What to do with my life?

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(edited 8 years ago)

It's just a university it doesn't matter where you go, why did you leave? You could have transferred to UCL after 3 years anyway. I don't really understand your logic. I'd be thrilled to have an offer from anywhere. I assume you've already applied?

Reply 2

Megzx13

This probabaly isnt the answer you're hoping for, but what do you actually enjoy? Because that's what you should do..

Reply 3

Orinincandenza

Original post by JonathanBerry

You seem to be pretty confused. If you would say the question could be posed as "Should i attempt to study medicine and become a doctor or take a more general degree and decide careers later?" then i think you need to ask yourself this:

- You took medicine for almost a year, did you leave because you disliked medicine or because you disliked Cambridge ?

I think you need to decide if you actually want to study medicine or just general science, it's difficult for someone else to make this decision for you...

Reply 4

Orinincandenza

Original post by JonathanBerry

You're quite right: I am incredibly confused. I found myself querying whether or not I want to go to university at all! Part of me just feels too tired to bother anymore - (I feel as if I've been teaching myself since the age of 10) - but I know that to have put in so much work up until now only to quit would be a terribly sad thing to do.
I left Cambridge largely because of family concerns, but I wasn't happy there either.
Largely speaking the thing making me question my interest in medicine is fear of failure primarily and of the huge workload - which though I reckon I should be able to handle would also push me to the edge.

Well firstly i'd say you shouldn't base the decision on either fear of failure or on having previously put in work, both of these are kind of logical red herrings and should be disregarded. The main thing is, if you think you will enjoy the work and it won't be too much then go for it.

Reply 5

Ronove

Original post by Orinincandenza

Given they started in 2012, I'm guessing they were only there for a month or so?

OP, it sounds to me like you suffered the common problem of fresher shock and settling issues, made worse by your family problems and perhaps some extra integration trouble due to Cambridge not being the most diverse of environments.

The thing is, plenty of people have trouble adjusting at first and many also find that university is very different to what they expected it to be (though most find they begin to enjoy it anyway).

Any degree will have you tearing your hair out and stressing if you approach it the wrong way. At university you need to learn how to deal with the workload and balance your life in a way that fits you. You can't just assume you can keep doing it how you did at Sixth Form and that it'll work (either for your academic work or for your mental health).

It sounds to me like you are pretty sure about the fact that you want to do Medicine, you just think that you're getting into something over your head. A different degree won't solve your problems, you just need to prioritise developing a healthy work-life balance and experiment with how you organise your life.

Reply 6

Iz08

OP, your results and offers clearly show that you are exceptionally talented and hard working individual. You can do anything, achieve everything. Don't let the setbach affect you. As most people said, you had a bad case of fresher panic, compounded by family problem, but now you have an opportunity to step back and think what you really want. You are barely out of shock yet, but couple of months could be enouh to figure out whether you really want to be a doctor, and if not, what your other options are.
Best of luck.

Reply 7

username1053172

Hi

First of all, congratulations on your achievements so far! The offers you got are very impressive :smile:

I know this might sound clichéd, but I would say go with what you think would make you happy in the long run. You said you weren't happy at Cambridge because you didn't fit in with most people. Ask yourself if it was a background or an interest thing. Could you not relate to them because they just seemed more passionate about medicine than you, and therefore had different priorities and interests? If thats not it, because you do in fact feel passionate and interested by medicine, I would say go for medicine. You definitely shouldn't let a fear of failure stop you- most people are scared of feeling, whether they admit to it or not. If a major part of it, however, was that the workload felt to heavy because you didn't really enjoy medicine and it seemed more like a burden to study than pursuing your interest, you should consider other degrees.

best of luck with whatever you choose to go with :smile: