Am I just a bum??

mareensun

Hi all. currently in 3rd year in college. (I am repeating the year so should really be in 4th.) However have had repeat exams all last week and this week. Have had no incentive at all to study for them. Obviously I would like to pass them its just that i never seem to have any motivation at all. This is basically how its been ever since the leaving cert (which I did well in)

What im wondering to myself is how is all my motivation gone?? Im gonna go into an exam later this week and the only things Ill be able to write down is my name and exam number. Yet for some reason it never really bothers me til the exam.

Im not sure what im asking here. I like parts of the course (The exams Ive passed last year) However I now have to take into realisation that I wont be going back. So thats 4 years of my life with nothing to show for it bar debts on my parents who paid for me to repeat this year.

So now have no idea what I want to do in life. Wont be in college again and I'm not a trade orientated person. And I dont want to spend the rest of my life in a ****ty job.

Am I just a bum??

Ruu_Old

I had difficulty in college as well and what I did was, I booked a holiday for myself to look forward to at the end of my exams. That motivated me to do what I needed to. I liked my course but I think I just ran out of steam and needed a kick up the arsh to get me going again. Have you got any mates in similar situations? If so, how do they deal with things?

biko

mareensun wrote:

So now have no idea what I want to do in life. Wont be in college again and I'm not a trade orientated person. And I dont want to spend the rest of my life in a ****ty job.

Am I just a bum??

Yes maybe, or just another confused disillusioned young Irish person?
If you have the opportunity, travel and work in another country.
Work seems less crappy (slightly) when you are in Greece or Italy, learning a new language and making new friends.

Royale with Cheese

I'm in the exact same situation. About to sit my finals in a few days and haven't started studying yet. I think I'm just burnt out as far as studying goes, some people can study and study and some people can't. I procastinate so much and even when I actually sit down to study I just end up sitting there staring at the wall. I've lost all interest in college in general, probably due to the fact my degree is useless. The only thing it would be good for would be getting into a useful Masters course and the thought of 2 more years of studying right now makes me want to hang myself.

Edit: - Biko, I spent a year in Germany learning the language and making new friends and I absolutely loved it. I don't see how it would make working in Ireland seem less crappy.

aidan_walsh

I think maybe you're being a bit harsh on yourself. It sounds to me like you just don't really know what you want to do yet, its just taken you a few years to realise that what you thought you wanted wasn't for you after all.

Perhaps you should look at what parts of your course you do enjoy, and see if there is any way you could further yourself in those areas, as opposed to the wider course you're doing now. It seems there are things about those that might be able to guide you towards what you should really be doing.

mareensun

biko wrote:

Yes maybe, or just another confused disillusioned young Irish person?
If you have the opportunity, travel and work in another country.
Work seems less crappy (slightly) when you are in Greece or Italy, learning a new language and making new friends.

Would love to work abroad for a while but hate the thought of going working abroad with absolutely no qualifications at all

spanner

mareensun wrote:

Hi all. currently in 3rd year in college. (I am repeating the year so should really be in 4th.) However have had repeat exams all last week and this week. Have had no incentive at all to study for them. Obviously I would like to pass them its just that i never seem to have any motivation at all. This is basically how its been ever since the leaving cert (which I did well in)

What im wondering to myself is how is all my motivation gone?? Im gonna go into an exam later this week and the only things Ill be able to write down is my name and exam number. Yet for some reason it never really bothers me til the exam.

Im not sure what im asking here. I like parts of the course (The exams Ive passed last year) However I now have to take into realisation that I wont be going back. So thats 4 years of my life with nothing to show for it bar debts on my parents who paid for me to repeat this year.

So now have no idea what I want to do in life. Wont be in college again and I'm not a trade orientated person. And I dont want to spend the rest of my life in a ****ty job.

Am I just a bum??

NO!!!
I was in exactly the same boat, in a course I kind of liked, not keeping up with the work, guilty of failing because all the money my parents gave me and looking at friends seeing them qualify and do well. It made me very depressed, lazy and even Suicidal. I couldnt repeat college because their was no up coming year to repeat in so I had to go out and work. Did the travelling thing to Australia Now I have found a career that I like doing, going to do a fas course in it.

