University is making me sick

[palneoon]

Finish your degree.

That's your start.

You do not drop out at the end, especially since you are not jumping ship to something better anyway.

Then you leverage degree and knowledge into something better than programming for a living.

You can manage technical people. You will never need to touch a compiler, but your studies will become valuable as you understand what they're talking about.

You can leverage it to go into tech sales. As far as sales jobs go, that's amongst the best you can get.

You can use it as a competitive advantage if you want to start a business in some technological niche -- an understanding of CS is great to have.

Basically, get your degree, get your CS skills, and go do business/sales.

Toughen it out. Whether you like it or not.

Why?

Because the marginal cost at this point is low and the benefits are high.

If you need motivation, think of it this way:

It's a gym to prepare you for the business world.
If you can't toughen out some schooling, you ain't going to last a minute with the sharks.

EDIT/PS:

I am speaking from experience. Remarkably similar situation, actually.

Only I made all the wrong choices.

 

[palneoon]

God, this board is so frustrating sometimes. Rant incoming.

One. Time unused is wasted.

OP has no idea what they want to do.

OP has no skills to start a business.

OP lives in Europe where without a Masters you won't get funding or credit.

OP would do nothing with this year.

But sure, uhh, time is, uhuh, invaluable.

No. That's just a meme. Time is worthless if you waste it.

Two. People who think you can drop out and start a business tomorrow are LARPers.

Literally the only people who say this crap are here roleplaying and don't take action.

To start a business takes skills.

Skills you can learn without dropping out of your free education.

Skills you can learn without alienating your whole damn family.

I don't know where this meme that you can do stuff without any skill comes from.

But it needs to die in a fire.

I mean, say he drops out... what does he do?

He learns some basics... while working a job?

A shitty job instead of the one he would get with his degree?

A shitty job that takes 3 times the hours it takes to go to University?

A shitty job that makes him a failure in the eyes of his family, putting him under x10 the pressure?

This is your advice? This is your value proposition?

Is there a big joke I don't get?

Do you people even think before dishing out #EntrepreneurHustlerLife platitudes?

I'm sorry, isn't the advice constantly "don't quit your job, start on the side"?

Uni takes less time and energy than a job.

So do that now, right? That would be the logical advice.

But no, because screw college. College is useless, hurray!

Three. Building a business is failure, pain, and suffering.

So he hates his studies. So what?

That's a hard life? GTFO.

You people think he can tough it out in the market with this attitude?

OP could get another 5 years degree he hates and it would be easier than building a business.

He's feeling bad?

It's nothing close to how bad he will feel after he drops out, fails a couple of times, and considers himself a failure, judged by everyone around him.

"What happened to jerryB? He had such potential! Threw it all away."

People who went through the same thing know what I'm talking about.

People who didn't, don't get it.

That's all I'm saying.

Remember: a college degree entitles you exactly NOTHING.

Those saying “stay in college you only have one more year” are committing the sunk cost fallacy.

No, they aren't. That's not what the sunk cost fallacy is.

Since you want to use the big words, we are saying that the marginal cost of getting the degree is small compared to the value of the degree, especially considering that since OP has no idea what to do, the opportunity cost is actually null. And since he would do nothing but fret on this board asking about this and that business model he has discovered yesterday, and which he's not remotely competent enough to put into action, he should get the degree instead.

Also OP lives in Europe. People in Europe care about Masters a crapload more than in the US.

At least in some places in the EU people actually ask you about your degree before doing business with you.
Not hiring you. Doing business with your company. Your successful company.

It entitles to a lot of status, and that matters a lot.

But sure, #HustleCultureLiveYourBestLife instead.

My choice of this studies was based on financial reasons. I didn't even think that I wouldn't be able to tolerate it this much.

That's the only smart way to make this kind of decision.

And the reason why you can't tolerate it is that you emotionally decided you are done with it.

If you really couldn't tolerate it, you wouldn't have tolerated it for four years.

Look at it this way.

Is it smart to make decisions when you're not emotionally stable?

Fix your mindset and emotional problems. Then decide.

 

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[jerryB]

Hi,

I'm on my last year of Computer Science. I already have a bachelor degree in Computer Science but now I'm on the last year of my master. I'm also working on my own business but that's not the point here.
The bachelor went quite smooth, but I'm really struggling with the master studies since I discovered that I hate computer science and programming and I don't have talent for it whatsoever.

As I said, I hate programming. It makes me miserable. I don't have a "drive" for it whatsoever. I began with it in the first place because I was motivated by money..programming is a good job. I worked as a developer before and money was great, but my problem was always being this guy with least talent in the room and the guy that struggled with everything.
I hate it, I don't have any talent for it, I struggle with it and I wanna quit it for good. I have talent for many other things which I abandoned because I thought that I would become an excellent developer which obviously didn't happen.

