Tired of College now (Masters program)?

Question

Please help me. Im getting my masters now, but Im feeling a little tired and stressed, school is overwhelming me. for real. All I do is talk about school because Ive been in school so long so thats all I know. I have an associates degree, I have a bachelors( I receive those back to back). Im a teacher at a school for troubled children-children with mental behaviors but when I come home everyday I dont come home to a family, I come home to work on my master degree. This masters program is stressing me out - I really wanna take a year off. Its not so much the program(It is a bit) its the people in the program. I attend UOP and Im the youngest person In the masters program, so anything I say people dont listen because of the fact that Im younger than them and they assume I have nothing to say. Besides I have degrees but, I feel like thats it... thats all I have.... just degrees and work, I dont think i have a life. I dont have child or husband ( and I really would like that) because I dont have time for it, And I dont wanna spend time doing this masters program and not find a great job when I recieve a masters or miss out on just being normal and dating and having conversations other than about school. My friends are having children and getting married and all Im doing is talking about school and theres more than school. Everytime someone sees me they just bring up school and they see someone else they talk about everything else excited people just know me as just being in school but Im really tired of school. What do you suggest I do? or what would you do in this situation?

Answer 1

Education is important. No one can take your degrees away from you.

Hang in there!!! Understand, you are very busy with your graduate degree, and sound a little "burnt out," but you are doing the right thing. Here is another point of view.

You get married and have kids and then work on your education. You miss out on some of their day-to-day activities, since you are too busy studying. Divorce rates tend to go up when the married woman goes back to school.

By getting your education early--when you decide to settle down--you can focus on your family and/or your career. Realize, you do not have to get married to be happy.

Unfortunately, you may have outgrown your friends and need to find some who share your interests. I suspect that is what has happened, and you are actually grieving the loss. Your friends are trying to relate, but there are no common topics. Please make an effort to make at least one new friend from school.

Finally, listen to the older people (I am one) and you will learn a lot. Yes, they may look at your as being young and inexperienced, but if you respect their opinions, they may listen to you.

Answer 2

I've been there. My sister has been there.

Sounds like you have a serious case of the "March blues" and I'm guessing you live where spring is still teasing and warmth and sunshine is spotty at best. And you are a high achiever who wants to do everything superbly. And you are in a demanding job. And right now it all seems totally pointless because it's March. Have you gotten the annual spring respiratory problems that usually plague a worn-out teacher/student on top of everything else?

Hang in there. You are doing the right thing and you'll get through it and it'll be worth it. Give your self some mini breaks and pampering.

Fill the tub for a long soak with a decadent amount of bubbles. Make yourself stay there for longer than 10 minutes. Tell yourself you are going to quit school and you'll call them up--later--gee--this does feel pretty good--maybe I'll soak another ten minutes. Dry off with your prettiest towel and put on some of your favorite clothes and the perfume you are saving for special. Now, what was I going to do--can't remember, must not have been important.

Read a book. Just for fun. You can do this--there are books other than the ones you must study. Especially read something before you go to sleep. When I was stressed out in grad school I read all of Sherlock Holmes and I swear it kept me sane. The short stories were perfect before bed because they were short (so I didn't find myself reading half the night) and they were intricate (so they kept my mind off my other concerns) and they had NOTHING to do with my world.

Make a compilation on your iPod or burn a CD with music that is soothing to you. Not too happy/party because if you can't mentally go there then it is just irritating. But softly appealing. I recommend instrumentals with lots of flute and violin. When you feel a bout of downer approaching, take some deep breaths, play the CD. Think calming thoughts. Do this actively at first and then you'll have yourself programmed so every time you hear it you will automatically feel calmer.

Go for a brisk walk. Listen to the birds, smell the thawing ground, think about the flowers in your grandmother's garden when you were growing up. Walk faster. If you aren't breathing a little harder, you aren't walking fast enough. If you don't feel better when you come in, you didn't walk far enough. Make another couple laps around the block. Substitute biking for walking if you prefer.

Notice I didn't say you should actually step away from the degree program. The reality is life continually gets more complicated (that is not better or worse, just more complex) so since you are in the midst of that process--stick with it and get it done and behind you. April will come, and May and everything will automatically look better. You can do this! You'll be glad you did and you'll join a whole group of people who've waded through the same thing and come out smiling.

Answer 3

You are in a really tough spot right now. I think you need to reassess your goals right now, what is most important to you. Your schooling or having a family.
Like you said you are the youngest in your group. Maybe you could take time out and make a new life for your self ( meet someone, fall in love, have children - either all of these of just one of them).
How long do you have to go until your finish your masters ? Is it going to be easier for you to slug it out and get your degree (time wise, I mean - is it worth take a year out if you only have a year left to go).
I am in my last year of my studies to be a midwife, I also just got my degree in Phsycology. I have 2 children, a fiance and a home to take care of. After all this I don't get much time for a social life. But I would admit it is easier to know that at the end of a really crappy day I can go home to a family, and just not more work.
You have already achieved so much, I was just wondering about the friends you have mentioned. What do they do for a job ? Did they have to work to get a degree ? Are they happy in their jobs ?
It is worth remembering that just because they have familys and are getting married, it doesn't mean they don't have any regrets.... I was doing my course with a girl called Jane, she is my age, but she dropped out 2 years ago, she claimed she had met the one, was madly in love and all that,anyway she got pregnant and this guy did a runner, so now she is a stay at home mum, on benefits with now Career to fall back on. When and If she comes back to the course she is going to have to start from the begining ( her work placements for example, you need to have at least 5 years worth, and they are the hardest part of the whole thing. I cold be away from home for 1 or 7 days at a time, depending on what hospital I was assigned.
I know how hard it is to be in your shoes, but at the end of it all, the desicion is your to make. And only you know what really matters the most.
I wish you all the best, whatever you decide to do. X