I am not saying drop out of college but stick with it as long as you can, if it doesnt work out so be it. broaden your horizons, travel do new things you will find what you want to do.

P.S. dont worry about qualifications, there are plenty of unskilled jobs that you could get by on abroad

biko

mareensun wrote:

Would love to work abroad for a while but hate the thought of going working abroad with absolutely no qualifications at all

I did, and had some pretty crap odd jobs. Washing dishes, picking fruit, serving drinks, etc... I wouldn't have changed any of them, had a great time altogether.

You know, there will be time enough to worry about work, mortgages, kids and pension plans later.

It's nicer to have a stupid job and meaningless life in New York than in D15. At least for a year.

You never know, the friends you make now can be future business partners or just help you find your path in this life.

cooker3

I am exactly the same. I am in 4th year and bereft of motivation.
For first time in my 3 and a bit years here I failed to hand up an assignment about 2 weeks ago, good time to start it in 4th year which is the only year that matters. The assignments are piling up now and I will just end up surfing the web for hours and not caring.

I agree with advice about an holiday, in 2nd year I planned on doing J1 and felt I had to pass the exams as I didn't want to come home early, that motivated me to do it and it's the only year I haven't repeated exams yet.

If you can find motvation to do well for any reason, it will help a hell of a lot.
Once I'm done by plan is to get the hell out of the country, hopefully that will somehow motivate me.

LegacyUser

Im sorry but everyone just seems to be helping you recieve moral justification for wasting your parents money and failing your exams. I know its easier said than done but stop wasting your time on the internet and go and study! Its really too late to care about whether you get an incentive or not, youre repeating, why didnt you just drop out in the first place rather than wasting all this time and your parents money to sit around procrastinating on a computer all day

Lou.m

Gosh it is two years since i finished my degree. I did not have to repeat anything i really enjoyed what i was learning i just tried to remember that this is important because learning is important and i tried to study not just to pass exams but for myself i found university quite exciting all those lecturers to talk to. I am sorry that you do not feel you are doing well just remember you are not stuck in an ivory tower and that there is a lot university has to offer you take what you want from it and just remember for the long hours of study it is just a small period of your life just a few months of study really and it will be over and then you have a degree for life.

BeardyGit

~nop~ wrote:

Im sorry but everyone just seems to be helping you recieve moral justification for wasting your parents money and failing your exams. I know its easier said than done but stop wasting your time on the internet and go and study! Its really too late to care about whether you get an incentive or not, youre repeating, why didnt you just drop out in the first place rather than wasting all this time and your parents money to sit around procrastinating on a computer all day

Spot on ~nop~

OP, I wouldn't give you a job sharpening shovels at the local council depot, let alone an opportunity to serve an apprenticeship and earn a trade. How dare you consider that a trade is a suitable 'fallback' for failing to pass exams and work hard in life - How dare you. Have you any idea the years of work, skivvying and study involved? The early starts, the crap wages, the hard and fast deadlines for exams etc. The cheek of you.

You need a kick up the arse lad, not this molly coddling. Don't know where to get one from? How about you go tell your parents you're squandering their support and hard earned instead of putting your head down and getting on with the work YOU OWE THEM?

Stop looking for excuses and exits and get your head in the books and do at least a couple of hard days work for this year.....

When it's all over and done with, go and figure out how you're going to pay them back for the time and money you've wasted.

LundiMardi

I don't think you're a bum no, but it's pretty ****ty when your PARENTS are paying for your education and to repeat a year, not to put in at least some effort.

You should have thought about all of this before you repeated the year, now your parents are out of pocket. Some people are not so lucky to have mammy and daddy pay for them, so it would seem that you are in fact taking the piss.

Alkers

I'm in a similar boat. Start 2nd year exams tomorrow and I've not done an ounce of study. I don't even have all the course material so even if I could study what I have it wouldn't be enough to do well. Was in a similar position regarding motivation last year but managed to pass all my exams. This year I won't be passing any. I don't know who to turn to for help, I guess I 'll see what I'm like when the results come out.

humbert

exactly the same, 6th year in college, dropped out in 1st year and repeated 3rd. I like my subject but the whole college routine kills me, I just couldn't give a shit about sitting in a lecture hour after hour so my attendance goes to hell. Hope to hell I just make it through this year and then I'm free to try other things and find out what the hell I want to do in life.

