18 Mar 2020

So, you’ve started university and honestly, you’re just not vibing with it at all.

It happens. But sometimes, it’s hard to tell whether you simply aren’t that fond of study and assignments (like literally everyone else), or whether you actually hate your degree.

If your degree is starting to feel less like something that you’re excited about and more like a never-ending chore, then there’s a good chance it’s not the right choice for you. That’s completely fine. Not everyone nails the whole ‘choosing what to study’ thing on the first go, and it’s perfectly acceptable to change your mind and give something else a crack.

Here are our tell-tale signs that it’s time to bite the bullet and let that degree go:

1. You start skipping all your lectures and tutorials

Sure, a lot of them aren’t compulsory. Sure, plenty of people get great marks without going to a single lecture. And you’re not wrong if you reckon lectures can be a bit on the dry side.

But your degree is should involve studying the things that you’re passionate about. Of course, that doesn’t mean that every class you attend will have you captivated from start to finish, but if the vast majority of your lectures have you counting down every minute on the clock, then what are you expecting to find after you graduate and get a job?

A whole lot more of the same thing…

2. You get jealous of your mates studying other degrees

When you chat to your mates at the end of the day and they start complaining about that “boring” class they had, but you think to yourself “that actually sounds pretty interesting” – maybe that’s a sign you should be studying something else instead.

Or maybe your friends are really enjoying their degrees and it’s making you realise that you don’t have to spend your entire course hating every second of it.

3. A gap year is starting to look pretty nice

A gap year always sounded pretty good, but now that you’ve started your degree you couldn’t think of anything better than escaping.

You catch yourself zoning out during class and daydreaming about being overseas.

You start scrolling through airlines’ websites online and researching gap year programs that start midway through the year.

4. You start fantasizing about telling your parents that you want to drop out

You imagine what you would say to them and prepare a little speech in your head.

You try to picture their reactions. Would they be supportive? Happy for you? Mad? Or just disappointed?

Either way, the fact that you’re having these vivid thoughts is definitely not a good sign. Whatever your parents’ reaction, it’s your life - and your own happiness is what you should be striving towards.

5. You now know what you’re passionate about

Sometimes, it takes doing something you hate to help you realise what it is you love.

For example, if deep down you’re a creative soul, then a couple months of studying physics, engineering or medicine oughta help bring your creative passions to the surface.

It’s wild how many people start studying one thing and ended up quitting and doing something completely different the following year. But once you see the reality of studying something you hate; it becomes a lot easier to admit to yourself what it is you really want to do.

If you do have something that you’re passionate about, then our advice is to chase it.

While we’re on the matter of following your passions…

If you have a creative passion that you absolutely live and breathe, then you should check out the design competition we’re running with LCI Melbourne. We’ve got an amazing prize up for grabs, which includes:

  • A 50% scholarship to study at LCI Melbourne
  • $500 cash
  • 3 x mentoring sessions with a creative legend from LCI Melbourne

Whether you’re into graphic design, animation, filmmaking, photography, fashion, textiles, or visual arts, we wanna have a glimpse inside your world, and see what epic projects you’ve been working on.

The best bit is, you don’t need to be a pro in any of these areas. You’ve just gotta be passionate and your project can anything from that video you filmed and edited for your mate’s birthday, your Instagram page dedicated to your own photography or an outfit you made from scratch with your mum’s old sewing machine.

Your passion project doesn’t have to be 100% complete either – we aren’t looking for perfection; we want to see potential, creativity and originality.

To enter, fill out the form here and tell us a little about yourself and what your passion project is. You can also include a link to somewhere we can view some of ya work (YouTube/Vimeo/Instagram/website). We’ll then get in touch with our faves for a bit more info about your project before announcing the winner.

Good luck legends – and don’t forget entries close 11:59pm, 19 April 2020, so make sure you submit before then!