My parents are being problematic here. They keep "motivating" me to finish my major, whereas I'm getting depressed because I hate my it. I hate the stupid and useless subjects. There are kids at the university who just love programming, love computer science and are having fun doing it. I'm not having fun at all.

So yeah, I have this pressure from my parents but I also fear the future, because I spent like 4 years studying this shit and came to conclusion that it was a bad choice, because I don't actually have a talent for it and went there to "get a good job". But what's the point in having a "good job" when the job makes you miserable?

My parents are from the old generation: "get your degree, get a job, get a mortgage, a car, a wife, kids, dog and spend your life working 9-5" and I feel this pressure from them and I have this feeling that I'm not fulfilling their expectations or I don't know. It's just I'm really attached to them and truth be told don't have guts to say "no" to them.

I'm not asking what I should do but what you guys would do in my situation? Would you quit the university and focus on the things you love doing?

 

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[jon.M]

Life is suffering. Think of that stupid, useless and depressing university as basic training. When you get out on the other side with your degree, you have proven yourself. You will be qualified to deal with whatever other stupid, un-fun, depressing shit you'll certainly have to endure in the future.

Russians who had been in the Siberian Gulags were tougher than the rest. It was not because the Gulags made them that way, but because the tough were the only ones to make it through. Obviously university is a cakewalk in comparison, but make of that what you will.

 

[rwhyan]

Remember: a college degree entitles you exactly NOTHING.

Those saying “stay in college you only have one more year” are committing the sunk cost fallacy.

If entrepreneurship is in your veins, I wholeheartedly believe spending time in college is only a detriment.

I’d rather be working a shitty job and hustling in the real world than sitting in a classroom and consuming.

 

[GuestUser4aMPs1]

STOP DOING SHIT YOU HATE.

Life is too short.

You can die tomorrow having lived a life of meaningless suffering and no joy.

(I have more to add as the advice in this thread is infuriating).

 

[AceVentures]

OP, I'm an engineer, and I also want to do something else with my life.

With that said, consider how I began my journey and where I am today that is positioning me very well for my entrepreneurial ventures.

Went to engineering school, aced the game, and landed a job after college. Did I love it? No. I did it for the money. I did it because I grew up with a single mom that worked at Dunkin Donuts and Subway, and I refused mediocrity for my own life, so I thought getting a degree and a job would be a good place to start.

It was only after reading UNSCRIPTED and joining the forums that I learned more about entrepreneurship and the life journey towards delivering value independent of your time.

My immediate reaction after learning about entrepreneurship was to drop everything I was doing and "go live my best life". As if quitting your job suddenly renders you super valuable to people... I shared my experiences in my intro and got solid advice from members, including MJ.

I decided to keep my job, moonlight in the evenings/weekends, and test my ideas on the sidelines.

So what?

Well, for one, I'm getting paid! And as an engineer, actually really good money! Young? Single? You can save that engineer paycheck to fund your dreams...

Second, I'm gaining so much industry experience and business exposure. Engineers can work in the technical domain or commercial, or both. Your work will be used for estimating project metrics and ultimately, project economics. You'll be invited to collaborate with colleagues with experiences and backgrounds from all over the world, you'll attend interesting meetings and conferences where you'll network with other brilliant folks, and you'll learn the systems, workflows and decision making processes of potentially wildly successful companies.

Now, as a wanna-be entrepreneur, would you reckon the above skills can come in handy when you start your own venture? Can you imagine that having business experience as well as capital to fund your projects will propel you further in your entrepreneurial journey?

I'm not saying you should get a job as a CS and work a corporate job... What I'm saying is that "getting a degree and having a job" might not be a deadend slowlaner option if you play it right.

Just don't let "I don't like this" be an excuse for not finishing your studies. Maybe it's not that you dislike it, maybe you simply lack the perspective to appreciate what you can do with those skills.

I just see a lot of people giving advice on "quit it all and go live your dreams", and when I was less experienced in this forum and money hungry, it was soooo tempting to think I would give it all up and go live on the beach in Bali. In reality, entrepreneurship can be lonely and extremely hard. Look at all the people on this forum, maybe 5% of them are making good money? Even if you have a successful biz, how hard to net 80-100k/year? Yea... might take you a whole lot more than the pain of finishing your CS degree.