Basically try to persevere, not easy but there really isn't a better option imo.

turbot

No - you're not just a bum - though sometimes having a nice bum can be an advantage in life.

Basically, you've somehow ended up connecting a state of not really caring with the outcome of your degree and exams. This isn't helped by the fact your course may not be that interesting to you, and while you understand in theory that having a degree is good for jobs in your future, this isn't the same as having an emotionally smart understanding where you generate the inner feelings that propel you to take action.

You might find this useful:

http://www.examsuccesstips.com/

And it's probably a good idea for you to explore various personal development techniques to help you make the most of your future.

Paul McKenna's books - Change your life in 7 days, and Instant Confidence, are, in my opinion, a good place to start.

When I was in college, I learned to be so relaxed at times that motivating myself to take action was sometimes tough, and I'd literally have to force myself.

A good long term solution to this is doing stuff that increases your energy levels (eating well / working out), surrounding yourself with motivated types, and most importantly, figuring out what you enjoy and pursuing it more strongly.

good luck!

stepbar

Yes you are a bum and a good big bum at that. Seriously if you cant even do a few ****ty exams, how does that stand for your future working life?? "O I cant be arsed, cant be bothered". Well let me tell you I wouldnt like to welcome you to the working world cause you have a shocking poor attidute. You said that you like parts of the course, why not finish out the degree and follow a career in one of those areas??? A no, sure the handy way out is to quit your course. Nice one :rolleyes:

Actually the likes of you (who dont even have the motivation to find out what you want to do with your life :rolleyes: ) frustrate the hell out of me... (cause I'll be paying my tax money for you and others to sit on the dole q while you make up your mind :mad: )

spanner

~nop~ wrote:

Im sorry but everyone just seems to be helping you recieve moral justification for wasting your parents money and failing your exams. I know its easier said than done but stop wasting your time on the internet and go and study! Its really too late to care about whether you get an incentive or not, youre repeating, why didnt you just drop out in the first place rather than wasting all this time and your parents money to sit around procrastinating on a computer all day

not everyone has the same experience in college, some people enjoy the course and are well motivated to do it. others like the poster here just doesnt have any interest in the course and is probably only doing it because they have invested so much time in it that they are scared to drop out and seem like a failure. College is not as easy as some people think, you have to constantly drive yourself and it is very easy to fall behind, feel like a failure and spirall into depression. if you didnt experience this that is good but dont think everyone has the same experience

spanner

Gil_Dub wrote:

Spot on ~nop~

OP, I wouldn't give you a job sharpening shovels at the local council depot, let alone an opportunity to serve an apprenticeship and earn a trade. How dare you consider that a trade is a suitable 'fallback' for failing to pass exams and work hard in life - How dare you. Have you any idea the years of work, skivvying and study involved? The early starts, the crap wages, the hard and fast deadlines for exams etc. The cheek of you.

You need a kick up the arse lad, not this molly coddling. Don't know where to get one from? How about you go tell your parents you're squandering their support and hard earned instead of putting your head down and getting on with the work YOU OWE THEM?

Stop looking for excuses and exits and get your head in the books and do at least a couple of hard days work for this year.....

When it's all over and done with, go and figure out how you're going to pay them back for the time and money you've wasted.

I dont think the poster said that a trade is a fall back but just that they are not trade orientated, some people arent. I completely agree with you that doing a trade is hard work and after doing both definately doing the trade is much better way of learning than straight forward college. I belive people would be much better motivated if their was more workplacement in the college course because you can see what the theory your studying will be used for practically.
In Germany they have a sucessful program of Apprentaships for all areas of industry and not just the building trade and it works very well

cooker3

stepbar wrote:

Yes you are a bum and a good big bum at that. Seriously if you cant even do a few ****ty exams, how does that stand for your future working life?? "O I cant be arsed, cant be bothered". Well let me tell you I wouldnt like to welcome you to the working world cause you have a shocking poor attidute. You said that you like parts of the course, why not finish out the degree and follow a career in one of those areas??? A no, sure the handy way out is to quit your course. Nice one :rolleyes:

