Hopeless about future

I feel so hopeless about the future, what if my destiny is fixed and no matter what I do my outcome will be poor? I am from a very poor background and I just don't see how I can escape it, I used to think if I study hard and get a good education my life can change. But overtime I realised my major is probably not good enough and there are plenty of graduates nowadays who have a poor outcome in life.

Is it really possible to escape poverty or will the poor always be poor and the rich will always be rich? It makes me lose interest in my studies, why should I bother stressing myself all the time if no matter what I will do nothing will change.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you could travel back in time and change one seemingly insignificant event or decision in your past, and then watch as it unfolds into a completely different present-day? Then why can't some action you take today have just as significant an impact on your future. Of course your destiny is not fixed. We have free will and use that free will to control our own destinies. There will be challenges along the way, and those challenges may seem insurmountable. They are not. They are only obstacles in our path if we allow negative thinking to control our actions.

Yes, many graduates don't end up in the jobs they've aspired. But far more do. Why focus on those who have not succeeded, when you can focus on those who have? Short of winning the lottery, or inheriting a fortune from a long-lost relative, education is absolutely the best way to escape poverty.

What do you mean when you say, "my major is probably not good enough"? Do you mean you've chosen a subject / course / qualification which doesn't have good career prospects (studying Liberal Arts at university is the classic example of this). Or do you mean that your grades are not as high as you would like them to be?

The fact that you've used the term "my major" suggests that you're likely an international student, as that term doesn't tend to get used in the UK. Is that right? Were you hoping to come to the UK to study?

I do study in the UK, my major is Chinese but it doesn't lead to a particular job and I worry that employers won't value what I can offer with my major.

I understand your concern. You were hoping that education would be a way out of poverty, but then opted to take a course with no obvious track to a particular career.

So I assume you'll be looking for careers which need a degree, but don't need a particular degree? Do you have anything particular in mind?

I originally wanted to do translation but I found out from going to careers fairs at my uni that it is a very unstable career as it is mostly freelance, so there are often times you have little work. If you have lots of work you will make lots of money but if you don't you are in a really difficult situation.

What careers did they say would be possible with a degree in Chinese?

Also, you keep referring to Chinese as your major. Is there an associated minor subject alongside it?