Half a million students in Germany suffer from a mental health illness - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;53175950]college is a scam[/QUOTE] Nah. Most people just aren't smart about it, mainly in choosing a school. I've seen a couple people from high school try to use GoFundMe to pay for their schooling, pretty much because they picked schools that were way too expensive. I did things differently, picked the state school and decided to go to a regional campus. My tuition is ~10,000 a year (with the tuition increases I think I'm paying somewhere around 50,000-55,000 in the end). And to top it off, I'm studying a degree that I love, that even two years ago I never thought I would enjoy (I switched at the end of my sophmore year so I could stay at my campus, was slightly interested in the topic but fell in love). And now because of that I was in a really awesome study away program last semester (had a scholarship pay for that entirely), and I have an interviewed lined up for a paid internship this summer that I can easily roll into a full job once it's done. Persue your passions, but do it smartly. [QUOTE=thelurker1234;53176417]Even shit like liberal arts is kinda underrated.[/QUOTE] It often feels like the liberal arts are undervalued. A Liberal Arts degree is designed to give you a diverse set of skills that can be applied to many jobs, hence the "liberal" part of the name. Critical-thinking, analysis, writing, etc... Stuff like that is what those degrees really focus on. Half the time I just see STEM people making fun of it and it's kind of annoying. Both sets of degrees are valuable and useful.

[QUOTE=bdd458;53176463] It often feels like the liberal arts are undervalued. A Liberal Arts degree is designed to give you a diverse set of skills that can be applied to many jobs, hence the "liberal" part of the name. Critical-thinking, analysis, writing, etc... Stuff like that is what those degrees really focus on. Half the time I just see STEM people making fun of it and it's kind of annoying. Both sets of degrees are valuable and useful.[/QUOTE] The main thing that annoys me is when people sell STEM as instant employment, which isn't really true. If you do an engineering degree with no internships and mediocre grades, the job market is likely to be very hard (depending on the kind of engineering.) And if you have a bachelors degree in the sciences (e.g. biology,) chances are that's a ticket to do a masters before you can get a job you'll actually enjoy unless you've got some good extracurriculars. STEM people would actually do quite nice to add a liberal arts degree/minor to their plan anyways. Most liberal arts degrees place a high emphasis on writing, and having a breadth of knowledge about different aspects of human culture/behavior. You can see this by looking at the jobs that hire say, history or english majors. That looks good to employers because it suggests that you're not just another code monkey, and many of those jobs require you to write a surprising amount especially if you get a senior/management position. Same goes vice versa, liberal arts majors imo should complete the classes you'd require for medical school because that'll give a good breadth of the sciences. Although that's more on a personal level.

[QUOTE=SunsetTable;53176430]Someone actually point to a company that does this?[/QUOTE] If you genuinely think all companies are dogshit to work for, you're very narrowminded. I've got mates who are working at Jaguar, or Rolls Royce (our uni had very close connections with these companies) and they absolutely live for their work now. They genuinely love waking up and going in every day, cause they're doing shit they're passionate about, and the company atmosphere helps them enjoy the job they're working. If you're just graduating and working at <generic company here that treats its employees like shit> then yeah you're gonna hate your life.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a lot of passionate companies here in America. Ideally every company should want to promote their workforce to have a passion for what they're doing, but most seem to have the mindset that "If so-and-so quits it won't matter, someone else will take their place," so the environment suffers. I'm honestly glad my parents didn't push me to go to college. They are very supportive of us, especially with my little brother who wants to try voice acting. They gave him suggestions hoping to achieve his dreams. Most people criticized them for not pushing my siblings and I to go for "stable jobs like engineers or doctors", when their own children who are going have no idea what they really want in life, but are just following what society and their parents tell them to do. I may not have the best job in the world right now, but I'm still young and many things can happen from now and 40 years from now. College is no way a bad thing; it's just one path we can take in life to achieve a better life. But it isn't for everyone.