Actually the likes of you (who dont even have the motivation to find out what you want to do with your life :rolleyes: ) frustrate the hell out of me... (cause I'll be paying my tax money for you and others to sit on the dole q while you make up your mind :mad: )

I posted above saying I am very similar to op. I have also worked in real world for a time and they kept detailed stats the workplace and I was 1 of the most productive workers, College is a differant beast to real world, it can be very hard to motivate yourself when the course may not be overly interesting or a particular module doesn't motivate you. Money on other hand is a great motivator.

dr.bollocko

What in the hell is wrong with being a bum?
Won't you always have some sort of job? Meaning, a place to live, a way of putting food on the table, and clothes on your back.
That already puts you in the 99th percentile of richest people that have ever lived.
I mean its strange that you are motivated enough to ask us all why you arent motivated at all....
Maybe you are a bum. Maybe its the wrong course for you. Maybe you have been smoking too much weed. But either way, a debt to your parents is not going to bother them that much. What you have to do is put a positive spin on things (this is after the month or so of drinking non-stop)
Also, in my University, you had to fail 4 exams before you failed the year. Why not TRY to study and pass the exams this week, then the ones that you have failed could be made up when the repeats come around. At least it gives you a chance to procrastinate on making a final decision. Which is a very bum-like thing to do.

~nop~

Hey look, maybe i'm being over judgemental here and the ops parents have no problem paying to support him doing nothing all day, or as dr.bollocko said "a debt to your parents is not going to bother them that much."

Tbh though I know my parents have no problem either with paying money for me as long as it's coming out with some result and not being spent in vain, because in that case they'd be furious.

Op, I have no problem whatsoever with you lazing around, failing exams, I've done it myself, however if your PARENTS are paying for you to REPEAT the year (notice the operative words there, eh?) then why not just save it and drop out?

stepbar

cooker3 wrote:

College is a differant beast to real world, it can be very hard to motivate yourself when the course may not be overly interesting or a particular module doesn't motivate you. Money on other hand is a great motivator.

Thats a very sad attudute to have........

delta_bravo

I'm going to be rather concise in my response here. Yes, yes you are a lazy bum. Theres no point in looking for sympathy off people on a message board, get up off your arse and study

BlitzKrieg

Have you looked into other methods of studying?


I found that simply discussing a topic works alot better then sitting down and reading the books (or even your own notes.)

its how me and a friend walked away with A's in our leaving cert history so many years ago. While everyone else were reading books me and him were upstairs having a cup of tea talking about the topics (only turning to the books to look up dates or events we were unsure about) seems to stick in the mind alot better. It was only me, him and the class nerd who got A's in our class that year.

Carried this technique over to university and it helped when it was possible.


sometimes your not motivated because of how the work is presented to you (I did sleep through all of my lectures in university, dont believe in lectures personnally.)

~Rebel~

Hey OP, i had this problem too with my degree.
Was in final year last year, absolutely hated my course and found it very hard to put in effort for. I failed the exams first time in 2nd and 3rd year but got the August repeats each year.

Particularly last year and 3rd year it helped just to focus on how that little bit of extra effort could change your life after col and help you to do something you actually want to. A piece of paper in the bag really does help with getting your foot in the door!

For my finals i just got a goal ( a masters program in something completely unrelated) kept thinking about it, the craic that could be had in it etc and managed to do enough. In the end got an hons 2.2. Actually a bit mad at myself now that i didnt just work sooner, but its irrelevent as it was enough to get what i wanted. (though typically enough am not doing the most work for the 3 exams i have this xmas, though at least they're each only worth 10% of each class )

Really hope things work out well for you anyway!

stepbar

~Rebel~ wrote:

Hey OP, i had this problem too with my degree.
Was in final year last year, absolutely hated my course and found it very hard to put in effort for. I failed the exams first time in 2nd and 3rd year but got the August repeats each year.

Particularly last year and 3rd year it helped just to focus on how that little bit of extra effort could change your life after col and help you to do something you actually want to. A piece of paper in the bag really does help with getting your foot in the door!

