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Need advice from fellow uni drop outs

Hi I have been watching this site recently and have found some brilliant advice but I thought I'd just give my story and see if anyone else can help me figure out my options.

Left school 09' with 4 A's 4 B's and some C's. Did 4 years of college and left with CDE and somehow managed to blag my way into uni onto biomed. Failed my first year then retook and then decided to discontinue course. Then enrolled into an access course to get into a business related degree but dropped out half way.

This is when I finally realised that studying is just not for me, I have held part time jobs throughout and even got promoted etc. But never stayed in a job longer than 1 year. Currently working for Land Rover: good pay but I absolutely hate it as I am quite an intelligent person and this job is just so repetitive. The people I am surrounded by are very de motivating. I have lack of friends outside of work.

My options are:

Get a customer service based job and try to work up the ladder. Could take forever - might not even get the chance. Will be sitting on 10k for a year maybe for a while.

Apprenticeship: minimum wage, how long will I stay motivated for, they are usually over a year long.

Try again for uni: I really want to get into banking/management, that's where my heart lies as I love business but I've realised I just cannot study. I don't want to start a 3 year long course to drop out yet again. I don't want to risk it. Considered open uni but really don't want to isolate myself at home and I know that this have a negative affect on me in the long run.

Need to surround myself with motivated people, where can I find people with a drive like me?

I'm 23 male I have tons of drive and very dedicated, even considered teaching as I love helping kids but will have to go back to uni for that.

I'm up for anything that will develop me as a person and allow me to climb the ladder as I don't like sticking around.

Going to learn another language to improve my prospects, would love to work internationally some day.

I want to be successful, but can you without a degree? And without starting a business

Thanks for reading :redface:
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Physi0
Hi I have been watching this site recently and have found some brilliant advice but I thought I'd just give my story and see if anyone else can help me figure out my options.

Left school 09' with 4 A's 4 B's and some C's. Did 4 years of college and left with CDE and somehow managed to blag my way into uni onto biomed. Failed my first year then retook and then decided to discontinue course. Then enrolled into an access course to get into a business related degree but dropped out half way.

This is when I finally realised that studying is just not for me, I have held part time jobs throughout and even got promoted etc. But never stayed in a job longer than 1 year. Currently working for Land Rover: good pay but I absolutely hate it as I am quite an intelligent person and this job is just so repetitive. The people I am surrounded by are very de motivating. I have lack of friends outside of work.

My options are:

Get a customer service based job and try to work up the ladder. Could take forever - might not even get the chance. Will be sitting on 10k for a year maybe for a while.

Apprenticeship: minimum wage, how long will I stay motivated for, they are usually over a year long.

Try again for uni: I really want to get into banking/management, that's where my heart lies as I love business but I've realised I just cannot study. I don't want to start a 3 year long course to drop out yet again. I don't want to risk it. Considered open uni but really don't want to isolate myself at home and I know that this have a negative affect on me in the long run.

Need to surround myself with motivated people, where can I find people with a drive like me?

I'm 23 male I have tons of drive and very dedicated, even considered teaching as I love helping kids but will have to go back to uni for that.

I'm up for anything that will develop me as a person and allow me to climb the ladder as I don't like sticking around.

Going to learn another language to improve my prospects, would love to work internationally some day.

I want to be successful, but can you without a degree? And without starting a business

Thanks for reading :redface:


Hi Physi0,

I was in a bit of a similar situation to yourself. I had joined an apprenticeship scheme with the Ministry of Defence. I left due to personal reasons with only a year left of my apprenticeship, a decision I regretted for years.

It seemed for a while that I was out of luck getting back into a field that I actually enjoyed and I felt as if I was stagnating while all my peers were either progressing through Uni or earning money in work.

Much like yourself, I had fancied the idea of becoming a teacher so I started to get involved in local youth groups and eventually become a teaching assistant in a school that worked with kids with additional support needs. This continued for a few years before I began to take steps towards acquiring relative skills in an industry I had been interested in for years: IT and computing.

I took a few courses with the Open University, applied for any and all IT related Apprenticeships. Many of these I was instantly ruled ineligible due to my age (31 at the time of applying) which was really demoralising. The one key thing was to stay positive as I finally got accepted for an interview for the IBM scheme.

Being 23 you may come up against some of the same age restrictions as I did, but it's important to stay positive and proactive. Keep hammering away at those applications, build your skill set whether through volunteering or other courses such as the O.U and I wish you all the best in the future!


I want to be successful, but can you without a degree? And without starting a business


Just to respond directly to this - Yes. Yes it is. I finally feel like I am being successful for the first time in a few years. Seeing the heights some of my colleagues have achieved just reinforces this, as they started off as apprentices, forgoing the university route in favour of an apprenticeship.

If you have any other questions then feel free to drop me a P.M.

All the best,


Gareth
You're in a very similar position to me before starting my apprenticeship (age/grades/uncertainty)

I'd suggest you're like me, want to carry on education, but getting on a bit and want money.
Try a degree level apprenticeship, you might find it easier to learn in a slightly more relaxed environment, and with the work/learn balance.

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