Land an easy job straight out of college, working 9-5, making 6 figures, sitting on bean bags and eating free food at the office. Yea, what a nightmare eh? Better give it up before you even start, so you can go flip shit on craigslist and hope you can come up with enough to pay your gas money.

 

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[BellaPippin]

If it was me, I'd also suck it up and finish it. And all the other advise above.

If you drop that now, what are you gonna have to show for all that debt? Might as well have the credentials, you never know when they may come in handy. My bf has the bachelor only and gets bombarded with 100k+/yr from recruiters. If something happened you could easily get something temporarily to say, raise funds. Or the skills and networking you get might come in handy in the future. And like Palneoon said it's not like you're dropping because your venture exploded.

If you drop now you will have no degree and all that debt for nothing. It was tough for me the last couple semesters and it wasn't even a master, I was dealing with a ton of stuff at the time. But I'm soooooo glad I pushed through looking back. You can do it, it's the last stretch.

 

[NursingTn]

Time is the most precious commodity you have. Consider what you want in the end, and reverse engineer the steps needed to get to where you want to be at...

I can't tell you to leave or stay in your program. I can tell you that I left my master program when I only had one year left. Why?

I couldn't care less anymore about it. I did not want to use anything from it, not even in entrepreneurship. To me, it was a gigantic waste of one of my most precious commodities: Time.

You see, you are only getting older. You won't get this time back. If you know you have other things you can do that you that are meaningful to you, and that you will work on them if you quit the program, then I think quitting the program is a wise decision.

If you don't have anything meaningful to do with the time you get back from leaving the program, and you still quit the program, then I think that's also a wise decision. At least you now know that you want something else from your life, and you can begin the journey of finding out what you want.

Whatever you decide, don't listen to either side saying stay or leave. They aren't living your life. They don't know you as well as you know yourself. They don't know how badly you must be feeling. You, sir, will need to take the bull by the horn and make the decision yourself.

Good luck.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Serious question...

Do you derive any JOY or SATISFACTION in your finished product? An application? A software solution that solves a problem? Do you get joy in your results as an artist would when finishing a painting? A sculpture? A piece of furniture for a woodworker?

Or are you stuck painting and brick-laying without ever getting an opportunity to relish in the finished product?

 

[Johnny boy]

Hi,

I'm on my last year of Computer Science. I already have a bachelor degree in Computer Science but now I'm on the last year of my master. I'm also working on my own business but that's not the point here.
The bachelor went quite smooth, but I'm really struggling with the master studies since I discovered that I hate computer science and programming and I don't have talent for it whatsoever.

As I said, I hate programming. It makes me miserable. I don't have a "drive" for it whatsoever. I began with it in the first place because I was motivated by money..programming is a good job. I worked as a developer before and money was great, but my problem was always being this guy with least talent in the room and the guy that struggled with everything.
I hate it, I don't have any talent for it, I struggle with it and I wanna quit it for good. I have talent for many other things which I abandoned because I thought that I would become an excellent developer which obviously didn't happen.

My parents are being problematic here. They keep "motivating" me to finish my major, whereas I'm getting depressed because I hate my it. I hate the stupid and useless subjects. There are kids at the university who just love programming, love computer science and are having fun doing it. I'm not having fun at all.

So yeah, I have this pressure from my parents but I also fear the future, because I spent like 4 years studying this shit and came to conclusion that it was a bad choice, because I don't actually have a talent for it and went there to "get a good job". But what's the point in having a "good job" when the job makes you miserable?

My parents are from the old generation: "get your degree, get a job, get a mortgage, a car, a wife, kids, dog and spend your life working 9-5" and I feel this pressure from them and I have this feeling that I'm not fulfilling their expectations or I don't know. It's just I'm really attached to them and truth be told don't have guts to say "no" to them.

I'm not asking what I should do but what you guys would do in my situation? Would you quit the university and focus on the things you love doing?

leave. Your parents don't care about your happiness then. They care about bragging that their kid has a degree to all of the other stupid parents. Forget them.

 

[Ninjakid]

why? if you would do this - you havent a fastlane mindset.

Because you haven’t been here long enough to see how many young people quit work and quit school to become entrepreneurs, but end up worse off than they were before because they realize just reading blogs and books doesn’t mean shit in the real world.

Or the people who refuse to get a job or go to school because they think they’re fastlane, but really don’t have a business and are just lazy.

In OP’s case, school is free, and better yet, he’s learning something which is actually a valuable skill which he could use towards a business. He could easily work on his business in his spare time

 

[Black_Dragon43]

Thank you. What can I say, I can totally relate. I feel like a piece of shit doing this major in CS. My choice of this studies was based on financial reasons. I didn't even think that I wouldn't be able to tolerate it this much.

