a bit worried

**Posts:** 3 · by **shitshow113** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:39 pm

Hi,

I just started university today and honestly I've been panicking since the moment I left the campus this evening. I arrived then enrolled and made my way to where I needed to go and spoke to a few people around. In one of our introductions my professor spoke about all of the things we need such as books, finance information and some other things... He also spoke about some of the things I would be learning and I really didn't know half the things he was talking about and I just got really confused. We had to introduce ourselves and one of the questions were what do you really want from university, how can you get there etc... I have no clue what I want to do or how the subject I picked works or whatever. The students around me seem to know half the course content already which makes me really nervous. I'm used to knowing at least some of the subject that I'm studying but it is the opposite in this case. They talked a lot about the workload and other stuff and how easy it is to fall behind. I'm really nervous. I'm quite shy so the introduction of myself was really a mess and well I f*cked that up. All of this makes me question if I really want this. One of the professors said to everyone that we must be capable of university since you made it this far. Something is telling me I can't do this, this whole day scared me. I'm paying over forty grand in tuition so I would hate to waste all of that money that I have to pay back. Is this a normal thing? Thanks

**Posts:** 12131 · by **Richard@DecisionSkills** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 10:13 pm

What is your major?

Is it normal to have low confidence the first day or week? Yes.

It is common for all students to go through periods of high and low confidence.

High confidence is critical to success. When confidence is high you are motivated to put in the required effort and will not quit because a a few setbacks.

Low confidence results in low motivation and giving up easy. The thought is that chances of success are low so why put forth the effort?

Overconfidence is also bad. It leads to mediocre performance at best. The person has no fear of failure so they don’t put in much effort.

Why are you attending university? Because your parents expect you attend? Because you have no alternate path?

What do you enjoy doing? Are you a writer, singer, traveler, programmer, avid reader, runner? What are your interests?

**Posts:** 3 · by **shitshow113** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 10:46 pm

Hi,

I'm studying software engineering. There is a mix of reasons why I'm going. My teachers from my old school always pushed me to go to university, my siblings have also gone to university. University also seemed quite cool from the outside. As stupid as this sounds, one of the biggest reasons for my attending university was to show the people around me that I wasnt stupid. I realise now that most people really don't care if I am stupid or not. I think I don't even care what they think at this point. I enjoy creating art from pencil sketches to origami. Ive also been creating a lot of digital art. I code a lot in my free time and am fluent in 2 languages (almost three). None were mentioned today. I enjoy gaming, I've been reading a lot and cooking. I've been into history lately. Those are off the top of my head.

**Posts:** 12131 · by **Richard@DecisionSkills** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 11:14 pm

If you are coding and creating digital art in your free time, then it sounds like software engineering is a path aligned with your interests. Your confidence in passing courses related to software engineering should be high.

Consider taking a minimum course load (9 hours) or consider switching to a community college. Or seek out a program of study that is specific to digital art/design.

**Posts:** 3 · by **shitshow113** » Tue Sep 17, 2019 3:40 pm

I can not imagine a single instance where my confidence would be high. For instance, the two languages I've been coding with for about 3 years I don't have confidence with using them. I've worked on my own projects and have built real world applications that work. There is so much to everything, small little details, new ways of doing things that are better... It makes it seem impossible to be confident. I've been taking the same train into London for about four years now and I'm still not confident in taking this route. Even talking to people is a nightmare. Even though this sucks really bad, its the least worst option for me.

I've considered continuing with art and have taken commissions for small local businesses before but it takes all of the joy I get from art out of it. I don't enjoy making other peoples ideas, I like making my own art.

**Posts:** 12131 · by **Richard@DecisionSkills** » Tue Sep 17, 2019 3:58 pm

shitshow113 wrote:I've considered continuing with art and have taken commissions for small local businesses before but it takes all of the joy I get from art out of it. I don't enjoy making other peoples ideas, I like making my own art.

So then make your own art. Create a portfolio. Put your work online. Advertise and promote yourself as an artist. When people ask what you do, refer them to your ever growing portfolio of work.

For 40,000 you can create and promote A LOT of art.

In other words, you have the option to not waste money on school of art is what you like to create.

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