Flunked Out of College

Don't know what's left for me.

Why did you flunk out?

Lack of motivation, too many hours at work, procrastination, self doubt, the usual stuff.

still know you have a lot more in you than any college could handle themo You just have to find your right place

My boss failed out of college too. He went back and now he has a PhD! He is very smart, inspirational, and kind. He is a great mentor because he has compassion for people, because of his own experiences.

Don't give up, and don't feel ashamed to breathe. You have as much right to oxygen as anyone else on this planet. Your worth is infinite.

Travel. It's a great education & next to impossible to flunk.

I'm so sorry to hear that. That really hurts. It's so hard to juggle work, school, and finances. It's not the end. It just feels like it right now. Give yourself time to heal.

I remember when I had to withdraw out of my college, along with debts. Working while doing courses is very tough. I worked odd jobs for a few years, was nagged at every day for being a failure. then I decided to enroll at a local college. I did well and told myself I would never want to go through that again. Then I failed a semester due to working 40+ hours a week and going to school full time, another bump in life... I took it over again. Years later I graduated, and passed the national exam, and finally earned my license.

Bumps happen along the way, but it will only make you stronger. It shouldn't negatively effect you; it turns into a positive thing; it made me realize life is not only a one-way path. Things liek this happen so we can have experience and learn from it.

I can't shake the feeling that I've completely ruined my life. Everyone I know will be graduated before they let me come back in 2 years, I'll be a 24 year old Sophomore. I feel like I've let everybody down. Every 10 minutes the thought that I just ruined my life pops in my head at least once.

Take it from someone that would be a 28 yr old junior if I go back to school... you're never going to be the only one that had life circumstances hold them back in their education. There's always someone going after their 2nd chance (or 3rd or 4th...). Try a different major? Maybe the classes will be more interesting and motivating to you? Also, know that a college degree isn't the only way to measure your success. You can still work your way up from an entry-level job into management. Real-life experience can make you successful in many jobs without a degree. Do what is going to be the most rewarding for you, not just what you feel your peers expect from you. You are worthy, no matter what.

You have a lot on your plate. You sound really stressed out. Just relax and figure out what you want to do at this point. You can always go back to college. I know the college life can seem stressful but it's all about balance and time management.

Who paid for your education?

My mother went back to college when I was 10 and she was 33. She was a great inspiration to my sister and I. Finished and has been in a successful career since her early 40's. It is never too late!!

I got my second degree when I was 57. You can always go back. Why not take a class or two online instead of waiting 2 years for "that" school. You might find a medium that you like better? Online schools are geared for people working and going to school at the same time and have adults already with full lives rather than just younger people going to school. Lots of interesting conversations/experience/help.

I flunked out at my first attempt, went back to a smaller school, did well and graduated. I have had a long, successful career in health care. I recall feeling like a failure, too. Looking back, I can see that the circumstances were not right for me with my first attempt.

Dwell with the feelings you are having for as long as you need them (even though they are not true). The way isn't clear for you as it wasn't for me for quite a while. Then circumstances changed and I was able to move forward. Hugs.

I flunked out of college when I was 21. By "flunked out" I mean I was officially dismissed, which in California means that I banned from going back to any college within the district (this was community college...I'm such a loser I got kicked out and banned from community college! HA! ). My GPA at the time I was kicked out was 0.39. I got a job at Kmart, and then lost it. Then I got a degree from a vocational school for medical billing, but the Doctor I went to work for was Dr. Touchy Feely so I quit that too. By then I had gotten married and had a baby...while living in a motel! Then my husband and I were offered the grand opportunity of running that motel...16 rooms across the street from a liquor store and next door to automotive repair.

