19. Unemployed. Musician. About to be homeless. University dropout. Unfinished album

[chivalry]

Well I hate my uni course and will most likely dropout.
If I do that I will be out on the streets, possibly homeless as I only have less than 1000 in savings left...
I have an unfinished album of just 5 out of the 20 songs I wrote...
Need your advice on what I can do really.... I can't seem to even get a job.

 

[kcearl]

so if you drop out of your uni course that will result in you being on the street?


finish your course...ive done several courses at university...cant say I enjoyed any of them that much, but its a pretty clear decision if it was to result in me being homeless

dont give up anything until you have something else to walk into


young men are notorious for making bad decisions...dont be another one

 

[timkroeger]

Work on your attitude towards jobs and university and do a reality check on being homeless. Seriously. I'm not being sarcastic, I mean it.

 

[chivalry]

Work on your attitude towards jobs and university and do a reality check on being homeless. Seriously. I'm not being sarcastic, I mean it.

That's the thing. I can't get my attitude right. If that's what you mean...or not...?

 

[chivalry]

so if you drop out of your uni course that will result in you being on the street?


finish your course...ive done several courses at university...cant say I enjoyed any of them that much, but its a pretty clear decision if it was to result in me being homeless

dont give up anything until you have something else to walk into


young men are notorious for making bad decisions...dont be another one

I wish I could but how can I carry on a course when I can barely understand anything and am at the bottom....I guess I could try harder. But I can't try any harder when I'm already struggling to try hard if u get what I mean.

 

[shoggoth80]

What course is it that you are taking that is causing you so much trouble?

 

[chivalry]

What course is it that you are taking that is causing you so much trouble?

Engineering

 

[Lt. Bob]

I wish I could but how can I carry on a course when I can barely understand anything and am at the bottom....I guess I could try harder. But I can't try any harder when I'm already struggling to try hard if u get what I mean.

do you think anything in life is gonna be easier?

Basically you're gonna change your attitude at some point ........ it can either be now or 5 years from now when you wake up to the fact that you've got to apply yourself to things.
Or maybe when you're dying in a gutter ....... unfortunately that's the final wakeup call for some people.

I'm not minimizing your predicament but it looks like right now your future is still under your control.
Be honest ........ how many hours a day do you devote to trying to understand your course?
If it's less than a good solid say, 3 hours a day then the problem isn't that you can't understand ...... it's that you don't want to have to do any work for it.
If you actually put in that much time and still don't get it then you need a tutor.

 

[chivalry]

do you think anything in life is gonna be easier?

Basically you're gonna change your attitude at some point ........ it can either be now or 5 years from now when you wake up to the fact that you've got to apply yourself to things.
Or maybe when you're dying in a gutter ....... unfortunately that's the final wakeup call for some people.

I'm not minimizing your predicament but it looks like right now your future is still under your control.
Be honest ........ how many hours a day do you devote to trying to understand your course?
If it's less than a good solid say, 3 hours a day then the problem isn't that you can't understand ...... it's that you don't want to have to do any work for it.
If you actually put in that much time and still don't get it then you need a tutor.

I end up devoting late nights to early mornings due to the sheer difficulty. I guess it's something to do with me but right now I'm in that giving up mental state.
I understand what you mean that I have my life under control...but Its the finances aswell I gotta keep up with aswell. Plus I can't get a job and music is the only closest thing, to a job I guess...currently anyways.

 

[shoggoth80]

I can understand how hard it is to find a job with a college schedule. In this economy, a lot of employers see a restriction on your time and just sort of go "ah....nope!" and throw your app in the trash, and they don't seem to be looking at much else. At least in my own case. I run a full time 15 credit schedule that runs from like 8am-12:30pm most days (except Fridays). Hell, the fast food place on the sidewalk less than a block down the street from campus has had a now hiring sign out for several months... I even applied for a position there (for which I am pretty much grossly over-qualified for)...and didn't even get a "thanks, but no thanks." and I applied there as soon as I saw the sign go up.

I take it that you are living off campus, and not with your parents if you are worried about being homeless. Are you attending college outside of your home state/too far to commute to campus?

I am not sure what the core of Engineering classes are. I have a friend who is going through an Engineering program at his local CC with eventually wanting to transfer to the UW (he's also a music project-mate)... and he's had to take a bunch of physics, statics, and I think last term was Calc 3. Not the easiest courses. Particularly statics and higher level calculus. I had to take calc, and it WAS tough, and I have never been truly bad at anything I have ever tried my hand at. That being said, even I needed to get a little side help from the math tutor center at the CC where I was taking the course.

I guess the moral of that paragraph is: If you need academic help, don't be afraid to use the tutoring center... that is part of where your tuition goes.

 

[chivalry]

I can understand how hard it is to find a job with a college schedule. In this economy, a lot of employers see a restriction on your time and just sort of go "ah....nope!" and throw your app in the trash, and they don't seem to be looking at much else. At least in my own case. I run a full time 15 credit schedule that runs from like 8am-12:30pm most days (except Fridays). Hell, the fast food place on the sidewalk less than a block down the street from campus has had a now hiring sign out for several months... I even applied for a position there (for which I am pretty much grossly over-qualified for)...and didn't even get a "thanks, but no thanks." and I applied there as soon as I saw the sign go up.

I take it that you are living off campus, and not with your parents if you are worried about being homeless. Are you attending college outside of your home state/too far to commute to campus?

I am not sure what the core of Engineering classes are. I have a friend who is going through an Engineering program at his local CC with eventually wanting to transfer to the UW (he's also a music project-mate)... and he's had to take a bunch of physics, statics, and I think last term was Calc 3. Not the easiest courses. Particularly statics and higher level calculus. I had to take calc, and it WAS tough, and I have never been truly bad at anything I have ever tried my hand at. That being said, even I needed to get a little side help from the math tutor center at the CC where I was taking the course.

I guess the moral of that paragraph is: If you need academic help, don't be afraid to use the tutoring center... that is part of where your tuition goes.

Well I'm already like pretty much at the bottom of the class. Been getting tutor help but it still didn't work as I don't understand what the hecks going on. I musta developed some sorta dyslexia while at uni or sOmething...But I think it's probably the music to blame. Too much of it at times. But it's being put to an album as I said but at my rate with a lot on my mind... I'm achieving nothing. Neither academically nor musically.

 

[kcearl]

I wish I could but how can I carry on a course when I can barely understand anything and am at the bottom....I guess I could try harder. But I can't try any harder when I'm already struggling to try hard if u get what I mean.

you guess you could try harder?

lol

what to do is let it all go tits up then wallow in self pity...develop a drink and drug problem... then in a few years time when youve fucked off all your mates and any birds because youve never got any money, or your just about to face some jail time because youre so fucked off with the world you get in bother everytime you're drunk..then you could try harder


sorry man, uni is hard, its meant to be...its not about how smart you are it about developing the ability to learn

its unlikely that you are thick, you gained entry into engineering studies, but it is very likely you dont put the work in and you havent developed learning skills..


before you make a complete arse of things speak to your supervisor, or whomever that may be in uni, to see what they advise and before you totally fuck things up

Im not saying that this course is for you but unless you are walking out to a job in the real world you'd better put in some hard work before you become yet another statistic

 

[kcearl]

Well I'm already like pretty much at the bottom of the class. Been getting tutor help but it still didn't work as I don't understand what the hecks going on. I musta developed some sorta dyslexia while at uni or sOmething...But I think it's probably the music to blame. Too much of it at times. But it's being put to an album as I said but at my rate with a lot on my mind... I'm achieving nothing. Neither academically nor musically.

then stop making music for the time being...its unlikely it'll ever make you any money anyway

 

[ido1957]

1) I gave up the band I was in when I went to college. Rarely hung out with anyone except on Friday night a guy came over to watch X-Files. Never practiced - studied constantly. My wife worked and took care of the baby most days/nights. Computer Systems. Got good marks.
2) My daughter's boyfirend is a genius and he struggles with Engineering and his Physics/Calc/Etc. The level of education has gone up since my time in school. They are reassessing because the kids are all failing the Standards exam in Grade 12.

My advice - get into a different school/course - something you can handle. The Engineering is too hard for you and you're just not cut out for it. Nothing to be ashamed of - not everyone can do it. Take something else, work hard and you'll succeed.

 

[grimtraveller]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm sensing something of a pattern with you. You did the "haters" thread a few months back (by the way, it led to some great discussion !) and you seemed then to be on the edge of a "woe is me" way of viewing life.
You've received some useful comments here and people wouldn't respond if they didn't care. However bad things may currently look, there are some important things in your control that don't need to happen. You don't need to drop out of uni without at least exploring if you can change course or get some help from tutors or fellow students. You can put your music aside for a bit while you try to sort yourself out. You'll probably come back to it stronger.
If push comes to shove, can you not go home ? Is that a total no~no ? And is there no one you can talk to before a deep depression that you may struggle to come away from envelopes you ? Even if you don't know anyone, you can search.
People may help you but ultimately, unless you make the moves yourself, you'll be weighted down by your own unwillingness. As Lt Bob and Kcearl pointed out, some people get to rock bottom then they wake up. But you don't want to take that chance. When friends in a bad way have said to me that things can't get worse, I'd tell them, oh, but they can. They always can.
So start fighting, with small achievable steps.