I have a degree in Engineering... and I never worked a single day as an Engineer. What degree you have doesn't have to define you.

I love marketing & sales, and I was doing copywriting work and starting businesses even before the university. Attending didn't change a thing. There was also pressure from my parents. Just get your degree, and do what you want. You don't have to work in the same field that you studied. If your dream is being a musician or teaching foreign languages, then go do that. You can make a TON of $$$$ out of anything, I promise you that.

Majoring in CS was a good experience - you learned a lot of shit out of it about yourself and it is this pain which allows you to reposition yourself towards what you love doing. Be grateful for it. Life isn't easy.

At least you'll have that degree to earn $100K per year and you can be sure you won't ever starve. That's more than enough to ask for, considering that millions of people don't even have the chance to attend university at all. You hate CS, but you can F*cking do it if that's what it takes to survive. Many can't.

Nobody will serve your dream on a silver platter. And getting your dream handed to you on a silver platter actually ruins it. It is the hydra that made Hercules into Hercules... Who would Hercules have been without the Hydra?

 

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[PapaGang]

Hi,

I'm on my last year of Computer Science. I already have a bachelor degree in Computer Science but now I'm on the last year of my master. I'm also working on my own business but that's not the point here.
The bachelor went quite smooth, but I'm really struggling with the master studies since I discovered that I hate computer science and programming and I don't have talent for it whatsoever.

As I said, I hate programming. It makes me miserable. I don't have a "drive" for it whatsoever. I began with it in the first place because I was motivated by money..programming is a good job. I worked as a developer before and money was great, but my problem was always being this guy with least talent in the room and the guy that struggled with everything.
I hate it, I don't have any talent for it, I struggle with it and I wanna quit it for good. I have talent for many other things which I abandoned because I thought that I would become an excellent developer which obviously didn't happen.

My parents are being problematic here. They keep "motivating" me to finish my major, whereas I'm getting depressed because I hate my it. I hate the stupid and useless subjects. There are kids at the university who just love programming, love computer science and are having fun doing it. I'm not having fun at all.

So yeah, I have this pressure from my parents but I also fear the future, because I spent like 4 years studying this shit and came to conclusion that it was a bad choice, because I don't actually have a talent for it and went there to "get a good job". But what's the point in having a "good job" when the job makes you miserable?

My parents are from the old generation: "get your degree, get a job, get a mortgage, a car, a wife, kids, dog and spend your life working 9-5" and I feel this pressure from them and I have this feeling that I'm not fulfilling their expectations or I don't know. It's just I'm really attached to them and truth be told don't have guts to say "no" to them.

I'm not asking what I should do but what you guys would do in my situation? Would you quit the university and focus on the things you love doing?

Big F*cking secret: NOBODY KNOWS WTF THEY ARE DOING WITH THEIR DEGREES, AND ALMOST NO ONE HAS A JOB IN THEIR MAJOR.

Most College Graduates Have Jobs Unrelated To Their Major

Ezra Klein links to a New York Federal Reserve Bank study that shows that few college graduates are working in a field related to their major: Here's some interesting new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The vast majority of college grads work in jobs unrelated to their maj

www.outsidethebeltway.com

This is a life design issue. The system is broken. People go to school for 12 years, then college, without spending any time in the world. How are you supposed to know what you want to do with your life??? It's an insane premise.

What would I do?
• Question and examine my assumptions. Do I hate it because I'm bad at it, or because it lacks meaning because the projects aren't exciting? If I am bad at something, I can remedy that in short order. Give me 2 months and I can make giant steps forward. If the projects are uninteresting, then what would be an interesting project? Do you like making things, or do you like selling things? One requires programming skills, the other requires people skills.

• Get tough. Seth Godin calls your situation The Dip. It is something that happens when you are close to finishing something big, or when you are close to a breakthrough. The dip is there because if it wasn't, it would be easy and everyone else would be doing it. Starting a business is torturous. It is the worst shit ever, because you already broke through "reality" and realized you are surround by sheeple, living some shitty scripted life. Then, you have the audacity to start your own thing, and everyone tries to pull you down. It's hard enough to push through failures while you are building a business, but then you have negative poeple and dipshit zombies that pile on, severly testing the limits of your confidence, discipline, patience, and your deepest held beliefs. Think school is hard? I went through basic military training, and building a business is harder.

• Everyone needs a purpose. what's yours? Hint: orient yourself towards the highest good you can think of. Maybe your skills would really benefit clean tech / green tech. Maybe using tech to support agriculture challenges, maybe help fight tyranny wherever it lives. Having this degree gives you power. A power that almost everyone DOES NOT HAVE. What good can you do with it? What problems can you solve for someone else?

