The Student Room Group

Dropping out of my PGCE [TW]

So I'm currently doing my PGCE at MMU and the past few months have been the toughest months of my life. Returning from a long summer of depression and suicidal thoughts I was hopeful that getting on with a career I've been interested in for a long time would give me an opportunity to give me a sense of purpose, changing the lives of the students around me was an exciting endeavour.
However, after around 10 weeks in school, I am completely burnt out and whatever passion I had for teaching has been completely snuffed. Being throw into the deep end with very little support from the teachers around me has made my life a nightmare. Spending the entire day working and planning lessons only for my evenings being spent planning lessons and marking books for the following days, not to mention the level of work expected to be completed by university. What initially kept me busy and motivated has slowly overwhelmed and consumed whatever life I used to live and has now destroyed whatever life I want to live after.
So many people are telling me to stay because there's only a handful of weeks left, but I keep seeing this from the aspect of what do I want my future to hold. Becoming depressed and suicidal again while buried in a sea of paperwork is the only thing I'm envisioning, and I'm unsure how long I think I could live on such a sharp knife's edge.
Tomorrow I'm getting a call from my university mentor and she's going to try and support me and convince me to stay but I feel like my mind was already made up months ago. The lack of apathy from the children and school has already affected me, and I don't know if completing the course will help change my views on everything now.
Reply 1
If it's damaging your mental health so much that you can't bear a few more weeks then I think it's best to leave now. Nothing is more important than your mental health. Please get in touch with professionals who can help you too. Take care
Original post by SaintMoon
So I'm currently doing my PGCE at MMU and the past few months have been the toughest months of my life. Returning from a long summer of depression and suicidal thoughts I was hopeful that getting on with a career I've been interested in for a long time would give me an opportunity to give me a sense of purpose, changing the lives of the students around me was an exciting endeavour.
However, after around 10 weeks in school, I am completely burnt out and whatever passion I had for teaching has been completely snuffed. Being throw into the deep end with very little support from the teachers around me has made my life a nightmare. Spending the entire day working and planning lessons only for my evenings being spent planning lessons and marking books for the following days, not to mention the level of work expected to be completed by university. What initially kept me busy and motivated has slowly overwhelmed and consumed whatever life I used to live and has now destroyed whatever life I want to live after.
So many people are telling me to stay because there's only a handful of weeks left, but I keep seeing this from the aspect of what do I want my future to hold. Becoming depressed and suicidal again while buried in a sea of paperwork is the only thing I'm envisioning, and I'm unsure how long I think I could live on such a sharp knife's edge.
Tomorrow I'm getting a call from my university mentor and she's going to try and support me and convince me to stay but I feel like my mind was already made up months ago. The lack of apathy from the children and school has already affected me, and I don't know if completing the course will help change my views on everything now.

Hi @SaintMoon

Sorry to hear you are currently struggling on your PGCE course. I hope your call with your university tutor went well and you are feeling slightly better about the course now you have shared how you are feeling. In case you were not aware we offer several different mental health and well being services for our students that you may be interested in which can help you if you are struggling. You can find the support we offer and contact the wellbeing team here: https://www.mmu.ac.uk/student-life/wellbeing/

Carly :smile:
I quit two weeks ago, feeling very much the same as you. I was expecting pushback from my Uni Mentor but he was lovely about it and has offered me a deferral to next year should I want another go. I may take him up on it if I can get my mental health in check. Another girl in my placement left on the same day, The drop out rate is huge, there is really nothing to feel bad about.

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