• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

why is taking semester off the end of the world?

prplchknz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
34,397
MBTI Type
yupp
especially if you know that if you don't you'll fuck up your future? I don't get it. I know that I need the semester off to get refocused, but my parents don't understand that. And my dad accused me of sitting on my ass all day and smoking pot. which I only do occasionally.
 

ajblaise

Minister of Propagandhi
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
7,914
MBTI Type
INTP
I think to a lot of people "I'm taking a semester off" equates to "yeah, I'm probably not going back".

So you might encounter that attitude until you do eventually go back.
 

Tiltyred

New member
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
4,322
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
468
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
In my case it was because they wanted me to get a degree, get a job, and get out.
 

Athenian200

Protocol Droid
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Messages
8,828
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
It isn't.

But it can appear that way, because often when people take a semester off, they give up and don't go back. Basically, it's seen as "falling off the wagon."
 

NewEra

New member
Joined
Dec 21, 2008
Messages
3,104
MBTI Type
I
Yeah, as long as you go back, and if you need this semester to get re-focused, then you should probably take off, but make sure you go back.
 

ergophobe

Allergic to Mornings
Joined
Apr 26, 2009
Messages
1,210
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
7w6
especially if you know that if you don't you'll fuck up your future? I don't get it. I know that I need the semester off to get refocused, but my parents don't understand that. And my dad accused me of sitting on my ass all day and smoking pot. which I only do occasionally.

Like ajblaise said, taking a semester has been done due to a variety of reasons and led to various consequences too. Most people go back, some don't. Your parents have expectations of you like all parents and sometimes lack the sympathy we desire most from them...sorry.

I took a year off after high school and nobody got why --- all sorts of explanations were afloat including that I flunked out of the great high school I went to. It was far from the truth and I did top (get the highest GPA) in my college in my major just to prove them wrong :smile:

My reason for taking a year off was I really didn't know what I was going to study and I felt like I would have just jumped into the wrong program. Instead, I took a year and worked as a journalist and really enjoyed the short writing projects and travel, even though the field was entertainment.

I hope this is not too presumptuous, I'm just curious - what are you doing during your semester off?
Possible ideas:
Take a course in something you enjoy doing, just for fun. Art/Dance/Writing -- it'll help you recharge and get them off your back.
Could you explain to them why you need this time and how what you're doing during this time will put you in a better place for your career in the long run.

Sorry again -- if this is what you need, you have to take the time for yourself and hope that in the long run, their understanding will catch up. In the meantime, concentrate on yourself.
 

prplchknz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
34,397
MBTI Type
yupp
It isn't.

But it can appear that way, because often when people take a semester off, they give up and don't go back. Basically, it's seen as "falling off the wagon."

but i gave up while still in school, without taking a semester off, I have one chance left before I get kicked out of school for good, so I figure the worse that would happen is I fuck up again once I'm back but I know if I stay I'll fail all my classes. so I at least have a chance with taking the semester off and I'm one of those people that needs an ultimate goal in mind* or else I won't have the motivation to do the work. I know I don't want a minimum wage job for the rest of my life I can't do physical labor, and I sure as hell don't want to work in the service industry, so I mean I have to get a BA. me not getting one is not an option and if I stay I'll fuck that up.

*more then I want this gpa, but how will this help me in the future, and with no future goals in mind I won'tdo well.
 

Felix

New member
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
32
MBTI Type
INxJ
It's not. Do what you need to do, forget them all, as you're the one that knows what's right for you :)
 

Athenian200

Protocol Droid
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Messages
8,828
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
but i gave up while still in school, without taking a semester off, I have one chance left before I get kicked out of school for good, so I figure the worse that would happen is I fuck up again once I'm back but I know if I stay I'll fail all my classes. so I at least have a chance with taking the semester off and I'm one of those people that needs an ultimate goal in mind* or else I won't have the motivation to do the work. I know I don't want a minimum wage job for the rest of my life I can't do physical labor, and I sure as hell don't want to work in the service industry, so I mean I have to get a BA. me not getting one is not an option and if I stay I'll fuck that up.