• Your world turns upside down when you put others first. That's what gives your life meaning. I swear if your heart is in the right place and you genuinely find a need and you map out how you can help someone solve their problem, your life gains meaning and you will work 18 hour days to gain the necessary skills to make things happen, and your talent and skill will multiply.

• Know yourself. dig deep. figure out your mission. what makes you work. what makes you happy, what makes you miserable. write it out. create a balance sheet. figure out all of the talents you have and how you can put them to good use. Get a firm grip on who you are, so when you decide to do something inspired, you can push through all of the resistance and naysayers.

• I can't tell you what to do, but I am a firm believer that a person should not waste a day doing something they hate, but in this case, you are almost finished with something that will be a great asset to have. Using that logic, you are not wasting your time, because every day you are learning a very valuable skill, a skill that very few people have. It doesn't matter if there are better students in your class, you aren't competing with them, because you will be busy solving other people's problems (you did read TMF , right?) You are currently in a bubble (and a hated one), but once you leave the bubble, the world opens up for you. Is this the beginning of something great, or will you see it as a death certificate?

You have what is most important: time and initiative. You can get the degree, spend your time exploring, experimenting, and finding problems to solve. Figure out where you can do the most good. What if instead of quitting you used the skills you spent so much time learning to establish your place in the world?

The work is the reward.
Never shy away from the work.

But here's the great news: you are young, you don't need to have it figured out. In fact, it would be unusual if you did. Use your twenties to experiment relentlessly. Life is a big game. It's just scaled up from elementary school. So whatever you do, it's ok. But before you make a big decision, make sure that you have your higher purpose, so you can pursue that with hunger, determination and joy.

There is another book that may clear all of this up for you:
Designing Your Life

-OR-

Just re-read The Millionaire Fastlane . Then do it again. Then again.

 

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[palneoon]

Side note..I am astounded by the limiting beliefs exhibited by the top posts in this thread. Get a master's degree as a backup plan? Care what people think about how you make ends meet while you build your empire?

Your post is literally the first mention of "backup plan" in the thread. We're talking about leveraging the degree.
Keep strawmanning: I'm sure this level of clear thinking is going to make you a trillionaire.

But let's review the options, shall we?

1. Leave. Now he has to work & learn skills & start a business on the side.
2. Stay. Now he has to study & learn skills. By the time he finishes, he has a better idea of how to move, and if he still gets a job, it's a better one. Which tires him less and gives him more time/energy to start a business on the side.

The number one skill in life is making smart decisions. Care to do a SWOT analysis?

Brass tacks, he is going to have to learn skills and start a business anyway. Might as well get the degree in the meantime and have a lighter workload while he does things on the side. This is not a limiting belief. This is simple decision making.

Let me red pill you instead.

You hallucinated the backup plan idea.
You hallucinated that actually thinking about a decision is a limiting belief.

Because you are programmed.

College = bad. Dropping out = good. Backup plan = limiting beliefs.

You haven't really considered the issue. You just ran the programs you picked up from, well, marketing ploys.

Reality:

• A degree is an asset like any other asset. It has real, tangible value because society values it. Better to have it than not have it.
• He has no skills to start a business he has to learn them. Easier to do while in college than on a job.
• He doesn't know what he would do, therefore he would spend months doing nothing but researching, which he can do on the side.

I would love to see someone explain the advantages of the actual scenario of dropping out.
Something that isn't some motivational nonsense, I mean.

Lastly, speaking of beliefs: dropping out when it's a stupid idea because "you can't take it anymore" teaches your brain that it's OK to give up when things are hard. It installs terrible beliefs. Whereas sticking it out teaches your brain you can do anything.
A belief-savvy guy like you should know that.

 

[Tourmaline]

Programming is a tool. OP doesn't like it because he can't see any vision with it. Let me give you an example. You say you love learning foreign languages. Would you love talking to people from different countries in different languages? I suppose the answer is yes. So how about building an app which let's people select a different language first and then find someone who speaks it from a different country? Would you like to own a business with such an app? I suppose the answer is again yes. So will you be better off creating a business like that with the degree or without it?

Yup. What actually is making @jerryB sick is not university. It is his lack of purpose.

Not that one needs to go to college to learn to code...lol

Going to college for CS taught me about the microdetails of processors. How often has that been useful irl?

Almost zero.

But it does let me understand at a deeper level and speak to others about technological developments and the like at such a level.

Of course I could have gotten that from literally one textbook instead of years and thousands of dollars...

The catch however is two fold.

