Lemmy, I have completed tens of modules across several different universities. I have been course-hopping for long enough that I’d have a bachelors degree by now had I found and stayed on a course that suited me. I can’t be asked to commit to one and study it for yet another 3 years before I get a degree*. Yet I feel like all of the effort that I have expended up to this point will go unacknowledged, just because it was spread across several unis and doesn’t fall into any of their pre-defined study plans. I am a person driven by short bouts of intense curiosity of the type that dives down Wikipedia rabbitholes**. I want to do a highly qualified job but am failing to fit in to the rigid framework that academia sets you. I have several Master’s theses that I’d start researching tomorrow if the system let me. Yet without so much as a bachelor’s I might as well go work in a supermarket. How do I move on from here?
*Perhaps it’s also because I’m now in my early 20s and finally want to have some time to explore.
**I am a logical thinker and predominantly interested in STEM topics.
Two of the years were spent in 1st year Biochemistry. The first time round I was quite happy but had to quit because it was too expensive, and the second time round it was cheaper but the course is significantly more demanding. I’m not that serious about becoming a biochemist, and there are other skills, like machine learning and a few other engineering subjects that I wanted to be able to learn in my free time.
I see. Well, you say you’re “not that serious” about wanting to be a biochemist, but is it still something you want ? Since you also said earlier that you couldn’t commit to something else three more years, to keep going in that track doesn’t seem like a bad option.
Otherwise, if you find a work project involving one or several of the subjects that interest you, that’d be the other good option.
I’m a student myself, and I’ve jumped a few times from a study to another, but now I’m committing to physics and I don’t intend to let go. But there’s also a few skills and fields of interest I like learning on the side… That’s not a contradiction, everyone is interested in different things and has a skill set that’s doesn’t depend only ln their work. I intend to be a good amateur artist and an informed layman on several subjects, but physics is what I want to study professionally.
Committing to something doesn’t mean you should give up on all the rest, just that you should set boundaries on what will be the thing you’ll be an professional in and the rest. Even if you go a different path, don’t think of the time you devoted to biochemistry as wasted time… It’ll have fed your culture and skill set. Maybe it’ll be useful to you, maybe not, but either way it’s not a negative thing. A choice is good if it is a choice you’ve made. And you’re not that late anyway, some have “wasted” more years than that.
Of course, I’m just a student myself, not a teacher or anything. Beside, I’m French and our university systems might be a bit different, so take it with a grain of salt.