So long story short, I essentially spend the last 1.5 years rotting at home in bed oscillating from mild to heavy depression, though abt 7months of them was intense studies before I burned out. But anyway I went to a college today, a decent one not amazing, just whatever I got, just to get a look. It starts next week. And to find places to live in a different city (though its only about 100kms apart from my home).
And yeah I am kinda scared now idk. I do not really have any meaningful friends or something or a mentor to ask advice, so well I would like to hear your stories! Or any tips? I am kinda introverted, well not kinda quite a bit. But I wont say I am under-confident, I do not have trouble talking to people or something, mostly I just find hard to relate with them. Even today I tried striking some casual convos but seniors have some attitude towards freshers i guess, and freshers were too busy completing their docs maybe.
“don’t worry about it”. 😐 Which is bad advice to someone after burnout and specifically asking for advice, but it’s also kind of true.
But first things first:
Some people are just… useless and weird. Don’t bother with them. Like, don’t stress about why someone doesn’t want to talk with you, or does or doesn’t do something. Including professors. Some are nice, some are just there to do their job, and you will be able to tell which is which. I’ve met plenty of people who can’t hold a conversation to save their lives. Somehow.
Yeah, that’s normal. The world is a big place, chances are you won’t relate to many people.
My biggest, best piece of advice is to join some student club that does stuff that’s not just studying and does it more consistently than just one semester for some course. For example a sports club, who does try and does go to meets and stuff, but the point is enjoying the sport together. Or art. Or books. Or science. That’s where I had most fun and where I got most out of my time.
Because studying is hit and miss. Of course you try to go for something interesting but you never know in advance if you can actually stand the work or do the workload or if you need to switch… majors I think it’s college? Don’t worry about that either.
The ONLY THING you absolutely must do, is attend. Get out of bed, and just GO, try to pay attention in the classes and take notes. That’s the barrier most people fail at. They skip classes or attend but don’t pay attention. Put yourself into the situation where “learning” is just the thing you do. Like going to the library, reviewing your material and planning your day in advance to do it.
And everyone is constantly stressed for time too. It’s a good idea to focus on some studying, but don’t reject opportunities that are coming your way because you think it’ll conflict with that. Occasionally try to do more than you think you can handle and you’ll surprise yourself when it works out. Those places are filled with other students who want to do stuff and “career opportunities” (companies trying to score cheap employees) and events and this and that. Just go and keep your eyes open.