For my finals i just got a goal ( a masters program in something completely unrelated) kept thinking about it, the craic that could be had in it etc and managed to do enough. In the end got an hons 2.2. Actually a bit mad at myself now that i didnt just work sooner, but its irrelevent as it was enough to get what i wanted. (though typically enough am not doing the most work for the 3 exams i have this xmas, though at least they're each only worth 10% of each class )

Really hope things work out well for you anyway!

In fairness a 2.2 in ur masters is a bit ****e..... If you put in ANY sort or work there is no reason why a 2.1 shouldn't be possible, especially if you go to DIT / UCD and the like where a 2.1 is 60%!!!! Most IT's you have to get 63% to get a 2.1.

cooker3

stepbar wrote:

Thats a very sad attudute to have........

Why is that?

stepbar

Money on other hand is a great motivator

Yeah? :rolleyes: Is that the sole thing that motivates you? Beacuse from where im standing it sounds like it is

red_ice

I know exactly what your talking about. The way i see it is that you started off college with a goal, but the goal seems to be getting more far fetched now that you've repeated a year.

Im in the exact same place right now, only i did FA work for my leaving cert... I thought i did, but i didnt.. Then i did a 2 year Cert in Computers, now im in third year BSC Computing Science. I also repeated my second year of the cert. Since the repeat i really cant be arsed at all. Before it was like 'woohoo college, booze n parties n all that jazz'.. Now its a 9-5 thing, im there for business.

I have no motivation other than the faded promise of a better life when i leave college, you should have the same half assed hope as me!

Never the less all you can do is put the work in. You know it yourself that it will be worth it in the end. I myself am lucky that for some reason i dont really have to do any work for this course, its common sense to me. Think about it, your in 3rd now, i bet you remember 1st like it was yesterday. You have 1 year and 1 term left in college. Theres 3 months to a term... its going to be over VERY soon. May as well do yer best, even if you, like me, cant be arsed!

Kebab

Was in the same situation as yourself OP. Fell into the partying too hard trap in first year in college and failed one of my subjects. Repeated the exam and failed again. Just couldn't get the hang of it and ended up hating it naturally enough. Moved into a different subject and repeated first year with this with my original subject. Managed to get through the next three years without failing again. But never enjoyed the work and ended up with a 2.2. I was just glad I got through it in the end. At this stage they brought in the no fees in college and I had a part time job that paid for anything I needed.

At the end of the day - don't think about it, just put the work in. Pass and get out of there. You must still be young, you have years of work in front of you - head away somewhere first, volunteer or do a working year somewhere. You've so many options, just have to get through college first.

K

cooker3

stepbar wrote:

Yeah? :rolleyes: Is that the sole thing that motivates you? Beacuse from where im standing it sounds like it is

What in life. Not the only thing that motivates me but it is rather important.
If your doing a job which is not that interesting but decently paid then you can get through it. If your doing a course or a few modules which are not that interesting then you don't have any pay off, no weekly pay cheque. It can get quite demoralising.
Anyway why are you doing a college course, to get yourself good qualfications for a well paid job. So in the end it usually is all about the dollar or euro.

slumped

big bum

get a grip and at least make an effort. you rarely get chances like the one you have - make the most of it.

S

Esel

OP, are you a 'smoker'? If so, that can really screw with your motivation.

dudara

It's not uncommon to be unhappy with your choice of college course, but you need to think about your future. Whatever you decide, you need to make one of two decisions now.
1. Drop out, go and earn a living for yourselves, while you think about things. Be independant.
2. Realise the fact, that even if you don't like your course, applying yourself to it and getting good marks will reflect well on you later.

Either way, you won't be wasting your parents hard-earned money. I have sympathy for anyone who makes a decision (one way or the other), but farting around gets you none.

stepbar

cooker3 wrote:

What in life. Not the only thing that motivates me but it is rather important.
If your doing a job which is not that interesting but decently paid then you can get through it. If your doing a course or a few modules which are not that interesting then you don't have any pay off, no weekly pay cheque. It can get quite demoralising.
Anyway why are you doing a college course, to get yourself good qualfications for a well paid job. So in the end it usually is all about the dollar or euro.

