3 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Dropping Out
We’re well past the midyear point, and with the second-semester heating up a lot of students both undergrad and postgrad are feeling the pressure and stresses associated with their degrees. Whether the workload is too heavy, or you are struggling to grasp the concepts within a particular field of study, those of you that are struggling may begin to wonder whether dropping out of university is a possible solution. Before you do anything as rash as quitting your studies, take a look at these three questions you should ask yourself.
1) Have I Made My Studies Any Easier?
Many postgraduate researchers believe that they are capable of completing a rather tedious and drawn out study over a single year. Some researchers and postgraduates have jobs that they are responsible for holding down during the day and are overburdened with university work and research at every other time. Some students have not considered approaching the university and requesting that they complete their research over an extra year because they are embarrassed about their postgraduate research being done on a ‘part-time’ basis. Believe us; completing a postgraduate research degree part-time, or lengthened over two or more years remains an incredible achievement.
2) Have I Asked Others For Assistance?
This is an important question. Many students, especially postgraduate researchers, seem to struggle on their own with their studies, isolating themselves from the assistance that others can provide. Apart from one’s postgraduate research assessment facilitator, there are other people within your postgraduate department that can help make your research more bearable. There are many lecturers, administrators, and research officers that can assist you in your studies and recommend options for you to pursue to make your postgrad life that little bit easier. With a bit of extra assistance, you don’t have to consider dropping out.
3) Am I Passionate About My Studies?
Unfortunately, a lot of students progress to the point of postgraduate research degrees in a chosen field before they realize that the study and the field of work leave them uninspired. If there is any advice we could give you is that you should always be involved in a subject that you are passionate about. However, research is most often exceptionally difficult, and there are occasions when you lose both drive and spirit. In these cases, it’s important to keep the end goal in mind and set yourself smaller targets regarding your work. If you are seriously reconsidering your chosen field, speak to a university postgraduate facilitator who can assist you with a ‘study-change’.
Please, whatever the situation, consider the above questions before ‘dropping out’ of the university and your postgraduate research degree.