While working there I decided that what I REALLY wanted to do was be a librarian (because I'm exciting like that), but I found out it takes a Masters. So I jumped through all sorts of hoops to get readmitted to the college that I had been dismissed from. I was 26 and given a conditional acceptance back, and since I only had a 0.39 GPA, for all intents and purposes I was a freshman. I made it through two years only to have the school screw up and suddenly it was impossible for me to go to ANY California school (despite having completed two years of college with all A's...and one B in Algebra). And I only found out about this technical glitch* after I had been accepted at a 4-year state college, the semester was starting...AND my husband and I and our 3 kids lost our job and home with only 5 days notice (the owners of the motel where we lived and worked decided to sell out and we were literally given 5 days notice to get out). So I was 28, two months from being 29, and suddenly my new college career came to a screeching halt. This was in 2009.

In 2012 I decided to try and explore options to get back to school and finish my stinking degree. Since California (where I live) was out of the picture, I looked at online degrees from other states. I found one in Missouri and signed up. I currently have just over 1 year to go to finish my BS in Computer Information Systems. I am 33 years old, a junior, and will be only a couple months shy of 35 when I finish. AND THEN, I need to get a Masters if I'm going to be a librarian. If I compare myself to my peers, then yes, I am apparently a loser. So I don't do that. If I compare myself to ME, to the limitations I have and the obstacles I face and the place that I have come from, then I have done well....not only well, but if you had access to my brain you would see that what I have accomplished is downright AMAZING. Of course, I feel the same way about the fact that sometimes I get all the dishes done, and that I generally appear to outsiders as a "normal" human. Oh, and my 5 kids have good social skills and appear to be happy! How did that happen? I don't know, but people give me credit for it, so whatever, I'm taking it. Hopefully by the time I'm in my 40's I'll have a good job, will be able to support myself and my family, and the path I took to get there won't matter.

Just saying. Even if you feel like giving up now, eventually you'll be 33, 43, 53, 63. I'm a bit jealous that you are so young and if you get started NOW, you'll be way ahead of me by the time you're my age. And just a head's up here, there's no such thing as getting old. You're body might start to get old, but your brain never does. Being 23 feels like yesterday to me. You only notice your age when *drum roll please** you compare yourself to others. Honestly, if you can break that habit your happiness will actually be able to get a leg up. Not only that, but no matter what you accomplish, other people will try to make you feel like crap...mostly because THEY feel like losers and making other people feel like crap makes them feel better about themselves. Oh, and people lie too. Like all those accomplished and beautiful people on Facebook? Lies, lies, and more lies...even the people who really did accomplish some things, almost all of them feel like they have fallen short of some OTHER gold standard of accomplishment. If you thoroughly understand this particular hot button of human psychology you can quite literally control (or emotionally destroy) just about anyone....

HOWEVER, even given all this...I would suggest not going back to school until you have a very clear idea of WHY you are going. For me, until I had a very clear, concrete goal, there was simply no motivation to finish...and trying to get through some of the general classes, BLARGH....you need to have that clear goal in mind. I didn't get one until I was 26. Without a strong reason for finishing...I swear going to class was torture...have you ever been so bored you swooned into a sort of existential crisis and then felt like you were going to faint? Or is it just me? I mean, I STILL deal with this. I have to take business courses right now and I just want to poke my eyeballs out....BUT, I'm doing it one day at a time, I'll get through it..and in 2015 I'll have my degree

Until then, get a job and just plow ahead one day at a time, try to take your duties to others seriously, be kind to others and to yourself....

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*In order to overcome my low GPA the school counselor offered "Academic Renewal". They told me it would just disregard my old sub-par record when calcluating my GPA. Turns out you lose all the CREDIT from those classes as well. English 101 was one of those classes. I had gotten a C in it and it is the SOLE class that is universally required for every degree in the California school system...there's no substitute options. The school said no problem, just submit a request to reverse the Academic Renewal. Turns out reversing academic renewal is against the law in California. So I said, fine, I'll just retake English 101. Turns out I can't retake it because I already took it and passed. So within the state of California there is no humanly possible way for me to ever get a degree because there is no way for me to get credit for English 101. Amazing. And no one at the community college I went to would help me. Other states are free to ignore the academic renewal though, so I am now getting an online degree from Columbia College of Missouri.