Meltdown lol

[LazyHermitCrab]

Yeah So these last couple of weeks have been hard. I switched my major about ten times and I still don't know. At first I was an English major because I enjoyed writing but then I realized we had to make a presentation like every day and then I hear "oh you can only teach with that major." Becoming a teacher is one of my biggest fears. Then i went to psyc major and heard you can't make anything over 10$hr, plus I don't think im great at helping people if i fear them. Except one on one which is the only reason I even considered it. And it may seem like i care about money too much but I dont think im ever going to get married so i can't count on anyone else to help. Basically every major requires you to talk to people. I'm tired of finally getting somewhat used to a class and it changing all over again. I can barely listen to what the professor has to say because i can feel people presence from behind. Some people look so calm and im always jealous. I want to quit college but i can't because i have nothing else to do. I also have no networking skills and see nothing good coming out of life ::

 

[cosmosis]

Oh man, sounds like my college experience I always had lofty ideals of whatever major I was doing, then the reality of it hit and realized it probably wouldn't work. I wanted to do physics, thought I could be some nerd under some telescope or something, but realized in reality it usually requires alot of people interaction. I wanted to do psychology as well, but realized there were actual people involved I ended up doing accounting because I thought I could just deal with papers all day, but then that's not reality of accounting either. I never ended up using my degree anyway. Maybe if I could do it all over again I would be an engineer....now those people are pretty messed up socially (haha no offense to any engineers out there, I think I read somewhere that alot of them have aspergers), but maybe I would have fit in?

 

[coyote]

i feel your pain

i went for a degree in fine art

i imagined quiet days of solitude in my studio - stewing in my own creative juices

but in school, it was one group critique after another

and after graduation... mostly sucking up to buyers and gallery owners, attending parties, networking, and endlessly selling myself

in the marketplace the presentation is often more important than the contents of the package

 

[LazyHermitCrab]

i feel your pain

i went for a degree in fine art

i imagined quiet days of solitude in my studio - stewing in my own creative juices

but in school, it was one group critique after another

and after graduation... mostly sucking up to buyers and gallery owners, attending parties, networking, and endlessly selling myself

in the marketplace the presentation is often more important than the contents of the package

Cool i took some art classes too. The first class was fun but the second class was a bunch of critique and the professor kept talking and had had some sort of music but the station wasnt close enough to the school so it was staticy. Classical music would have been better..

 

[LazyHermitCrab]

Oh man, sounds like my college experience I always had lofty ideals of whatever major I was doing, then the reality of it hit and realized it probably wouldn't work. I wanted to do physics, thought I could be some nerd under some telescope or something, but realized in reality it usually requires alot of people interaction. I wanted to do psychology as well, but realized there were actual people involved I ended up doing accounting because I thought I could just deal with papers all day, but then that's not reality of accounting either. I never ended up using my degree anyway. Maybe if I could do it all over again I would be an engineer....now those people are pretty messed up socially (haha no offense to any engineers out there, I think I read somewhere that alot of them have aspergers), but maybe I would have fit in?

I thought Accounting would be a quiet job but heard it isn't really? It's supposed to be good money wise, I think. What did you end up doing after college?


Eight years of of full time college and a degree in Random Studies would be perfect though..

 

[cosmosis]

I thought Accounting would be a quiet job but heard it isn't really? It's supposed to be good money wise, I think. What did you end up doing after college?

Eight years of of full time college and a degree in Random Studies would be perfect though..

Yeah, ha, I thought so too. The accounting field is suprisingly very highly social and network oriented. TV and movies make it look like its a bunch a quiet geeks, but the field is filled with very motivated, social business people. And it's very difficult for non networked / social people to land any job in the field, especially in these times. Most accounting jobs do require alot of interaction with clients as well, which was another surprise to me.

I ended up starting a home based business and working from home instead. It's sometimes hard going and not always the best money, but if you can't find a job or can't find what you are looking for, send me a message sometime and maybe I can help

 

[WantToHide]

I think you have to do something you're interested in, otherwise you'll be stuck in a career that you don't like and only chose because you wanted to avoid people. What about something like programming? Lots of IT jobs don't require much networking.

 

[MsBuzzkillington]

I think this should be kind of a "wake up call" to get help and work on over coming your SA. Either you going to to have to try to plan your life around SA (and end up missing out on things you love) or you are going to get to live your life how you want it free from SA.

