in life because all you have is a high school diploma.

Taking time off isn't a bad idea. The reason I didn't finish college is because I was way too immature when I started. I loved the freedom of not having a curfew, of not having my mom wake me up and make me go to school every morning. I loved the freedom so much that I partied way too hard and never went to class. If you aren't ready for college or don't want to be there, then you probably won't do very well. However, you'll find that once you're supporting yourself and working full time, its damn near impossible to find the time and money to go back to school. Take advantage of being young and having parental support...you might decide to go back to school one day and realize its much harder when you're older and your parents arent supporting you anymore.

As far as exploring communal living...You'll be able to offer a commune so much more with a higher education than without one.

Before you make the decision to not go to college, make sure you explore every option fully. Make sure you have a back up plan, a way to support yourself that won't make you completely miserable. If not, you will wake up one day and find yourself completely stuck without that degree. I promise you that.

 

I used to hate going to school, I was too focused on getting fucked up. It's been a couple of years now, and I love it. College and highschool are different. The teachers arent douchers like highschool teachers and you can get fucked up and bang bitches with no rubbers at crazy parties. (We always get down on a little soggy biscuit at the end of the night)

 

by the way, I don't know very many 50 year olds who are capable of such a mature and philosophical thought, much less a high school senior. You're obviously a very bright person. If you do decide to not attend college, make sure you find other ways to stimulate your brain...this is cliche, but a mind really is a terrible thing to waste!

 

:iagree:
Fuck Me!!
I should have listened!

 

couple of things worth considering
1) college usually has plenty of spare time to do non-academic related stuff
2) college will help you increase your knowledge of the world, and thus give you a truer understanding of your place in it later on x

 

please for the sake of all things holy.. get a degree you can do something with.

 

its obvious that you care enough about your parents opinion of you to at least consider school even though you dont really want to, so id say you should tell your parents that you want to go to a state school because your not sure what you want to do when your older and you dont want them to waste a lot of money on something you might not be able to follow through with...

also you might want to say that you are worried that you won't be able to focus or get yourself interested in classes and that is why you havent expressed interest in college to them. This way they cannot be really upset with you if you end up dropping out.
good luck!

 

Might get him some ritalin or adderal while hes at it, if he's into that stuff.. its a plus.

 

IMO

You have done years of paper work, text reading, and dealing with good/bad teachers. Take some time off instead of rushing strait into what you have done so so far in your life, except now it will be a little tougher. I don't know your situation with your parents but I hope they will understand if you want to do something else.

Its been 6 years since i graduated and everyone except for a few people still don't know what the fuck they want to do, for those i still know about. Just now they have serious debt in a bachelors of bullshit degrees, that is nothing they want to do. Don't let pressure get to you.

I also know other people who have gone to europe, japan, china and africa to teach english. Some came back soon others stayed and ended up teaching skiing in europe, became a translator in japan others i haven't heard from.

good luck.

 

It appears to me you are an individual capable of serious self-reflection and intelligent thought.

Most people will tell you that you ought to go to college, get an education and get a nice job. However, I don't think this is very important. What is truly important is learning about the world you inhabit, and yourself, and other people. You can always earn money some way, the notion that you can cripple your future self by following a slightly different path is rather silly to me.

I spent a few years doing what people told me was the best thing to do, and I was told an education was of paramount importance. Soon enough I was miserable and dropped out of high school. Then I was told to get a job, and again, soon enough I was miserable. I kept working for a few years, but I was never happy, getting drunk on weekends and stoned on weekdays, essentially pissing away precious time I could have spent in much more meaningful ways. I consider those early years almost a complete waste of time, except they made it very clear to me what I don't want.

It wasn't until I was 23 that I decided to follow my own path, and since then I've learned an immense amount about myself, the world, and people. I have traveled a small part of the world, I am truly happy, and I have picked up some certifications in fields I am actually interested in along the way. I am now earning a living doing something I truly love, living on a tropical island, without worries. If someone had told me five years ago I would be here today, I would have laughed at their folly.

I recommend you find your own path and create your own self. You can learn more in a year of traveling than a decade in a classroom. Keep in mind that the advice you are given by others is advice based on their very limited experience, and in many cases they will try to limit you because they don't want to see you succeed where they have failed.

Best of luck on your journey.

 

I'm curious though..how did you finance your travels?

 

Take a year off . Gives you time to figure it out.
I'm starting college this year, infact today was my orientation.
And i'm 20.

 

thats way too much to read

I suggest saving up as much cash as you can and make sure the college you choose is far from home...college residence living can be so awesome its worth whatever other crap you have to do.Ive seen the porn vids to prove it.If I could live life over Id definitely live in residence dorms.

 

If you honestly feel that you should not go, then you should not go. You will not put forth what will be required and it will not be beneficial to you.

If your parents expectations are that you do go then you have a slight problem. If you live with them and they support you then either you go or you should become self sufficient, not play at it for a gap year.

If you are sure that is what you really want to do then make the plans to move on and live how you wish to. On your money.

Good luck either way.

 

Good morning,

good advice. But for me it will be a huge culture shock to live in a dorm in the US I guess . Living in one room with one, two or three fellas is not what students over here expect. Sharing bathroom and kitchen is OK, but usually every student has his or her own room.

Regards
Gyro

 

you could always take core classes at a community college that will be transferable to four year schools. you could enroll part time and that would give you a good amount of time to explore your interests and figure out your next step