Lemmy, I have completed tens of modules across several different universities. I have been course-hopping for long enough that I’d have a bachelors degree by now had I found and stayed on a course that suited me. I can’t be asked to commit to one and study it for yet another 3 years before I get a degree*. Yet I feel like all of the effort that I have expended up to this point will go unacknowledged, just because it was spread across several unis and doesn’t fall into any of their pre-defined study plans. I am a person driven by short bouts of intense curiosity of the type that dives down Wikipedia rabbitholes**. I want to do a highly qualified job but am failing to fit in to the rigid framework that academia sets you. I have several Master’s theses that I’d start researching tomorrow if the system let me. Yet without so much as a bachelor’s I might as well go work in a supermarket. How do I move on from here?
*Perhaps it’s also because I’m now in my early 20s and finally want to have some time to explore.
**I am a logical thinker and predominantly interested in STEM topics.
Is uni right for you at this point in your life?
You say you are early 20s why not do a gap year to get out of acidemia and you may find your calling. A working holiday in another country will open your eyes to what acidemia can’t teach you.
I’ve been thinking about this too. What puts me off is that it would just postpone the 3 more years of being bound to a uni campus into the future by one year.
It has the possibility of setting your mind right though, in terms of deciding what you want and desire/will to stick to it. Only you can say if it’s right for you.
Honestly, don’t worry about that. It’s more worth it to go to school and do something you want, even if it takes longer, because you’ll save time and money in the long run.