Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Feeling a bit lost recently

Hi,
I don't know where to start, really. I was just looking for any advice on how to stop feeling sorry for myself and feeling a bit hopeless lol

I've started year 12 at a new college without any friends and am struggling to find new ones. I still am very much in contact with my friends from school and sometimes still talk to long distance friends I've made elsewhere, but I feel like everyone's so far away. I feel lonely.
I feel like I'm the kind of person, for whatever reason, that people just don't like? I struggle with confidence and being chatty/ funny with new people, even if I'm confident in most other situations (e.g. public speaking) and generally a friendly person.

I have 0 good interests- I rarely watch TV or read even though I'd like too as I just force myself to procrastinate doing pointless things on the internet. This is not only a problem when trying to find common interests with people, but also in trying to better myself as an individual.
I waste whole days and look back on them, not understanding how I've spent all my time doing absolutely nothing.

Finally, I really want to study medicine in the future and for some reason my every thought and action seems to revolve around this; instead of studying etc. I spend hours on the tsr medicine forum (tragic, I know) even though studying would be far more beneficial to me. And it's like I can't enjoy anything for its own value: it has to be for the purpose of getting into medicine.

Please can anybody give me any advice?

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Anything about any of that ? How to stop feeling like crap

Reply 2

shawn_o1

basically ask yourself the following question: Do I want to do this?

If the answer is no, drop out of college and start seeking work. Typically you'll be doing catering or retail if you've only got GCSEs. If you can't get paid work, volunteer. Eventually you'll find something that you'll want to keep on doing.

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Thanks, that's really good advice tbh. I need to get more clued up on current medical breakthroughs/ issues etc anyway.
I mean I love biology but for some reason I just can't find proper motivation to do everything I want, to get ahead in work and stay on top of everything.
Do you think it's a good idea to block myself from tsr, at least for a while? Like physically block using a programme

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

Original post by shawn_o1

Thanks but honestly I'm an academic through and through. I love learning, I love thinking, I love problem solving and applying what I've learnt. There isn't anything I think I could enjoy that isn't mentally stimulating and I've never considered doing anything else with my life in that sense. I think I'm just in a bit of a rough patch at the moment with trying to find motivation for things idk

Reply 5

Anonymous #1

wow, a very broad and complex question which I'm sure will come up a lot in the future for me anyway, as it often comes up in my own mind.
I guess at first it was for shallow reasons. It was because I loved science- I remember my dad bought me various fact books as a child and I kept going back to the one about the human body and reading all the facts about how different colours of hair had different amounts of hair, fight or flight, the best age for females and males to run marathons etc. I loved the diagram of skin and the eye. I absolutely loved learning about it all throughout school and found it all very exciting and stimulating.
I found out that doing medicine was learning about this and applying it in a mentally stimulating way so, at first, that's why I wanted to do it. It doesn't hurt that it's very well respected, either, and as someone who's been doing pretty well at school people always expected me to get a good career or go to a good university etc (Never for money, that being said.. I am happy with just enough money and have never been very 'well off' in any sense, but I've never longed for more money in a career and it baffles me when people say they want to do medicine for the money).
Then I realised it was a lot more than just liking science. I talked to so many people and read so much about it (quite recently, actually- within the past year) and found out that, more than anything, being a doctor meant having empathy, care and compassion. I questioned myself a lot, and still do, about if I am good enough at caring and being empathetic. I thought whether I could communicate to people well enough.
I've not done much volunteer work so far, only a little in a respite care home for severely disabled people, but I've loved it and want to do more. I've overcome lots of issues I've had with communication in the past and have learnt to love speaking and listening to different people. I love how the nhs and healthcare is such a brilliant community.
So basically medicine is something that I have considered for a very long time. My interest in it has developed over a number of years and I hope it will continue to develop. But it combines everything that I love- science, problem solving, ethics, mental challenges, communication with others, healthcare in general. I've got to the point where I love the idea of it so much I'm ridiculously connected to it and couldn't really imagine myself doing anything else. I'll do more work experience/ volunteer work in the next year and see if I still want to apply but yeah, thats it really.

Sorry for the long post, I felt quite happy when typing it though lol