University is free for OP? Okay so switch majors if you really want to get far away from CS and do not care about what you can do with it later(such as make an app based business and make serious wealth).

And

Going to gym, learning foreign languages, creating music, teaching

Doesn't actually sound like the OP has much other skills, but probably has not thought about this much either.

Looking at what one likes to do according to the evidence of the past and what one has done, and finding a way to be useful and contribute to society is the general formula I currently like.

What one can currently do at such a young age hardly matters compared to what one wants to be able to do and for what purpose.

Go study music. Go study sports nutrition. Go study linguistics. Go study education.

It doesn't cost any money and you don't seem to have any employable skills. Go study and build skills concurrently.

Just a suggestion of course

 

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[GuestUser4aMPs1]

So.

Everyone is rooting someone on to complete a master's study.

Ignoring the fact that OP knows he isn't well suited for that course of study and will not go into the field after finishing the degree as it makes him miserable.

"Just finish, you're so close to finishing the race you never wanted in the first place!"

Not a judgement. Only an observation.

 

[Here]

God, this board is so frustrating sometimes. Rant incoming.

One. Time unused is wasted.

OP has no idea what they want to do.

OP has no skills to start a business.

OP lives in Europe where without a Masters you won't get funding or credit.

OP would do nothing with this year.

But sure, uhh, time is, uhuh, invaluable.

No. That's just a meme. Time is worthless if you waste it.

Two. People who think you can drop out and start a business tomorrow are LARPers.

Literally the only people who say this crap are here roleplaying and don't take action.

To start a business takes skills.

Skills you can learn without dropping out of your free education.

Skills you can learn without alienating your whole damn family.

I don't know where this meme that you can do stuff without any skill comes from.

But it needs to die in a fire.

I mean, say he drops out... what does he do?

He learns some basics... while working a job?

A shitty job instead of the one he would get with his degree?

A shitty job that takes 3 times the hours it takes to go to University?

A shitty job that makes him a failure in the eyes of his family, putting him under x10 the pressure?

This is your advice? This is your value proposition?

Is there a big joke I don't get?

Do you people even think before dishing out #EntrepreneurHustlerLife platitudes?

I'm sorry, isn't the advice constantly "don't quit your job, start on the side"?

Uni takes less time and energy than a job.

So do that now, right? That would be the logical advice.

But no, because screw college. College is useless, hurray!

Three. Building a business is failure, pain, and suffering.

So he hates his studies. So what?

That's a hard life? GTFO.

You people think he can tough it out in the market with this attitude?

OP could get another 5 years degree he hates and it would be easier than building a business.

He's feeling bad?

It's nothing close to how bad he will feel after he drops out, fails a couple of times, and considers himself a failure, judged by everyone around him.

"What happened to jerryB? He had such potential! Threw it all away."

People who went through the same thing know what I'm talking about.

People who didn't, don't get it.

That's all I'm saying.



No, they aren't. That's not what the sunk cost fallacy is.

Since you want to use the big words, we are saying that the marginal cost of getting the degree is small compared to the value of the degree, especially considering that since OP has no idea what to do, the opportunity cost is actually null. And since he would do nothing but fret on this board asking about this and that business model he has discovered yesterday, and which he's not remotely competent enough to put into action, he should get the degree instead.

Also OP lives in Europe. People in Europe care about Masters a crapload more than in the US.

At least in some places in the EU people actually ask you about your degree before doing business with you.
Not hiring you. Doing business with your company. Your successful company.

It entitles to a lot of status, and that matters a lot.

But sure, #HustleCultureLiveYourBestLife instead.

That's the only smart way to make this kind of decision.

And the reason why you can't tolerate it is that you emotionally decided you are done with it.

If you really couldn't tolerate it, you wouldn't have tolerated it for four years.

Look at it this way.

Is it smart to make decisions when you're not emotionally stable?

Fix your mindset and emotional problems. Then decide.

Thank you for saying what I couldn’t quite put into words.

Fast lane kool aid is just as poisonous as any other koolaid.

 

[Kraelog]

God, this board is so frustrating sometimes. Rant incoming.

One. Time unused is wasted.

OP has no idea what they want to do.

OP has no skills to start a business.

OP lives in Europe where without a Masters you won't get funding or credit.

OP would do nothing with this year.

But sure, uhh, time is, uhuh, invaluable.

No. That's just a meme. Time is worthless if you waste it.

Two. People who think you can drop out and start a business tomorrow are LARPers.

Literally the only people who say this crap are here roleplaying and don't take action.

To start a business takes skills.

Skills you can learn without dropping out of your free education.

Skills you can learn without alienating your whole damn family.

