I don't know what to do after my undergraduate degree
Finishing my undergraduate degree soon. As a first generation student, I will be the first in my family to graduate from university. I will be wallowing in debt, and partly due to this I will not continue my education. There is LOTS of employment that can be done with only experience and no university education anyways. I think I am actually of average intelligence and it is really isolating to go to university, so I am not sure why I would continue studying. I have a poor memory and nobody is interested in me enough to give me attention. Plus, most of the students are WAY younger than me so it's like attending an upper-high school rather than a university. It's really deluded, people thinking they need to get a degree after high school to enhance employment opportunities. It used to be different in the past, but now anyone can get a degree. University as it is in the modern day just isn't the same as it used to be.
University used to mean a lot to me and was exciting, but unfortunately doesn't mean anything anymore or feel the same as it used to. All going to university is is taking in information and spitting it out until you get a piece of paper that doesn't necessarily get you employment or actually mean anything. Why would I want to do that? People who take the time to get PhDs who take in so much information for years and are lucky enough to work in a university just work to spew information on young adults who will never get a PhD and possibly not even get a career in the area of study. It sounds disgusting to me. I hope to start a new life soon where I find somewhere I belong and have a social support system.
I wonder where I should go and what I should do. I hope to move abroad and start a new life. I hope it is fulfilling, instead of this meaningless garbage and isolating lifestyle where nothing meaningful or interesting actually happens. Why I even started studying, I have no idea. I am tired of capitalist society where everything is done to get money, where people live to work and work to live, and hope to join a society that is less focused on capitalist ideals. I feel that I am being forced to be a slave by society for most of my life, and I would be very blessed to be supported by someone(s) and not work. This modern day, extortionately expensive lifestyle where everyone supposedly needs to work full-time just to survive is delusional. I actually don't want to be forced to try hard just to "be someone" in society or to work. I feel trapped in what society wants me to do, because I don't care about any of it, and this perspective isn't a result of a mental health condition. I just don't belong in this society. What I might love to do instead of being a capitalist slave is pay off my interest-incurring student debt, become a monk, and spend my time doing something like harvesting rice or tea in the mountains or hills of Asia, instead of pretending to be like these people I exist around when really I will never be like them.
If anyone would like to share their current lifestyle or experiences after university, I would love to know. I would love to know what people's experience was like as a first generation student as well- if you were one you should share. I would love to talk about university and after-university experiences, or really anything related to my post. How do you cope with capitalist society? Looking forward to discussing with you.
@GumballMachine
giving this a bump for uni and grads to weigh in!
@Heather225 Yes, the issue is only getting worse over time. I wish I had a purpose and knew what to do.
@Heather225 I am tired of being isolated. It's like I don't even exist as a person.
@GumballMachine
Hello. I was the first generation student in my entire family, so I guess I can understand how you may feel about it.
By the way, now I am doing a job that does not require a degree. I made such a decision (again) just to be out of a company which required from me telling lies to the clients and feeling happy being constantly underappreciated or mobbed.
You mentioned capitalism and modern slavery. Yes, I agree there should be a completely new system, apart from feudalism, capitalism or communism. And that capitalism can be really disappointing, having landed at the completely different point from where it started.
But I can also tell you about my experience of being a teenager in a then-communistic country. To make a long story short: everything was fixed. Up to a year before me, while finishing your secondary school, you were not looking for a job, but a job in one of the state-owned companies was offered to you almost automatically. There was 0 per cent unemployment, and some ideas were really good. But you had to stand in a line for hours to buy some meat for a dinner, or some toilet paper, not to mention the "big things" like a TV set, new trousers or an encyclopedia.
However, I believe your way of thinking might be a way ahead of the curve of how the majority of the society thinks. Four-day working weeks, shorter working hours, universal basic income -they all seem to be a matter of the future - but the corporate culture being a brakeman. I also agree about the fact that most current ways of teaching students are indeed archaic or ancient, ineffective or just... ridiculous.
Becoming a monk doesn't sound bad to me at all 😊 Especially, when you do not have to move to some other part of the world. Recently I've read a book called "Urban Monk" and I liked it very much.
Last but not least, I have to disagree with you in one point: you said you were a person of a (too) average intelligence - I think that thinking out-of-the-box you are much bigger than that 😊
@jacek73 i hate this world. Nowadays people are also being forced to be atheist and be like everyone else.
@GumballMachine
Yes. I understand it must be not easy feeling like a "black sheep" or the "Elephant man", being forced to "fit the pattern".
It must feel isolating and frustrating, especially if it seems like everyone around you is pushing one way of thinking or living. It's not easy to feel like an outsider in a world that doesn't always embrace differences. But I think each of us is unique, and your perspective really matters. I believe it's okay to question things.
As for the atheists, maybe it is not as simple? I saw many people going to church every Sunday, who seemed to not believe in anything, and those labelled "atheists" or "weird", whose understanding of things was really respectful.
I believe you have the right to be someone you want to be, and there is no one who has the right to tell you that you should be someone else.
@jacek73 It was extreme to say I hate this world- haha, I don't. I am just so tired of not being where I belong and can live a life more suitable for me.
@GumballMachine
Yes. I know 😊 I was aware of the fact what you said might have been a result of anger, frustration and wanting to change something rather than hatred to the world itself.
I hope you succeed in finding people and places that could add even more meaning to your life.
@jacek73 More meaning? My life is meaningless right now.
@GumballMachine
Celebrate by doing whatever makes or keeps you the happiest ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Congratulations on getting to this point in your life. It’s a great accomplishment that deserves to be celebrated when you’ve gotten your degree!
@akunknown I don't care about my "degree" anymore. I just want to leave this h3llhole and figure out who I am and where I belong. I used to think it was great to attend university. Now as I look back, paying money just to learn things and spit it out to get a degree that doesn't really mean anything in society doesn't mean anything. "Going to university" is mostly an exercise for young adults where they don't even remember anything or have any real skills after. Those who are genuinely interested and don't belong in the age group of 18-22 years old don't belong. University is just a stupid cultural thing at this point.