A third level situation you may never solve

eXplorerEX

I feel as though college just isn't for me. My nearest colleges are IT Carlow and WIT and none of the courses suit me. My main interest is music, in particular I play electric guitar and record rock and heavy metal songs on my computer. At the moment I'm halfway through a music PLC, which has been great so far. I got to perform in a band with my fellow students and we also have a recording studio for creating industry standard songs. Overall the course has given me a lot of creative momentum and the opportunity to buy better equipment. Unfortunately we also have to learn music theory and to my disadvantage, music wasn't something I studied for Junior Cert or Leaving Cert. The auditions for WIT's honours music course start in April and it includes:

Completing a written paper based on the set works and the composition exercises required for Leaving Certificate Music

Aural tests including the identification of cadences, intervals, chords in addition to some rhythmic and melodic dictation.

Candidates must also perform two contrasting pieces on their chosen instrument (or voice) at Grade 5 level or equivalent.

I have two months to be ready for the audition, and I don't think that's even possible. I don't think WIT's music course is going to suit me, even if some of my fellow classmates are going there. I much prefer the music production aspects and going about the music business and, eh, WIT's music seems more of a teaching degree. There's also rock school in BCFE, but mum won't let me go up to Dublin because of expensive accommodation, impossible commutes and crime.

Other than music, I also like weightlifting and occasionally going to the gym, but it's just a hobby. All the sports, exercise, health and nutrition courses are full of science. I mean yes, I did higher level biology and ordinary level physics for leaving cert (they were a NIGHTMARE) but I got a H4 and an O6 respectively and I don't think those courses would suit me either. Also, I can't stand sport.

Other than that, I have grown up in a PC family. My father used to fix people's computers and laptops and my brother studies computer games development. So going down the computers route has been suggested to me a few times, but I don't think sitting around in a chair for hours trying to find out what's wrong with my thousands of lines of code is something I see myself doing in five years.

I don't really know if college is something I want to do, at least not yet. At the moment all I see are these awkward qualifications with awkward modules and subjects. Maybe it's because I'm out of drive after getting burned out from the Leaving cert with my teachers pushing me to work harder. I feel like I want to take a year out and get a job to fund music gear and pursue recording music.