I don't know where this meme that you can do stuff without any skill comes from.

But it needs to die in a fire.

I mean, say he drops out... what does he do?

He learns some basics... while working a job?

A shitty job instead of the one he would get with his degree?

A shitty job that takes 3 times the hours it takes to go to University?

A shitty job that makes him a failure in the eyes of his family, putting him under x10 the pressure?

This is your advice? This is your value proposition?

Is there a big joke I don't get?

Do you people even think before dishing out #EntrepreneurHustlerLife platitudes?

I'm sorry, isn't the advice constantly "don't quit your job, start on the side"?

Uni takes less time and energy than a job.

So do that now, right? That would be the logical advice.

But no, because screw college. College is useless, hurray!

Three. Building a business is failure, pain, and suffering.

So he hates his studies. So what?

That's a hard life? GTFO.

You people think he can tough it out in the market with this attitude?

OP could get another 5 years degree he hates and it would be easier than building a business.

He's feeling bad?

It's nothing close to how bad he will feel after he drops out, fails a couple of times, and considers himself a failure, judged by everyone around him.

"What happened to jerryB? He had such potential! Threw it all away."

People who went through the same thing know what I'm talking about.

People who didn't, don't get it.

That's all I'm saying.



No, they aren't. That's not what the sunk cost fallacy is.

Since you want to use the big words, we are saying that the marginal cost of getting the degree is small compared to the value of the degree, especially considering that since OP has no idea what to do, the opportunity cost is actually null. And since he would do nothing but fret on this board asking about this and that business model he has discovered yesterday, and which he's not remotely competent enough to put into action, he should get the degree instead.

Also OP lives in Europe. People in Europe care about Masters a crapload more than in the US.

At least in some places in the EU people actually ask you about your degree before doing business with you.
Not hiring you. Doing business with your company. Your successful company.

It entitles to a lot of status, and that matters a lot.

But sure, #HustleCultureLiveYourBestLife instead.

That's the only smart way to make this kind of decision.

And the reason why you can't tolerate it is that you emotionally decided you are done with it.

If you really couldn't tolerate it, you wouldn't have tolerated it for four years.

Look at it this way.

Is it smart to make decisions when you're not emotionally stable?

Fix your mindset and emotional problems. Then decide.

X1000 times this.

I quit my job a long time ago to "explore" and "live the dream" and build a "business". An online translation business. What happened?

1. I knew jack shit about sales, so I did not manage to sell shit.
2. My "business" had competition from millions of people since the barrier to entry was "I speak 1 language and understand another".
3. I had to work through middlemen since in Europe every business required a Master in Translation before they would do business with me.
4. I lacked any discipline or backbone to work long hours. Turns out "living the dream" equals procrastinating until the end of time.

After a year I closed down business and went back to a job. To learn some goddamn valuable skills.

@jerryB
Whether you like or hate studying programming is completely irrelevant. Regardless what your goal in life is, as long as it is something worthwhile, you will have to do endless amounts of stupid shit you hate in order to get an inch closer to your end goal.

The entire "Hakuna Matata Life Your Dream" nonsense propagated by some is just hoping vainly that by running away from painful & hard things, you will somehow end up with endless exciting vacations of "fun" you call a "business". You won't.

So my respectful advice to you is to grind your teeth and just F*cking do it.

 

[GrandRub]

whats your business? if your business has a good perspective and you are motivated and driven to work in your business - then do this. why do one more year of something that isnt useful.

programming is a very broad field - nothing is interesting for you? what is interesting for you? what gives you energy and motivation?


maybe you just need a year of doing things that are in your mind. work on your busines. "quitting" isnt a on/off thing. your CP wont go to the trash. and maybe after a year you are happy to go back to university - or you are glad that you did the jump.

dont listen to your parents. they wont do you harm ... but YOU have to live your live. they just want the "best" - a good, quiet, stable, secured and scripted live.

 

[Kevin88660]

Hi,

I'm on my last year of Computer Science. I already have a bachelor degree in Computer Science but now I'm on the last year of my master. I'm also working on my own business but that's not the point here.
The bachelor went quite smooth, but I'm really struggling with the master studies since I discovered that I hate computer science and programming and I don't have talent for it whatsoever.

As I said, I hate programming. It makes me miserable. I don't have a "drive" for it whatsoever. I began with it in the first place because I was motivated by money..programming is a good job. I worked as a developer before and money was great, but my problem was always being this guy with least talent in the room and the guy that struggled with everything.
I hate it, I don't have any talent for it, I struggle with it and I wanna quit it for good. I have talent for many other things which I abandoned because I thought that I would become an excellent developer which obviously didn't happen.

