I don't know what to do...help?...

Hi!
Basically I'm currently in my last year of high school in scotland. I have sat my higher exams and my results were the following:
Higher English A
Higher Maths B
Higher Chemistry A
Higher Biology B
Higher Business Management A
I really don't want to still be at school but i'm unsure whether i should leave or not. I have the opportunity to get another 4 highers this year but i'm not sure whether i will need them or not in order to go to university until i have actually applied and heard back which probably won't be till March! Thats the other problem. I don't know whether i want to go to university or not. And if i do i'm unsure of what the best course for me would be. If i was to leave school. I would have nothing to do. I have been looking for a part time job for ages and had interviews but never actually got the job. I'm scared to leave in case i can't get work and then i end up not getting my university place cause i don't have sufficient qualifications. I really feel i'm wasting my time at school though and i don't want to be there. HELP!

Reply 1

jimbo139

why don't you like school? (I mean, many people don't, but why in your particular case?)

any ideas about a career?

do you have any interests?

Reply 2

sphin-mo

jimbo139

why don't you like school? (I mean, many people don't, but why in your particular case?)

any ideas about a career?

do you have any interests?

I used to like school but it is really just since i started sixth year. I feel i am wasting my time and i feel bored and unmotivated. Last year i was used to a busy timetable. This year i have study periods as they make up part of the sixth year timetable, i also am not studying really academic subjects like maths and english cause i passed them last year instead i'm doing RMPS, which is like religious studies.

I have no ideas about anything, not careers and education anyway. I don't know what i should do in order to find what i want to do. People say it should just come to you eventually what you want to do so i dont know if i should just wait and see. I don't know if i am best at school or at the working world though.

Reply 3

Dystopian91

Listen mate. I did well at GCSE, so I did A-Level even though I didn't want to.

Ended up with a C and E, after 2 years of hating it.

People think to be successful in it's societal definition, you have to go the "University, Career" route. Acedemia is not for everyone, and it has absolutely nothing to do with intelect.

Fact of the matter is, so many who go on to do degrees end up overqualified for decent jobs yet unable to compete effectively for the limited number of revelant graduate jobs available (Lack of experience).

Do what you want, just don't think you cant be sorted with what you have. Qualifications are pieces of paper, they show your ability to pass a test, jump through a hoop.

Life is much more complicated.

Reply 4

Pindar

Why are kids today so pathetic?

Reply 5

sphin-mo

Dystopian91

Thanks for that! Some really wise words :biggrin:

Reply 6

sphin-mo

Gabby46

Don't really know much about the system in Scotland, but your marks look really good- yay! If I were you, I'd stay in school:

1) Qualifications are really important nowadays- it's how not only employers but also many people you meet in general judge you. If you have an education and the marks to prove it, people will tend to think more highly of you.

2) You say that you wont know whether or not you'll need the other 4 highers in order to go to the university you've applied to until March, but I would think it's better to do the other highers just in case you do need them. And if you don't, you always have a few extra to impress them with!

3) I was just like you in my final year of school- no real idea of what I wanted to do- I sort of thought about university but then couldn't really make up my mind what course I wanted to do or where I wanted to go, kinda wanted to get on with earning some money, but then again couldn't really think of any job I particularly wanted to do...

Basically I ended up drifting- did the odd course or two, but otherwise didn't really do very much and spent 3 years after I finished school feeling deeply frustrated and very bored! It was made worse by the fact that many people automatically presumed I was stupid because I hadn't gone to university, and also by the fact that it's really really hard to get a decent, well paying, mentally stimulating job without a university degree (I worked in a grocery store, as a temp and as an office assistant- I was soooo bored).

Finally I got so pissed off with my life that I went to university as a "mature student" and wished I'd done that earlier!

Basically I think you should stay at school (I know it sucks but it's nearly over!) and get all the qualifications you can. And you need to chose something. Anything. Just have a plan and stick to it. If you're not getting the jobs you want, I'd look for university courses (they'll help you get the jobs you want in the future!), and just go through and see what appeals. There are so many different courses on offer and there will be something that you like the look of- it may be something you've never really considered before or something you once thought about and discarded...

Anyhooo that's my two cents! Hope it helps!

Thank you! Some helpful advice :smile:

Reply 7

Dystopian91

sphin-mo

Thanks for that! Some really wise words :biggrin:

Not even blowing my own trumpet here, but I am currently full time employed as a Care Worker. The experience for the CV is great, it's rewarding (and actually quite easy if you have the personality) and it gross earns me £15.6k a year (40 hour a week). Not bad for my age (19), and I have a clear path. Navy in 2 years, Police in 8 - 12. I have no overheads apart from keep, and I have complete freedom and flexibility. The intention is property development. Degrees (Despite the common consensus) are for people who actually need to specialise, they're cop-outs for most the people that go today, to put off real life a few years. Though I admit the employers of today are quite hitler in their specification, jobs an orangutan could do require a degree in "Food Preperation" etc.

It used to be the case that your employer trained you in everything you needed to know. We have receded since then, and you now have to walk round the park, bark, ****, play dead and other miscellaneous delights before you get where you want to be.

It all depends on what you want out of life, and how realistic/practical and most importantly, flexible you are. The rest is beauracracy which is, when you perceive how things are, quite subjective.