Not cut out for college?

thisclose2giving
Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:05:11 +0000

I’m a sophomore in college now and I have been hopelessly floundering for my entire time here. I could really use some help or guidance. On paper, I seem like someone who should be excelling. I got a perfect score on my SAT (not a joke), I graduated at the top of my high school class, I was always a bright student with many interests. I had high hopes for myself and many ambitions for my college and post-grad years, as did my family. I knew what I wanted to be doing in terms of my career, further education, research interests, extracurricular activities, etc. But once I got to college, I fell apart. Long story short, I almost failed out. The courses I took weren’t too hard for me, but I couldn’t handle them. Looking back, it wasn’t really anything too out of the ordinary–everyone has adjustment issues once they come into college out of high school. But I took the adjustment (and subsequent slip-ups) harder than most and got really messed up. I took some time off after my first year and straightened some things out for myself, but now that I’m in my second year, I’m starting to lose it again. I’m failing a class already this semester. I don’t know what to do. It’s not that I’m distracted–I don’t party or even have many friends, really. Everything is just so challenging and I tend to give up and lose hope right away. I don’t have any strengths to look back on and build off of, either, since I’ve never done anything well in college.

I look at myself now and I feel that I’ve regressed in many ways since high school. I no longer have goals and ambitions–I’m just trying my hardest now not to flunk out of school. I never would have envisioned myself in this place. Why is getting by in college so hard for me? Is it really possible that college isn’t for me? I’m not actually considering dropping out, but I’m wondering whether I’m cut out for school, academics, anything challenging. I’m someone who supposedly has so much potential, yet I am struggling even to maintain a 2.0, while everyone else is putting their potential to use. I just can’t seem to perform, to do the work, and I stopped believing in my abilities long ago. Do you have any advice for me?