FINALLY decided on a career!

[mrose_s]

ok, I have been deliberating over a career choice for ages. and latley, i just don't wanna study at school. I stopped wanting to go to uni except to study arts and literature and philosophy, which i don't want to make a career out of. I'm just wafting thru year 11 with no idea even which industry i wanted to get into till tonight.
I have been intersted in massage for a while now. And i always thought hairdressing would be fun but not soemthing i wanted to drop out to do. then it hit me, a beautician. Learn ALL that stuff and more. go to courses and extend my knowledge you know?

mum said the only way she'll let me quit school is to get an apprenticeship or a traineeship at this beauticians in town. which makes sense because they are great there. which i am considering.

this is the first time ive felt like i had a direction in ages and i'm so pleased.

 

[wildwings811]

Droping out of school do you mean high school?? if so I really don't think that is a real wise idea even if you do get an appretienceship you should still stay in school a diploma is a highly sought after "piece of paper" and if you don't have one it is highly unlikely that you will get hired anywhere not to mention you must have a diploma or GED if you want to become a beautician you have to be liscensed and that requires you take courses at a college and you have to have a diploma or GED to go to college besides how old are you what is a few more years in school??

 

[Gempress]

Glad you have a career choice now! But I do agree with wildwings, stay in school long enough to at least get a high school degree. The average adult changes careers (not jobs, but careers), 5 times in his or her lifetime. I'm not saying that you'll be unhappy being a beautician; just don't close one door because another one opens.

 

[mrose_s]

iknow all that. I'm 16 now and wouldn;t consider dropping out for a while now. I know that I might change careers a few times, I'm not just blundering around with my eyes closed.

look at it this way, I am failing year 11 miserably. I don't try in hardly any of my classes because I hate it now. I can't stand school, it annoys me and my friends are the only plus. Teachers keep leaving and right now, we have a relief teacher teaching maths for the rest of the term. he is a relief teacher! I continuely tell him to shut up or bugger off because he doesnt have a clue about what he is doing and i cant stand him.

I know I should stay and get my TER (tertiary entrance rank) and all but I really don't care for it. I just wanna bang around and have a good time. If dropping out makes more sense then YAY thats what I will do, I can finish school at TAFE with a decent course as opposed to with peice of crap high school with hardly an teachers and the ones that are hear, don't have a clue.

 

[Bailey+Ralph]

Here in the Uk i have noticed now that if children aren't getting on in School (or feeling fullfilled) then they have a set day a week that they can go on a chosen course.
This way they are still learning for the future but have something constructive to do for 1 day a week to help them along.
I don't know where you live, but maybe it would be an idea to look into something like that?

 

[casablanca1]

latley, i just don't wanna study at school. I stopped wanting to go to uni except to study arts and literature and philosophy, which i don't want to make a career out of.

Two points - are you American? "year eleven" doesn't sound familiar, but I'm not sure where you're writing from. I'm under the vague impression that Americans are really more into *everyone* going to college than are other nations, so if you're a Brit, for instance, maybe your plan is more sensible than it appears to Americans.

But apart from that - if you would like to study arts and literature and philosophy, jump on university with both feet. It's wonderful, it's nothing like school as you've experienced it before. Do whatever you can to get in, and don't worry about making your degree relate to your future job. Most don't. This is your one chance to *not* work for a living, to at least flirt with 'living the life of the mind.' If you have any interest in things intellectual, it's a crime to skip college.

Practically speaking, if you are American, student loans are low-interest, and a college degree is still worth something. But don't look at it as a purely financial transaction. Higher education is a chance to do things we otherwise wouldn't do. We work soon enough, don't be in too much of a hurry to start a career.

My apologies if I've completely misread the situation. I hated school but I loved college, and I'm a bit passionate about the whole thing. Possibly trying to justify my low-interest but still-annoying student loans

 

[mrose_s]

lol its ok. I just do't know. I am Australian btw, but yeah. I would like to finish but i don't see the point when I am failing. I want uni to come to me and I want to study arts and philosophy. But I don't have the drive to get me there

 

[Fran27]

Just my opinion, but if you think school is hard and not fun and that working now would be better, I think you are in for a very bad surprise. Working is much harder, plus if you don't have any valuable degree, you won't even earn much money.

 

[wildwings811]

I agree with Fran The point is yes you may be failing but try living in the real world it is not easy

Dropping out of school is probably not the answer for you what about summer school to make up the classes you are failing or what about alternative education?

 

[mrose_s]

im not worried about money. my quality of life and enjoyment and stress levels are more important than money. it isnt that school is hard, i am in the top of everything. I just dont care for it. I know work is hard, I have 2 part time jobs plus a dog, 2 rabbits and a cat to care for.

I'm getting my license soon and dealing with problems with friends. a lot is going on atm and right now, school is low on my list of priorities.