As Ive said what a sad attidute to have. I suppose you get no satisfaction out of genuinly earning a decent days wages. No I suppose not. :rolleyes: Your no good to any company with that attidute. As long as you have your pound of flesh sure your ok. You might want to go out into your city once in a while and take look at some of the homeless people on the streets. Then you might not worry so much about the dollar........

o1s1n

mareensun wrote:

bar debts on my parents who paid for me to repeat this year.

Well there's the problem. You're a spoiled sponge who doesn't appreciate the effort people have to go through to make money. Just expect it all to be handed to you. If I was one of your parents i would have told you to **** off and pay for your repeats yourself.

Maybe you'd be more motivated to work if you knew the money was coming out of your own pocket.

~Rebel~

stepbar wrote:

In fairness a 2.2 in ur masters is a bit ****e..... If you put in ANY sort or work there is no reason why a 2.1 shouldn't be possible, especially if you go to DIT / UCD and the like where a 2.1 is 60%!!!! Most IT's you have to get 63% to get a 2.1.

Jesus screw you guy! also you didn't read my message, i said i got in 2.2 in my undergraduate which i hated, and had the problem with studying for. Doing quite well in my Masters, thank you very much

stepbar

~Rebel~ wrote:

Jesus screw you guy! also you didn't read my message, i said i got in 2.2 in my undergraduate which i hated, and had the problem with studying for. Doing quite well in my Masters, thank you very much

O well excuse me..... its still sh1te..... As ive said I didnt particularly like my IT degree but I got through it and was just shy off a 1.1. So really no excuse. I like to know the college that let you in with a 2.2. It wouldnt be DBS / Griffith College / NCI / Portobello by any chance? Or Smurfit? Jeasus those crowd would give a masters to anyone and a bad name to those who have "proper" ones..... If your going to tell me its one of the universities I think I'll just hand mine back....

DiscoHugh

So Step where are you doing your masters?


anyways to the OP you may as well stick it out. Fear of failure/need for ego-stroking good result was pretty much my motivation in final year having cruised through 3 years.

stepbar

DiscoHugh wrote:

So Step where are you doing your masters?


anyways to the OP you may as well stick it out. Fear of failure/need for ego-stroking good result was pretty much my motivation in final year having cruised through 3 years.

Done and dusted from DIT in a pure business discipline. It annoys the hell out of me when people come out and say "I got a 2.2". Like c'mon, it aint that hard to get a 2.1. You certainly dont have to excert yourself. And as for failing well thats pretty impossible, assuming you put in some sort of work. But for some thats the problem.....

marie_85

stepbar wrote:

Done and dusted from DIT in a pure business discipline. It annoys the hell out of me when people come out and say "I got a 2.2". Like c'mon, it aint that hard to get a 2.1. You certainly dont have to excert yourself. And as for failing well thats pretty impossible, assuming you put in some sort of work. But for some thats the problem.....

Why should it bother you what other people say they got? If they're happy with their result, then good for them! I mean, how would you feel if someone came along and told you your results were crap!

Anyway, back on topic. OP, I think you should stick out the rest of the year. For the simple fact that you've come this far, and it is only a couple more months. Fair enough, if you fail the year, then maybe look at going travelling for a while, or even working, while you decide what you want to do with your life.

stepbar

marie_85 wrote:

Why should it bother you what other people say they got? If they're happy with their result, then good for them! I mean, how would you feel if someone came along and told you your results were crap!

:rolleyes: How in ainm jea could anybody be "happy" with a 2.2? They might tell you they are but if they are being honest with themselves I think not. Id tell you i wouldnt be happy with it. It bothers me because the same people would complain about this lecturer and that lecturer or the wrong questions came up etc etc. More than likely what happened was that the work wasnt done during the year, thats what.....

vermont

OP, the trouble with you is you've had everything too easy your whole life, so you'll *always* have motivation issues. The only way to fix this is go and volunteer to somewhere like Darfur and see how ****e other people have it. That might give you some perspective...

Your problem is you don't have a problem.

Mighty_Mouse

Had problems also in college but thats because I was a bum like you currently are.

Realised eventually that hard work is a habit. You cant just turn it on and switch it off.

You literally need to build up concentration levels. Start with 5 mins and build all the way to 1 hour of constant concentration and study.