So Playgrounders, I seem to be lost...

[LightWraith]

Yep. Lost.

Every day, I'm finding it more and more apparent that I have no idea what I actually want to do with my life.

I recently returned to college after an extended break, where I worked at a number of meaningless jobs that I honestly couldn't stand.

So now I'm a 24 year old Freshman, working on a Bachelor's Degree in Physics. I love Physics, so this seemed to make sense.

The problem is, I hate college. I like being in college, but I am finding it impossible to keep motivated. This results in slacking off on assignments, which does bad things to my grades. It's not that I'm lazy. I go out and swim/bike/run 6 days a week for hours at a time, and I love it.

I'm still toughing it out. However, I know it's not going to get better. Not only that, but I know that after my Bachelor's, I almost have to go on to get a Masters and a Doctorate for my degree to be worth anything.

Adding in that time, as well as Post-Doctorate work, I'm easily looking at a decade of school or school related stuff.

To top it off... I'm not even sure anymore that I want to do all this work just to get stuck in a lab for 18 hours a day, reporting to someone higher up that probably thinks I'm speaking Ancient Sumerian.

For that matter, I'm not too keen on working FOR anyone. I think I'd be much happier in a self-employed environment. I don't really take orders well, especially if there is no reason given for them.

I really don't know how well I would assimilate into the world at large. I can't help but think that I should be doing something out of the ordinary.

I've been entertaining several different ideas on this front.

I could attempt to become a professional Triathlete. I've only recently started training for triathlons, but I'm finding that I REALLY enjoy it. Of course, going Pro is tough, and making enough money to live off of is even harder.

I could become a Yoga instructor. While I haven't been doing much Yoga lately, I really believe in it's physical and mental health benefits. Eventually I could have my own studio, which would be pretty cool. The downside is that the style that I prefer (Bikram) has a pretty expensive certification process.

I could start my own random business. I have no idea what this business would be, but it could integrate with either of the above. The downside of course is the huge risk inherent is starting any business.

Does anyone else understand where I'm coming from?

I have no idea why I'm actually posting this, maybe to help organize it in my head.

Feel free to hit me with any suggestions, advice, opinions, motivation, personal experiences, etc.

Thanks for reading... The Playground is one of the only places I feel I can trust to get a full sampling of responses.

[Woofsie]

Wow. Just.. wow. This is almost word for word what I have been worried about for quite a while now. Although I'm not in college yet, and I have no idea what I want to do there. I guess you're not the only one who's lacking direction in your life!

[Mephibosheth]

I have a good friend who has a bachelor's degree in physics but isn't especially interested in pursuing academic or research-based physics. He has decided to go for a masters degree in medical physics, which focuses on radiological physics and its applications to medicine (radiation therapy, advanced diagnostic imaging, and related fields). Perhaps something like this might be interesting to you. If medical physics isn't your thing, it could still be a good idea to research physics-related career paths that don't require a Ph.D. Alternatively, you could switch majors into something physics-related that provides a greater diversity of career options.

I've got nothing for you when it comes to self-employment in any of these fields. I recommend talking to your college's advisors about these issues. They usually have a better idea than most of what's available in related fields.

I hope that helps.

[Mauve Shirt]

You're definitely not alone in problems like this.

I'm completely lacking in direction too. I, like you, also prefer to not do assignments. I actually have a paper to write at the moment, an analysis of an article in my English textbook. I don't have anything that I truly enjoy, except for piano, and majoring in music is out of the question after failing theory one last semester. Oh, and a degree in music is completely useless. German is so far my most likely major, but though I like the language I absolutely hate the classes.

Any liberal arts degree is still completely useless, the only options I have with a German degree are the government, or teaching, but if I do decide to teach I don't want to teach high school. And I definitely don't want to work for the government. Of course there's also the option of completely disregarding whatever I major in and finding a job with some business somewhere. I don't know if I'll have to go to graduate school, but I won't find out until I've picked something.

The biggest problem I have is not having any real interest or passion, especially in anything academic. I enjoy piano, but I don't want to major in it, and I like German but I hate taking German. I don't have any confidence at all, it was hammered out of me by the super-competitive howard county public school system, where they encourage you not to do something unless you're already an expert. You're lucky you at least have physics.

Continue doing what you enjoy, even if it takes you a while, and even if you're uncertain what it would do for you. As much as we fret about what we can do with a degree, it's best to major in something you like, especially if you don't like other classes and fear for your GPA. You can always take a break from school, if it'll really take a decade. A break might also help you try and figure out what you can do with what you know.