My parents are being problematic here. They keep "motivating" me to finish my major, whereas I'm getting depressed because I hate my it. I hate the stupid and useless subjects. There are kids at the university who just love programming, love computer science and are having fun doing it. I'm not having fun at all.

So yeah, I have this pressure from my parents but I also fear the future, because I spent like 4 years studying this shit and came to conclusion that it was a bad choice, because I don't actually have a talent for it and went there to "get a good job". But what's the point in having a "good job" when the job makes you miserable?

My parents are from the old generation: "get your degree, get a job, get a mortgage, a car, a wife, kids, dog and spend your life working 9-5" and I feel this pressure from them and I have this feeling that I'm not fulfilling their expectations or I don't know. It's just I'm really attached to them and truth be told don't have guts to say "no" to them.

I'm not asking what I should do but what you guys would do in my situation? Would you quit the university and focus on the things you love doing?

You left less than a year for a master..why not just finish it.

Do what you need to get the cert and move on?

 

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[Ninjakid]

I have a Fastlane mindset, but if I had a kid and they said they were dropping out of school with no prospects, I'd kick their a$$

 

[Tourmaline]

I like to code when I need to get something done. I don't like to code otherwise.

Coding to me is a tool. Who likes hammers? I like nails in walls.

 

[GrandRub]

I have a Fastlane mindset, but if I had a kid and they said they were dropping out of school with no prospects, I'd kick their a$$

why? if you would do this - you havent a fastlane mindset.

 

[Sadik]

Programming is a tool. OP doesn't like it because he can't see any vision with it. Let me give you an example. You say you love learning foreign languages. Would you love talking to people from different countries in different languages? I suppose the answer is yes. So how about building an app which let's people select a different language first and then find someone who speaks it from a different country? Would you like to own a business with such an app? I suppose the answer is again yes. So will you be better off creating a business like that with the degree or without it?

 

[Here]

So.

Everyone is rooting someone on to complete a master's study.

Ignoring the fact that OP knows he isn't well suited for that course of study and will not go into the field after finishing the degree as it makes him miserable.

"Just finish, you're so close to finishing the race you never wanted in the first place!"

Not a judgement. Only an observation.

Op has no clue what he wants to do next. If he were working on something on the side and his studies were slowing him down, the responses would be different.

I learned some good stuff from my masters. Research and pushing against dumb professors, mostly. I also built a work ethic. There are other ways of learning those lessons but op is already here.

Edit: I see op is creating a side hustle. But it sounds like he’s perfectly capable of doing both.

 

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[AFMKelvin]

Just because you have a degree in programming doesn't mean you actually have to program. You can match your passion with programming. Just finish the degree.

You like teaching and foreign languages right. So why not make an app that teaches people a foreign language. You don't have to code yourself you can hire an Indian coder to do all the grudge work. How about an app for foreign language slang. That's the first thing most people learn in a new language slang and curse words.

 

[jerryB]

I'm back after a few months. I decided to tell about what I decided.

So..I decided to quit the university. I've got my bachelor's degree. I quit in the middle of my 2-year master studies. Parents were angry at first, now they are sad because "I was so close to graduating" whereas I couldn't care less about this degree.

Those studies were literally making me sick. Constant stress, assignments, exams - I couldn't handle these anymore since CS wasn't even my field of interest. Going there everyday, doing things I hate was literally driving me nuts and giving me depression.

I decided to turn my life upside down and start something completely new. Something I know I can provide value with and thus make money on it.

My final advice for people in a similar situation? If you want to be free from 9-5, have your own business, run your own thing, be responsible for yourself, live without a boss and you have slowlane parents - don't listen to them. Obviously they want you to be happy and to live a stable life, like every parents, but probably their definition of happiness is different than yours. And honestly - you'll never be happy if you don't take responsibility for your own decisions. I was feeling like my life was owned by other people and thus I was getting more and more depressed because they were pushing me towards something I didn't really want doing. When I finally decided to make my own decision and stopped listening to advices from others I felt and immediate relief and it still feels amazing.

Good luck guys.

 

[jerryB]

I'm not in debt. Luckily the university in my country is "free". (I live in Europe).

 

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[BellaPippin]

I'm not in debt. Luckily the university in my country is "free". (I live in Europe).

Nice, one less thing to worry about.

The other points are still relevant though, in my opinion. I feel it would be more justified to drop off and scratch the time/money invested if you had somewhere to jump.

Edit - idk, even thought I'm very unconstant there's a few things that once I've gotten to a certain point I feel I gotta finish it, you know? That's just me.