*more then I want this gpa, but how will this help me in the future, and with no future goals in mind I won'tdo well.

That's not entirely true. I decided to get a networking certification instead of doing the whole college thing, because that seemed like something I could see myself doing. Have you considered trying to get a certification for the job you want?

I've heard a lot of people say that the degrees are overrated, and that the main thing is persistently working to get into and advance in the field you're interested in, maybe getting the required certification (if any).

Basically, if you're just going to college to avoid physical labor and the service industry, that's a poor reason... it not only doesn't guarantee that, there are other, easier ways to get careers outside those areas.
 

prplchknz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
34,397
MBTI Type
yupp
That's not entirely true. I decided to get a networking certification instead of doing the whole college thing, because that seemed like something I could see myself doing. Have you considered trying to get a certification for the job you want?

I've heard that the degrees are overrated, and that the main thing is persistently working to get into and advance in the field you're interested in, maybe needing a certification to get into it.

I don't know what job I want either. I wish I knew this whole thing would be easier.
 

Athenian200

Protocol Droid
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Messages
8,828
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
I don't know what job I want either. I wish I knew this whole thing would be easier.

Well... going to college when you don't know what job you want is a waste of time and money. College can help you get certain kinds of high-level positions, but only if you know what you're looking for and get a specialized degree for it... the general ones are all but useless.

I've spoken to people who've done that... they just ended up with a massive debt, and fallen behind everyone else who had already gotten experience to give them a clue to what they might want.

So, basically, even passing all your classes and getting your degree doesn't guarantee anything. Thus, there are only two good reasons to go to college:

1. You know what exactly what field you want to work in, and a college education will help you get in.

2. You want to have the "college experience," socialize, make contacts, get involved in the school, etc.
 

miked277

New member
Joined
Aug 1, 2007
Messages
343
MBTI Type
INTP
especially if you know that if you don't you'll fuck up your future? I don't get it. I know that I need the semester off to get refocused, but my parents don't understand that. And my dad accused me of sitting on my ass all day and smoking pot. which I only do occasionally.

if you're taking the semester off to do *nothing* then yeah, it might be a waste of time. if you're taking the time off to do something productive, then maybe you have a case for yourself.

speaking as someone who took several years off from college, i could never have justified it to my parents (or myself) had i not been working at the time on a career that required no degree.
 

prplchknz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
34,397
MBTI Type
yupp
if you're taking the semester off to do *nothing* then yeah, it might be a waste of time. if you're taking the time off to do something productive, then maybe you have a case for yourself.

speaking as someone who took several years off from college, i could never have justified it to my parents (or myself) had i not been working at the time on a career that required no degree.

I'm planning on either getting a job or volunteering so it wouldn't be I'd just sit on my ass and do nothing.
 

kyuuei

Emperor/Dictator
Joined
Aug 28, 2008
Messages
13,964
MBTI Type
enfp
Enneagram
8
So. You say you don't know what job you want.. how about settling for a job you don't hate instead? I'm going for Surgical tech.. I didn't grow up thinking I wanted to be in the medical field.. but until I find something I do want, it's a job I can handle that I won't absolutely hate. and it's only a year of certification, instead of 130billion college hours in classes I think are bullshit. So maybe just a certification in something that doesn't sound so bad will work until you find your focus..

I find it hard to fit semesters of college into my current lifestyle.. I've been trying for my associates since fall of 2005, and I'm only now going to get it in May of 2010. That's 5 years for an associates. Skipping semesters adds up a lot, and makes the task seem all the more daunting. The longer you're out of the loop, the harder it is to get back into it. but, better to be out for a while and come back refreshed and re-focused with a good game plan than floating through.

It sounds like you're more work oriented. I'm the same way. School depresses me, I'm just out of place there. I dislike it, but I do it out of necessity, and it depresses me throughout the process and unnecessarily stresses me out. To be a bit blunt, I don't think you should aim directly for a BA unless you know what sort of field you want to work in. If I were you, I'd do a certification as fast as possible and get started working there.. and maybe work on a BA in your spare time. Take weekend classes, or only 1 or 2 classes a semester towards a BA while you're working. But enuogh of me lecturing you. I want you to succeed, whatever you decide to do.

