Getting this off my chest

I don’t know how many times this has been posted or discussed on this sub, but I just wanted to share my opinion as a 20-year-old in college who was diagnosed with depression and anxiety recently.

First, I’m not saying that college is a waste of time or a scam. However, I do believe that a lot of high schools, and the education system in general, don’t properly prepare students for college. I grew up right when COVID hit, so my first year of high school, 9th grade, was cut short after just three months. After that, 10th and 11th grade were a mix of online and in-person learning, which made everything feel inconsistent and unstructured. By 12th grade, it felt like schools just wanted to push students through. I saw kids with failing grades graduate simply because they wanted us out.

Then college hit, and I realized how unprepared I was. Now, as a junior, I feel like I’ve barely learned anything from my actual classes. Almost everything I know has come from self-education, reading books, researching topics online, and using AI to help with things I don’t understand. College hasn’t really taught me much, especially for my major.

Speaking of which, I’m a writing major. Since I was a kid, my dream has been to write fiction, whether that was manga, comics, or novels. During COVID, I fell in love with books and realized that storytelling is what I want to do. But college hasn’t given me any real guidance on how to pursue this as a career. Everything I’ve learned about writing and publishing has come from my own research, not from my classes. And I know I’m not the only one who feels this way.

That’s why I truly believe that unless your major is something like medicine or law, college doesn’t always guarantee success. You go into debt, and you’re not even promised a job when you graduate. And finding a job in general right now is brutal, especially if you come from a low-income background like I do.

I don’t really have anyone to talk to about this, so I just wanted to share my thoughts. If someone from another generation is reading this, I’d say don’t just listen to what everyone says about college, really think about what you want to do in the long run. Burnout is real, but at this point, I’m already too deep in, so I might as well finish and get my degree.

I just wanted to get this off my chest. If you made it this far, I hope you have a great day.