[Rare Pink Leech]

My best advice is to just follow your dreams.

In less cliched terms, figure out what it is you really like and just go for it. It'll be scary as hell, but in the long run you'll thank yourself for it. I think the best thing for you to do is just figure out what you want, even if that means more time off from school. Heck, you might even try working in some of the possible fields and find you don't really care for it, or that it's the best thing ever.

Another way to look at it is this: Hate college classes and don't think you'll like any job that a physics degree will lead you into? Then why are you paying ridiculously high tuition fees? You say you're really into bikram yoga, but the certification fees are expensive? Well, is it more expensive than fours years of university tuition? If that's something you really want to do, then you might as well fork over the cash to certification rather than a degree you don't want.

[DaMidget]

Yea I know the feeling of being lost, I didn't have a clue what to do with myself when it came time to pick a college, luckily I chose to enlist, and got a job that I really enjoy doing, and it will be very easy to transition into when I get back into the civilian world.

So all I can say is, if you know what you like (yoga), go for it, but it can never hurt to explore new possibilities.

[EllysW]

LightWraith, I'm loster than you, if only because I'm 42 instead of 24. You still have much time to find your way.

But I agree with Rare Pink Leech -- the Bikram certification may be expensive, but it's probably still cheaper than all that higher education you're looking at with physics. Is there any way you could try out the teaching aspect before you commit, though? Perhaps you could work through a local studio as an intern or apprentice, or maybe your college has some kind of exercise program you could work with? Sometimes people enjoy doing something, but teaching it is different. It can be better, or worse.

[LightWraith]

Thanks for all the comments everyone.

I still have no idea what I want to do, but at least I've gotten some different angles on things.

Feel free to continue commenting, I'm going to continue to think

[Crispy Dave]

Wow. Just.. wow. This is almost word for word what I have been worried about for quite a while now. Although I'm not in college yet, and I have no idea what I want to do there. I guess you're not the only one who's lacking direction in your life!

me too although i want to pursue a different degree

[Proven_Paradox]

Everyone who's feeling this:

If you're heading into college and you're still a Freshman or Sophomore, take a LOT of different classes. Get the basics on a lot of different subjects. If you found one thing somewhat interesting, persue it to the next level and see what you think.

Taking myself for example. I entered college thinking aiming for a biology major. I'm in a "liberal arts" college which basically means I have to take a little bit of everything in addition to the whole lot of stuff I take for my major. So, I took a lot of stuff in addition to my biology classes. The more biology I took, the less I liked it, and after I FAILED zoology (alongside A's and B's in other classes), I knew beyond a doubt that biology was not the way for me to go; gotta play to your strengths and all that. During this time, I had taken several computer science classes, aced all of them, and found myself enjoying them more and more. I am now a CS major and quite happy with the choice. Do NOT expect to know what you're going to do when you get into college; if you approach things with an open mind you'll be a lot better off for it.

Before you decide that, though, you need to decide whether or not you -really want to go to college.- If you go to college and quit half-way through, that's a lot of tuition/book money down the drain for absolutely no gain at all. You have to go all the way if you go anywhere at all in college. More and more, a mere bachelor's degree isn't enough either. College isn't for everyone. Consider ALL of your options.

[phoenixineohp]

Physics is a really hard hobby to have, but it doesn't seem to be where you want to go. You may not want to be in research doing 'science' after a load of school. Maybe it's more interesting to pick up physics books and watch the journals. Maybe you could explore some of the fields of physics and it's applications, see if there is one you like, maybe in a biomedical, fitness area.

I personally love the multidisciplinary approach to university. Take classes in everything, audit some and drop in to talks and lectures. See what strikes your fancy. Maybe a minor in physics is enough to keep you interested and not so much it dulls the passion. Talk to physics profs to see what their research is and what is on the verge of breaking big.

And do a cost analysis of the yoga and small business idea. It's a radical way to go, but it could be extremely rewarding.

[Trog]

Life is thataway about 10 miles as the stirge flies. *points*

Over to the left you'll see the outskirts of Loserville. Girlfriendville is over there. Or you could sell your soul to Trog's Company Store here for a tidy sum.

Is he any good at washing dishes?

Get back to work Cosmo.

Sorry. What was Trog saying? Oh yeah. Your soul. It's easy to remove. All you need is this device known only as "Mr. Thingy." So you gonna bend over or what? Trog's a very busy guy and has soulless bartenders to attend to.