You know what you can handle best. So, stick to your guns.
 

Scott N Denver

New member
Joined
Apr 25, 2009
Messages
2,898
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
I come at this from kinda the opposite angle. I took the opposite approach where I was like "I will get into this field come hell or highwater", and well it took a lot of time, and a lot of it in hindsight seems pretty/very counterproductive. Other subject areas that I should have gone into, and would have gotten through in a reasonable period of time, well I either didn't know at the time that I should do them or the money factor got in the way.

I spent 5 years as a physics TA at two very good schools. These numbers could be way off, but it seemed to me like ~90% of people didn't know what they really wanted to do. Maybe not that high, but man its up there though.

If you can find something enriching to do with this time off, and it will help you, I say go for it. You can go back to school later if you want/need to. I had several students who came back to school in their 30's or 40's. I'm sure its not ideal, but it can be done.

Kyuuei: "how about settling for a job you don't hate instead?"
Do you feel this is about the best most people can aim for??? I don't know how I feel about it. I've read that something like half of americans hate their job. In this context I feel like hate is such a strong word, but so is like or enjoy. I'm in a very NT/ST workplace, and before that several VERY NT environments. NOT a good place for an NFP to be. Your Army enlisted, another place considered NOT generally a good fit for NFP's. To me its like "I do really interesting stuff, but the kinds of people that are attracted to this field, well maybe its kind alike wanting to kill yourself???"
 

brilliantwomble

New member
Joined
Dec 23, 2008
Messages
48
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w4
I took a year off between my first and second years of college and it was one of the best decisions I made. My parents weren't thrilled at the beginning, but it definitely gave me a lot of focus as to what I wanted to do and when I returned to college I was able to study a lot better than before. It's obviously not the end of the world, but doing something productive, not necessarily lucrative, but something that inspires you could definitely help.
 

01011010

New member
Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
3,916
MBTI Type
INxJ
I've heard a lot of people say that the degrees are overrated, and that the main thing is persistently working to get into and advance in the field you're interested in, maybe getting the required certification (if any).

It can be.

You should choose the job you want to do first. Then get a degree if it's necessary to get into that field. There are so many options. You shouldn't limit yourself to one method just because it's expected of you. Otherwise, taking one semester off to regroup before going back is actually a mature decision.
 

AOA

♣️♦️♠️♥️
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
4,821
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
8
Instinctual Variant
sx
It can be.

You should choose the job you want to do first. Then get a degree if it's necessary to get into that field. There are so many options. You shouldn't limit yourself to one method just because it's expected of you. Otherwise, taking one semester off to regroup before going back is actually a mature decision.

Seconded.
 

prplchknz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
34,397
MBTI Type
yupp
alright so I thought some more, and I think because I might possibly want to go into cultural anthropology I'm taking intro to cultural anthropology and so I won't be taking a full course load, and maybe this will be better and it could help me decide if thats what I want to do. And I'm not taking a bunch of classes that I really don't want to take, which would be detrimental at this point.
 

sculpting

New member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Messages
4,148
The avarage age at my undergrad school was 27. It was where all the kids came back to, after taking a semeseter off like five years before...:)

I agree with those above-try and find an intership/volenteer/job that directly puts you into the field you are interested in and find out what it is really like to do that work everyday. Just plab to do something. I dunno what cultural anthropolgists do exactly-though I think I might like it-but maybe you could spend some time working with a prof and asking if he needs a free slave to help in his research. Most profs are actually really open to this idea.

In chem/biochem all the undergrads do free lab work for a bit and very quickly it weeds out those who like the idea in theory, but not the reality.

Also my school had a program where you cold create your own major-by mixing and matching classes and independednt study-maybe do independent study for a semester on somthing you really enjoy?
 
Top