 

[wildwings811]

at 16 life is hard it is the age you can make is through just tough it out and things will get better I swear

 

[bubbatd]

I agree with the aboves......EliN hated school and didn't want to go to college.....we told her to go at least one year ... she loved College, did well and is now very successful . Also, my son was failing school ... at 17 he woke up, passed and went on to college and graduate school.

 

[wildwings811]

The point is mrose is that you need a college education to make in the world today non graduates are not being employed and to even make a living (the basics) you must have a degree in somthing life as a teen is hard ecspecially when it drags on but just hang in there and you will get through it

 

[mrose_s]

well maybe in america u need to do uni to get anywhere. but not here. Australia is depserate for apprentices. and bubbatd... at 17 i finish school.

 

[wildwings811]

Good that means you only have one year left seriously you need to STAY in school whats one more year?

 

[mrose_s]

its a year and a half. and its not the time, its that fact that i feel like i'm wasting it. I'll stay in for a while atleast. I don't even know. But atleast I know where I am headed for the time being. I can start looking for corses and such.
I am staying in school for the time being. I have to know all the facts before I do anything.

 

[whatszmatter]

im not worried about money. my quality of life and enjoyment and stress levels are more important than money. it isnt that school is hard, i am in the top of everything. I just dont care for it. I know work is hard, I have 2 part time jobs plus a dog, 2 rabbits and a cat to care for.

I'm getting my license soon and dealing with problems with friends. a lot is going on atm and right now, school is low on my list of priorities.

Is school hard or isn't it, you've said you're failing, but now at the top of everything? Or you could be at the top if you tried?

Besides that quality of life, enjoyment and stress levels are impt, in fact i've worked very hard to get my life that way, BUT you better be being honest with yourself. Is it that you don't want money, you'll be happy with nothing material and have a means to just lounge thru life?? Or is it that things are just too tough right now and you don't want to deal with them??

I can tell you right now, things will only get tougher, in the US, Australia, the UK, it doesn't matter. No university is going to come to get someone that admittedly doesn't have the drive to want to get it for themselves.

You can do apprenticeships here in the US too, i have friends that quit school to become electricians and plumbers. They make their money, and they work extremely hard every day, bitch about their jobs and their lives because they did want more, they were just to lazy to deal with life when it confronted them. We've had many talks about that. You don't need to know what you're going to do, you don't even have to be headed in the "right" direction. Just don't be making decisions that will limit what you'll be able to do in the future. like quiting on your education. It sounds stupid, but it is true, knowledge is power


I maybe sounding a little harsh, when dealing with problems with friends is driving you to want to quit school, its time to look at your priorities. Sometimes it may be worth it, i'm not saying its never the right decision, I can't hardly tell anything over a message board. But you better make sure you're being honest 100% honest with yourself.

 

[Jules]

You're not worrying about money, because you are taken care of. Think of paying everything yourself (phone, rent, tv, food, your pets, car + insurance, water, electricity...etc) and I can tell you, it adds up pretty quickly.
When you're stuck working 3 different full time jobs to keep your head over water...let's see how your quality of life is THEN.
You have a year and a half left, but problems with friends is more important than finishing that little bit of school? I don't even know what to say to that.
I know school can be tough....but don't you think with a little change of your attitude it could be bearable? For example, DOING the stuff the replacement teachers tells you to do and not telling him to shut up... that would probably reflect in a positive way on your grades as well.

NOTHING should be more important than your future...that starts with a good educational foundation.

 

[zoe08]

I have to agree with everyone. You should at least finish high school. Then since you say you want to be a beautician you could go to cosmetology school.

But you are 16, you arent supposed to be deciding on a career right now. I am 19 and really don't know what I want to do, and the majority of the people I know have changed their major at least once.

I HATE school, but I am still in it cuz it is something I will always have to fall back on shall I ever NEED it.

A year and a half left isnt that far, that is how long I have left til my college graduation. And believe me these last 2 years of college went by way faster than I thought.

You may not like your teachers, but keep in mind, you may not like your boss either, and without an education you may not have many options. And you will have to learn to treat your boss with respect whether you want to or not.

 

[Saje]

I'll tell you what's going on in a lot of Canada right now. There has been a push for students to make academic career choices for decades now. That was the thing to do. Anyone who didn't go to college or university was wasting their life. Where are we now? extremely short on trained trades people. Who makes the most money? Trades people. Most people working in trades, especially in the oilfield, make more money than doctors, lawyers and indian chiefs (my teacher's expression). More and more people are regretting their life's decisions because they studied sociology (interesting but you can't do much with it) and now have few job options.

The point? You don't have to go to university. You can go to a trades college or other institute like you plan. However, you will feel better about yourself and your life in the future if you graduate from high school. Push through. Then decide what you want to do. You'll also get more respect from any employer, including beauticians, because you have a diploma. It means you can do basic math, speak, read and write English and have some knowledge of the world. It also means you aren't a quitter and you see things through.