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*U-Wire member papers have full permission to reprint all or part of this column. Enjoy! This Week: • I
hate everything about this school; now what? (some questions have been edited for length, grammar and/or to maintain the privacy of the sender.) Dear Professor K: I'm a sophomore, and I don't really like it here. My dorm this year is unsocial and I'm not that social, so I can't just walk around and see what people are doing. I don't really have many friends here, and I'm generally unhappy. My grades are fine, but that's 'cause I take easy classes. It's like I know everything that's wrong with my life, but I can't do anything about it. I would urge you to try one or two strategies before you transfer. (More on transferring later.) First, go to the counseling center, which you can contact through the student health center. The staff there are employed to handle *exactly* these kinds of problems - not long-term individual therapy, but student support. They may well be able to help you find some insight on what's going on. Second, choose *one* activity that you really like and pursue it regularly. Doesn't matter what it is, though it helps if it's outwardly directed, like a volunteer activity - say tutoring or a hotline - or a group activity, like a chorus or intramural sports. You'll feel more compelled to do something when others are counting on you, and you may make social contacts as well. If neither the counseling center nor an activity helps, I think you've got some soul-searching to do. Do you know why you're in college? Do you want to be there? Maybe it's time to work for a year or two. Maybe you should save up enough money to take a year off - go backpacking or participate in some community or exchange program. Give yourself a little time to figure out why you are in college to begin with. For many students, that answer is just that college is what you do after high school. But a university education is a demanding proposition, and it's much easier to get through if you know why you're doing it. Finally, if you are really unhappy at your school, you know what you want to do, *and* you know what kind of school you want to be at, then go ahead and transfer. Just be sure you know why you're doing it. I am almost halfway through my sophomore year and I still have *no* idea what I want to do with my life. I don't have a passion for any of the subjects that I have taken, and it's become hard for me to imagine any that would. It's not that I don't think the subject matter is interesting, but I can't imagine myself spending the rest of my life dedicated to any one subject. The only thing I really have a passion for is music. Playing, listening, even a little writing. My school has no music department, and this is troubling. I am curious whether I should transfer to a school where I can study music. What do you think? Transferring to do a major you haven't tried yet is a risky business. I am, however, a big advocate of following your passion. Sound contradictory? Well, let's try another approach. How about taking a leave of absence for a year, and enrolling somewhere else and taking music classes? That way you don't do the transfer until and unless you're sure. As a former music major - I actually transferred from a school without music to one with, so I know your dilemma intimately - I can tell you that the other thing you need to think about is what you mean by music. Most music programs still don't have significant course offerings in anything outside the Western canon. Maybe one or two ethnomusicology courses, one or two jazz or popular music courses, but nothing like a coherent course of study. So be careful that the place you're checking out has what you're looking for. If, after a year, you've convinced yourself that majoring in music is really what you want to do, go for it. People will tell you that you won't make any money, why not study something practical, yadda, yadda, yadda. But the truth is, plenty of people make perfectly happy lives as elementary music teachers, piano teachers, wedding band guitarists and the like. And I'd put money down that most people's professions don't even relate to their undergraduate major. The work and discipline are more the point than the subject, anyway. So, follow your heart - just make sure you know what it wants first. Dr. K's Last Word on transferring: Transferring is a sticky business, so think through it carefully. On one hand, if you've gotten bad grades and think you've cleaned up your act, it can be a way of wiping the slate clean. (Your GPA generally doesn't come with you.) On the other hand, you always - yes, always - lose credits and time and money. And sometimes you think you know what you want, go through all the work to transfer, then find out you were wrong. (As someone who transferred three times, I know whereof I speak on this.) So, you might transfer if you're absolutely sure you're looking for something your current school doesn't have. You might transfer as a way of getting a second chance. Another reason to transfer is to move up the prestige ladder if you're thinking of going to grad school. Not so surprisingly, some students who didn't love high school find themselves in college. If you're at a school that doesn't routinely send students to the kind of graduate school you're hoping to attend, think about transferring. It's not just that the name of the school matters - schools have infrastructures for students that cater to their student bodies. So a school that routinely sends graduates off to good schools knows how to advise students about getting in and makes resources available. When you're thinking of transferring, just be sure you know why you're going and what the costs will be. Then you can make a clear, carefully reasoned decision. Dr. Anahid Kassabian is a professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University in New York.
© 2001 Virtually Advising |
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