[MickeyCheeky]

I really don't know what I'm doing with my life right now. I'm at university, studying languages, but as the days go by I become more and more doubtful this is the right choice for me.
I don't think I'm suited to do university, since it requires a lot of studying and I've always had a lot of trouble doing that, and the subjects are clearly more difficult now. Plus, I'm always lonely there and don't know how to make friends and teacher aren't particuarly helpful, either..
And I don't know if doing languages is really what I want to do with my life. I chose to do that because I didn't know what to do, but I knew I had to do something since I don't know how to do any job. So I picked languages because English is the only thing I'm good at. But that doesn't mean it's what I want to do..
But WHAT do I do, then? I have no passions, no hobbies. I feel like the only thing I could do is simple jobs, like plumbers and such. But I'm not sure that's what I want to do either.
I really don't know what to do..

[stopchewinggum]

Hello there MickeyCheeky? You said you are at university? Most of them have career counseling and online career assessments that can help you choose a major!

Secondly, how far a long are you in your studies? If you are only 1-2 years, and the studies are taking up too much time/grades falling, then you might look into a community college or trade school like you were thinking of. But don't just start by saying all I can do is something "simple like plumbing." There are a lot of decent paying jobs that only require associates that a community college would provide. Those tend to be much cheaper as well!

When you say languages, do mean English, Spanish, or..?

[MickeyCheeky]

Thank you for your reply I've never thought about using career counseling. I've already tried one, in high school, and it didn't turn out to be very helpful. But now it should be different. I'll try to see if there is something similar in my university

I'm actually just at the beginning of my first year. I've just started studying, haven't done any exams yet. But my uncertainty is already overwhelming..
Unfortunately college community isn't available to me because I don't live in the United States (I'm in Italy) so that's not an option for me.

And yes, I meant languages like Italian, French, ecc.

[Agent Misty]

A lot of new Uni students are uncertain and don't know what they really want to do. Fortunately you're just starting out and have plenty of time to test the waters and change your major if you do find your niche. Idk about where you live, but in uni here there are gen ed classes that are required for many degrees so if its that way at the uni you are going to I would take as many of those types of classes as you can while you are still figuring yourself out.

[stopchewinggum]

Originally Posted by MickeyCheeky

Thank you for your reply I've never thought about using career counseling. I've already tried one, in high school, and it didn't turn out to be very helpful. But now it should be different. I'll try to see if there is something similar in my university

I'm actually just at the beginning of my first year. I've just started studying, haven't done any exams yet. But my uncertainty is already overwhelming..
Unfortunately college community isn't available to me because I don't live in the United States (I'm in Italy) so that's not an option for me.

And yes, I meant languages like Italian, French, ecc.

Well, I am not entirely sure how things work in Italy. So, let me ask a few follow up questions. In Italy are there a lot of classes you would be required to take besides your major classes like in the United States. Here we have general education courses, and they fill up quite a bit time for incoming students. It's a good opportunity for them to test the waters sometimes. I hear in England they pretty much go straight into the major program, and they don't mess with extra classes in order "too learn about the world" or what have you. What is the case in Italy? Furthermore, if there are not community colleges, does the uni offer associates degrees? Two, I would definitely not trust a high school given career assessment, even if it was a good one. I took one. It was actually from a good company. It said I should be a lobbyist. It also said I should stay from math. Picking a major is about 3 things: values, interests, and skills. What type of setting do want to work in, for example? If you want low stress. Do not become a nurse, do not go to law school etc. Interests: This is what will keep you going throughout your college and work career. You may have to do some digging. An assessment may help here. For example, do you enjoy figuring people out or do like fixing things? Skills: Let's not underestimate or overestimate ourselves. Engineering and pre-med are sexy majors, but most end up changing. Why? A lot of people aren't skilled enough at the math sci requirements. (That was a random example. I'm not intending to throw you in or out of that group, by the way.)

[MickeyCheeky]

I'd say it works like in England, where you only do the major classes. There are not many other subjects outside the ones related to languages.
And no, I don't believe we have anything similar to associates degrees :/

I think you're right about self-evaluation. I'm not very good at it, though, which is why I would prefer some sort of test or something similar. Hopefully my university does have an online test or something else that can help you in this choice..
Thank you

[stopchewinggum]

Originally Posted by MickeyCheeky

I'd say it works like in England, where you only do the major classes. There are not many other subjects outside the ones related to languages.
And no, I don't believe we have anything similar to associates degrees :/

I think you're right about self-evaluation. I'm not very good at it, though, which is why I would prefer some sort of test or something similar. Hopefully my university does have an online test or something else that can help you in this choice..
Thank you

Okay, I'm guessing that everything that would be handled by our associates degrees would be handled by your vocational programs then. If your school does not have a career assessments, do you see a therapist? Sometimes they have those kinds of things as well.

[MickeyCheeky]

You mean a personal therapist? Or one that is available at the university? Because I don't believe the latter even exists..

[stopchewinggum]

personal therapist

[MickeyCheeky]

Yes, I do have one, but she hasn't been very helpful in that regard..

[stopchewinggum]

Originally Posted by MickeyCheeky

Yes, I do have one, but she hasn't been very helpful in that regard..

Ugh. Well, if there's no use there, and in the event your uni isn't useful either, you can always check out some online ones and just take several of them and compare. Just look for ones that do assessments based on skills, interests, and values.

Here I've done some fishing for you:

Link 1
This one is a goody
This one is from the Princeton Review which is a very trusted name in the US

[MickeyCheeky]

Thank you for the links!! I'll definitely check them out

[stopchewinggum]

Your welcome!

[MickeyCheeky]

I did those tests, but they didn't help me a lot.. the answers were a bit vague and I'm just as confused as I was before. Sorry :/

[thebestofme]

ciao. mi fa piacere tu stia studiando lingue, vedrai che ti appassionerai.
e' normale all'inizio trovare queste difficoltà.
come sta andando?

[DogsBooksCoffee27]

MickeyCheeky,

I know how you feel. Two years ago I was in a major that I was not passionate about, didn't really want to continue it, get a career in it, anything. I had been there for 4 years though, so I kept telling myself it was too late to start again. I didn't even know what I wanted to study, so I kept myself there. Long story short, I became incredibly depressed and found myself in a hospital. So I made the decision, difficult though it was, to quit. I took a year to work, travel, and explore who I really was, what I was passionate about, and what I find interesting. I did go back to uni, and discovered something that actually fit alongside that. Its nothing fancy, probably won't make me rich, or even successful, but I found something that I liked doing. I believe you can do the same. Don't wait as long as I did. You don't have to take a year to travel, or work. But give yourself time to think about what you find interesting. Anything. Take a couple classes that your vaguely curious about and see where it takes you. Its hard, and its terrifying, and yeah it sucks to start over but you have to do what will make you happy. Don't listen to people who say it doesn't matter what you study (literally the words of every person in my life) because it does. You are the one who has to study, who puts in the effort, who has to go to classes, so find your niche. Find something you want to study. And if you want to change it again a year later, do it. Its never to late to change your mind. This is your education, this is your life, you have the power to change your direction.

[MickeyCheeky]

Thank you so much for your kind words I believe you're right, but I have trouble understanding what I really like to do. It's always a struggle.. plus I'm a bit afraid to tell my parents but that's another issue. Maybe I need to think more about what I want to do.. I really don't know.