 

[Chili]

I like what Lt. Bob said, eventually your attitude is going to change, whether it's tonight or 4 years from now. The big difference is 4 years from now you could have a degree and making decent money or you could still be on the streets. You choose.

And why does quitting school put you on the streets? Is this an ultimatum from your parents?

Also, it's very rare for someone to make money at music. I think Lt. Bob has been doing it for quite a long time and is doing okay, but he's the exception. I've got a friend who gigs fulltime here in Austin and he's barely getting by.

If engineering isn't for you, then find something that is and get your degree. Music isn't going to pay the bills and the street sure isn't.

good luck,

 

[stevieb]

Engineering

That. That's your problem, or at least part of it. Very challenging curriculum. I know, I was there. Back off a bit, perhaps. Unless you just gotta be an engineer, there are less challenging programs- Industrial Technology is one, and guess what? According to US Bureau of Labor stats, Ind. Techs make, on average, more money than engineers. The reason is because IT's are more likely to go into sales than engineers (who seem to believe sales is beneath them) and sales can be very lucrative. Engineering can be very boring, anyway- imagine designing HVAC flow diagrams all day, every day, for the rest of your working life. Change course (pun intended) and STAY IN SCHOOL.

In a more global sense, grimtraveler may be onto something- but the kind of personal, psychological work you need to do to address those issues, whatever they may be for you, is not going to come from posting here or any other forum. Get thee to a shrink, and pronto. And by the way, I am qualified to say that, as I have shifted my career to psychology.

 

[miroslav]

So why not get out of engineering and focus on something else?
If you are not sure of what esle...every degree has a lot of "generic" courses that all must take...so, do those classes until you get your bearings. Most of those classes are pretty easy, so you will be able to get your self esteem back up...and during that time find something else to focus on for your degree if engineering just isn't your cup of tea.

AFA as finding some work so you can get some $$$...I will give you the same advice I give every college student.
Get a restaurant job. Bus tables, work in the kitchen or even be a waiter (good tips)....but the most important thing is you get to EAT!!! I've never known a college student who turned down food. Seems like they are always hungry...and a restaurant job means free food.
No...it's not a glamorous job...but you're a college student, glamor has nothing to do with it.

I dropped out of college 3 times before I got my shit together and stuck it out for a degree.

 

[chivalry]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm sensing something of a pattern with you. You did the "haters" thread a few months back (by the way, it led to some great discussion !) and you seemed then to be on the edge of a "woe is me" way of viewing life.
You've received some useful comments here and people wouldn't respond if they didn't care. However bad things may currently look, there are some important things in your control that don't need to happen. You don't need to drop out of uni without at least exploring if you can change course or get some help from tutors or fellow students. You can put your music aside for a bit while you try to sort yourself out. You'll probably come back to it stronger.
If push comes to shove, can you not go home ? Is that a total no~no ? And is there no one you can talk to before a deep depression that you may struggle to come away from envelopes you ? Even if you don't know anyone, you can search.
People may help you but ultimately, unless you make the moves yourself, you'll be weighted down by your own unwillingness. As Lt Bob and Kcearl pointed out, some people get to rock bottom then they wake up. But you don't want to take that chance. When friends in a bad way have said to me that things can't get worse, I'd tell them, oh, but they can. They always can.
So start fighting, with small achievable steps.

Well my parents are divorced and I hate my dad .
The only friends I can think of can help are far away from me at this point of time - in other places and universities etc.
I dont how I got into this shit anyways come to think of it - happened to fast.
Even though i realise I can still control my fate Im confused on what I should do. The course is clearly not for me and I'm wasting my time.

 

[chivalry]

So why not get out of engineering and focus on something else?
If you are not sure of what esle...every degree has a lot of "generic" courses that all must take...so, do those classes until you get your bearings. Most of those classes are pretty easy, so you will be able to get your self esteem back up...and during that time find something else to focus on for your degree if engineering just isn't your cup of tea.

AFA as finding some work so you can get some $$$...I will give you the same advice I give every college student.
Get a restaurant job. Bus tables, work in the kitchen or even be a waiter (good tips)....but the most important thing is you get to EAT!!! I've never known a college student who turned down food. Seems like they are always hungry...and a restaurant job means free food.
No...it's not a glamorous job...but you're a college student, glamor has nothing to do with it.

I dropped out of college 3 times before I got my shit together and stuck it out for a degree.

Ive missed the deadline to change course (it happened to be when i thought everything in the course seemed easy...you know.. the first few weeks of starting uni?). They said now I can change course only if I apply next AGAIN, plus against other candidates...and I would have to drop out hence to wait...Ive got the grades no problem but what the hell am I supposed to do if i do change my course...for an entire year?
Id need a place to live (parents out of the question). Plus a job...
I get people most people here saying i cant rely on my music to make me money...:/