Lost all interest in my university degree

2/2

Basically working 60-70 hours a week on this shit has completely killed all my passion and interest for it, and what's worse is that the deeper I go the more I realise how insurmountable the mountain of knowledge is and how if I work like a slave for the rest of my life then maybe, just MAYBE, I might contribute with some minor innovation to some obscure piece of technology that might be mentioned in 2 sentences in a college textbook.

I still feel this compulsion to contribute with something useful to the world but I don't know how now that I don't really see a future in the field I've basically devoted my life to up to this point. I'm pretty good at programming and I like creating apps and other software in my spare time, but I hate programming courses in uni because I couldn't give less of a shit about the projects we're making, I only care about my own personal projects.

Honestly I'm considering graduating with my physics BSc and then leave school forever and start a software business. I'm actually trying to start one right now but it's going super slow due to school workload. But then again I'd feel like I wasn't offering anything of value to the world, I wouldn't be solving any of the big problems. Advice, anyone?

> I don't mind working hard in general, in fact if I get really into something I'll work on it nonstop and sometimes forget to eat lol, but the problem is I'm not getting excited about anything we're learning anymore.

Pushing past the long and boring parts is part of hard work.

Saying you want to achieve some great new technological innovation or start a company without doing lots of boring slog is like saying you want to run a marathon without the gruelling and dull parts in the middle.

I work in finance and have pretty lofty goals but as a result my reading list is almost 100,000 pages and still expanding and I don't necessarily enjoy doing all the study but the choice is between this and mediocrity. You have to make sacrifices and numb yourself to unpleasant things to stand out in the world.

>>18158788
>very prestigious uni
No, it's not. Stop lying to yourself.

Basically you are experiencing a burnout. Lower your workload. Take less courses. Get a hobby. Relax a bit. Masturbate. Meditate.

>>18158819
How do you know it's not prestigious? What a weird assumption to make.

>>18158823
>How do you know it's not prestigious? What a weird assumption to make.
It's not. I guarantee it.

>>18158812
I understand that work can't be enjoyable all the time. Oftentimes when programming in my spare time I have to fix a bug in my code or there's something I want to do that I have no idea how to yet, so I have to spend hours trying things out, searching the web and looking through textbooks to try and find out how to solve it. It's not always fun when I'm doing it but I do it anyways because I want the award that comes on the other side.

With my studies however, I don't feel an inch of excitement about what I'm doing at all. Not a single day since my first semester have I woken up feeling even the slightest excitement for my work. Wouldn't you agree that this falls into the other extreme?

I don't mind hard, boring work if it serves a purpose or advances me towards a goal. However, if my end goal is such that every second spent getting there will be spent in misery I'm not excited about the end goal anymore. I guess that's my point.

>No, it's not. Stop lying to yourself.
In my country (Eurotrash here) the uni I attend is unequivocally the most prestigious. We have four Nobel Laureates and several world renowned (in terms of academia) alumni, some of which are still alive.

>Basically you are experiencing a burnout. Lower your workload. Take less courses. Get a hobby. Relax a bit. Masturbate. Meditate.
yeah this might be it. But idk man I've been feeling like this for almost 2 years now and it doesn't pass. Not even last summer where I literally just relaxed for 2 months did my attitudes change.

>>18158843
woops, the latter part of this post was meant for >>18158819

>>18158843
>In my country (Eurotrash here) the uni I attend is unequivocally the most prestigious.
See, not prestigious. Stop lying to yourself.

>>18158850
right so the only prestigious universities in the world are the ones in the US? Go fuck yourself

>>18158788
If you really want to contribute to society you should do you best to be a good person. The world is such a fucked up place because people neglect their duties as decent human beings to try and satisfy their ego.

>>18158861
Why so angry? It's not prestigious. Just accept it and move on.

>>18158876
No, you don't find it prestigious. Other's would disagree. Why should your personal opinion, based on nothing so far, at all be considered an objective truth?

What university do you attend

>>18158929
I'd rather not say because I don't want to identify myself

>>18158978
>I'd rather not say because I don't want to identify myself
Not because you're afraid other people will also said it's a shit uni?

OP it's painful to see how easy you allow yourself to get trolled.