Guess it's time to make a hard decision.

 

[Mickery]

I suspect that's true for most people, that they try to mosey along as best they can until something happens to make them crack up and seek help. I read that avoidants generally don't until they're forced to for one reason or another.

 

[userremoved]

I'm having the same experience right now too. Pretty much everything is going to require some sort of social interaction or presenting. And now people are telling me it looks good to join a fraternity which I think is pretty stupid but oh well. The only job I can think of where you can keep to yourself was my job in the military. I spent my whole shift either alone or with the same 4 people on the air field. But...the downside to all that is, is it keeps you from ever meeting and connecting with people. So as terrifying as college is, the good thing is that it definitely will make you confront your problems head on. I avoided them for 7 years.

 

[deadend]

I think this should be kind of a "wake up call" to get help and work on over coming your SA. Either you going to to have to try to plan your life around SA (and end up missing out on things you love) or you are going to get to live your life how you want it free from SA.

Guess it's time to make a hard decision.

Good advice. In my case, there's not much I love to do so I intend to plan my life around SA. This could change if I am ever better able to manage the issue or find something that drives me.

@ LHC: I would seek help in either case - whatever your choice may be. And yes, steer clear of Psychology unless you plan to get a masters.

 

[StupidWiz]

I thought Accounting would be a quiet job but heard it isn't really? It's supposed to be good money wise, I think. What did you end up doing after college?


Eight years of of full time college and a degree in Random Studies would be perfect though..

Being in accounting myself, I can safely say that it's not that quiet. Eventually we'll end up as a financial consultant to the company that hires us. To make them fully understand your professional opinion, you've to present yourself and your idea/opinion to your peers and bosses so that they'll trust your financial opinion and make a decision out of it.

I used to think that too, that I'd deal with less people by only dealing with papers, reports and such, but in reality that's not true at all.

 

[LazyHermitCrab]

I think you have to do something you're interested in, otherwise you'll be stuck in a career that you don't like and only chose because you wanted to avoid people. What about something like programming? Lots of IT jobs don't require much networking.

I don't really know a lot about programming, it seems like it would be a struggle to catch it

 

[LazyHermitCrab]

I'm having the same experience right now too. Pretty much everything is going to require some sort of social interaction or presenting. And now people are telling me it looks good to join a fraternity which I think is pretty stupid but oh well. The only job I can think of where you can keep to yourself was my job in the military. I spent my whole shift either alone or with the same 4 people on the air field. But...the downside to all that is, is it keeps you from ever meeting and connecting with people. So as terrifying as college is, the good thing is that it definitely will make you confront your problems head on. I avoided them for 7 years.

Did you do computer work in the military? 4 people is great! So what did you end majoring in? Just curious

 

[LazyHermitCrab]

Yeah, ha, I thought so too. The accounting field is suprisingly very highly social and network oriented. TV and movies make it look like its a bunch a quiet geeks, but the field is filled with very motivated, social business people. And it's very difficult for non networked / social people to land any job in the field, especially in these times. Most accounting jobs do require alot of interaction with clients as well, which was another surprise to me.

I ended up starting a home based business and working from home instead. It's sometimes hard going and not always the best money, but if you can't find a job or can't find what you are looking for, send me a message sometime and maybe I can help

That's so cool You should hire me after I graduate with a degree in.... something

 

[LazyHermitCrab]

Did anyone major in Environmental Science? Is it simply non stop labs and group work? Or Environmental sustainability studies.. etc.

 

[WantToHide]

I think if you go into research in a scientific field (including environmental science) you spend the majority of your time alone. However, you will be expected to write papers and present them at conferences. If you use environmental science to work for e.g. the environment agency (or your country's equivalent) then its a pretty social job.

But the world of work is always changing. I think you should study what interests you, and see where it takes you. I'm sure in any field, there are some jobs out there which require minimal contact with others. And anyway, by the end of your degree, you may not feel like you want to be alone so much.

 

[Conspiracy]

Go for the one that you're best at. I'm good with IT, heck I'm even better than the teacher >_> she just confuses the students. I made a huge mistake by dropping that class. I was being pressured with too many expectations, I hate having that kinda pressure put on me....so I chose additional mathematics over it, which I really suck at.