[QUOTE=SunsetTable;53176430][B]Someone actually point to a company that does this?[/B] [editline]4th March 2018[/editline] Actually long term, trade schools are worth more. And they're cheaper. Especially in the US because we have a massive shortage of workers for trades.[/QUOTE] Mine has. I recently left a job I'd had for over 7 years - it forged my career but in the end, left me mentally spent and in the worst slump I'd ever been in. Not a day went by I didn't think about quitting. I finally found the guts to leave and got hired immediately at a consulting firm in the same industry. It's been the best work environment I've ever had. Not only am I finally being recognized for my skills, and having them properly utilized, but I'm also being treated like a valuable asset, not just someone to overburden and take advantage of. In the last 3 months I've found motivation again, something I haven't felt in years, and it's carried over to my personal life in a variety of ways. All because my company actually bothers to give me a pat on the back at the end of the day and motivate me in a positive way.

[QUOTE=TestECull;53175094]and even if it does, they'll be paying for the schooling they didn't want for the next 30, 40, 50 years. [/QUOTE] This is about Germany. University costs 1200$ a year there, and is free if you dont have enough money.

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;53175957] there are some really great programs out there, and really great college courses to take, but i'm going to hazard a guess that most people learn how to do their desk jobs on site rather than in lecture halls[/QUOTE] My internship turned fulltime employment has definitely taught me 100% more useful and marketable skills than my bachelor's degree. I know I also felt obligated to become a college graduate, despite computer programming being one of the easier fields to self-teach. I thankfully only escaped with $7500 in debt, so I'm not financially ruined as a result, but my wife pays $600 a month. I bought a brand new car and it's only $350 a month. Fucking ridiculous. University would be much more worth it if the cost of it wouldn't nearly destroy most kids. Plus, how many university classes have you all taken where you haven't even come close to touching that subject in your day-to-day job? I was required to take linear algebra for my degree program and the most I ever do is basic arithmetic.

[QUOTE=SIRIUS;53175127]In our society, yes[/QUOTE] Name one society where you don't have to work to eat.

[QUOTE=taipan;53178917]Name one society where you don't have to work to eat.[/QUOTE] In the world today, there isn't one (as far as i know) which is basically what i was saying

[QUOTE=taipan;53178917]Name one society where you don't have to work to eat.[/QUOTE] People who are unable to work are often taken care of, partly by government assistance and family. But yeah if you're capable of earning your way, you're expected to.

Adding infinitely more relationships of information exchange into society is causing people to be stressed out about the horrors of the world? Who woulda thunk?

[QUOTE=SIRIUS;53178920]In the world today, there isn't one (as far as i know) which is basically what i was saying[/QUOTE] Bysaying "In our society, yes" you are implying there is or was a society where this was possible. But there never was a society where this was possible. It was never easier than today to provide in your basic needs. (lower 2 levels of Maslow's pyramid). With increased automation, machine learning and UBI we might get to be one of the first to actually break the cycle completely.

One of my biggest fears going into college was finding myself in a program I did not enjoy or was way beyond me. Because of that I took 3 years in Community college trying to figure out what I wanted to do, but just getting transferable units was just padding out what my parents wanted out of my education. But one class I took really helped me figure it out. A really good educational counselor saw the patterns in my classes and made me realize I was all over the place looking for something. She recommended I take a career counseling class. The teacher not only helped me figure out what I want to do for a career, but saved me from my own anxiety and depression. If you're being pressured into going into higher education and don't have a clue where you're headed, try taking a career counseling class.

[QUOTE=taipan;53180604]Bysaying "In our society, yes" you are implying there is or was a society where this was possible. But there never was a society where this was possible. It was never easier than today to provide in your basic needs. (lower 2 levels of Maslow's pyramid). With increased automation, machine learning and UBI we might get to be one of the first to actually break the cycle completely.[/QUOTE] No, I'm saying there are other societal systems possible than the kinds he have/had

I should've taken a year or two off between high school and college. Now I'm taking a semester off between leaving one school to transfer to another, and I don't know if the classes will even transfer over (I had a 2.5 gpa coming out of my last college, the area of the college I'd have to go into to continue wants 3.0). If I don't get accepted into the area of this college (I won't) then I'm pretty sure I have to start over entirely when I already have tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to pay off. And my parents want me to get done with college as soon as possible so they can get out of this dumb state. So yeah, having a grand old time and I'm pretty sure the whole college experience left me with actual depression. All I learned from my studies so far, really, is how to write music (I'm a music education major, which is only useful once you actually get the degree, and meaningless until then since you need the degree and certification to teach anywhere.). So I look around for any video game or film composition openings and hope my vast portfolio interests someone, then get sad knowing how ridiculously saturated the market is and know that I will never be able to live off the one thing I'm good at.