That being said, your problem is what tons of relatively smart technicians and IT'ers run into; you want to finish your studies because you know the info could help you along the way (especialy if you want to achieve top-notch breakthroughs), but you're simply not "studious" (braindead) enough to be an academic. Well, in practice, barely any high-hitters are purely academic. They focus on their vision and scramble together the people they need to achieve it. Look at Musk and Gates compared to Einstein and Da Vinci. It doesn't sound like you want to lock yourself up with a blackboard like the latter.

Nonetheless, I'm a big fan of finishing uni, especially if it's hard to finish or get into. Especially during times where getting a job is hard. So ask yourself; do you want to be employed or be an entrepeneur? I put the emphasis on "enterpreneur" (and didn't use the word employer) for a reason, because running a succesful IT business takes a lot more than being a programmer. In fact I know plenty of guys who are brilliantly outstanding at it, but have trouble getting customers, making concessions on their vision for an assignment to please the customer, or even simply doing a business administration.

What I'd like to say is, weigh out the pros and cons for finishing uni or starting a business, and decide if you'd rather lead or follow. The outcome should make you happy, with possibly a fair bit of concession at first to make your dreams come true.

>>18158996
You sound like a jealous fuck. What a strange thing to get hung up on. It literally has nothing to do with anything aside from OP not wanting to waste his opportunity there.

>>18158996
Not really no. But, if it allows you to move on and actually provide me some decent evidence, we can assume from here on that I go to a mediocre (or even shit, if you prefer) university.

>>18159027
Thanks for the quality post, anon. I would like to add though that I'm not going to drop out, it's a question of whether I'll be leaving it at the BSc or going for a graduate degree.

Personally I definitely feel more like an entrepreneur rather than an academic. In fact I don't feel like an academic at all.

>>18159096

No problem! A couple of things I noticed from people who close to me who were in the same situation:

1: Try to make more time during uni to work on your company. It will help you deal with customers, will help you bring your knowledge into practice, and will help you build relevant references and a portfolio.
2: It might also help you rake in a little cash, which you'll want saved up when you start working your company full-time
3: Don't undersell yourself. As a student you will need to use a very reasonable price to attract customers, and as soon as you finish uni you can pump them up. But with existing customers (on which you'll likely depend at first) it'll be a pain to get through. If you do a whole-project price, make sure you calculate enough hours (+20% even) to make sure you won't end up taking losses.
4: Consider making your own products or services. This doesn't only fit your idea to make something grand and world-changing; if you finish and market it well it will sell itself. Passive income.
5: If you're bad or unkmowledgeable at marketing, find help in that department. I wouldn't consider marketing courses, but getting help from a real marketing chad who knows how to sell your company and/or your product. Very few people who have a mathematical/practical (or even an artistic) mindset, are good at marketing and sales. And marketing makes all the difference.
6: Got a mate or acquaintence who's your level or even better, and wants to start a company as well? Consider working together. It shares the workload when you're in trouble or busy, you can broaden your company's expertise and you'll get a higher sympathy factor from (potential) clients. You can wrap up the company any time, even just after you finished uni, or you can expand from there.
7: Don't be afraid to (eventually) start and drop companies for various products and coorporations. Don't stay hooked on your first, as a new name and a clean slate sometimes works wonders.

>>18159033
OP need to get out of his delusion. He didn't go to a top uni.

>>18159081
Dude, just accept it. Your uni is not that great.

>>18158788
You can always take a semester off to recover and relax.

burntout

>>18159304
Thank for the tips! I'm already working on creating my own product, specifically a piece of software. It's tough to find time working on it though with my already long work weeks, but it's about priorities I guess.

>>18159344
yeah I might do this, and then focus on my company for that period...

Hey OP. I used to be in almost the same situation as you: also a physics student, same burned-out/nothing-is-fun/not-as-smart-as-i-thought feels. What I did, and what I'd suggest you do as well, is brace yourself and carry on.

The first few years are worst, since you're still getting used to uni life and the lectures are mainly about developing a solid background to build the other stuff on. It gets better once you pick a focus. Another thing is that having just a bachelor in physics is rather silly and basically says "I was too stupid/lazy to finish a masters".

As for your programming stuff, be very careful there. Self-learning without outside input usually means horrible coding practices. What I can recommend from experience is try finding an open source project that interests you and contribute there. That way you get to do something useful and (if you're lucky) actual pros will teach you how to program properly.

>>18159576
thanks for this post, hearing this from someone else who's been in the same spot really made me think.

Also, can I ask what you're doing now? Still studying? If so, at what level? If not, do you work? If so, with what?