/lit/ - Literature

>>19799518
>B.A. Philosophy
Bro, you’re not alone. I thought I‘d have a book by now or met a prof I get along with, or quit.
I‘m thinking I either try to write a book or join “some place” where you lie all day in bed, go on vacation in a foreign land, do the best you can, leave for good… maybe that’s living to write a book.

>>19799539
I've thought about dropping out of society and becoming a monk. It's all so tiresome.

>>19799518
I’m a second year English student at Oxford. Things are looking bad in general, both for degree and after I graduate, although it might just all be in my brain. Luckily you are fairly highly supported here (coddled even?) and I will have a meeting with my Director of Studies soon to discuss how I’m feeling about the degree. But most days are bad now and I don’t know how to take care of myself or make myself happier. My parents were loving, my tutors are kind, I’m supposedly following my passion in a good place to do it, and yet I’m still without motivation and barely functional. It feels shameful to be so emotionally weak, especially since I (used to) have such high aspirations.

>>19799658
Does this sound familiar? You went to university not because you really cared much about your subject or even the degree, but rather to educate yourself for no particular reasons but ego and societal expectations, maybe to use your subject aesthetically as the funnel for your learning. You think your fellow students are either too specialised and pedantic or not serious at all, passionate enough about the subject—regardless, you don’t fit with either, and especially not with those others who haven’t even considered this dichotomy between PhD pathers and BA/MA soon to be wagies. You’re not really bothered by not knowing anyone in your field and instead spend time mostly with interdisciplinary people you went outside university and people more technically advanced than you.
You think about quitting all the time, but don’t because it would degrade you, you wouldn’t know what else to do , and you couldn’t comfortably support yourself (in the same decent manner) as right now? And so forth.

I may be projecting, it is quite late already, but I believe this is essentially the “lit channer uni experience.”
If this is true, I am surprised so few people have come together to found literary clubs or societies at or in between universities to organise their grievances.

At least you can be content fren to have Oxford written on your BA. I’ll have some niche 30-50 ranked school without any coddling, unfortunately (not sour, the worst degree from the best school is at least a business card)

>>19799518
>I live in the US.
Yes. If you live in a third-world country like Brazil, India or the United States, you should study engineering, trades, computer science or anything with high job security and a decent pay.

It's called the liberal arts because it is intended for free men whose basic needs will always be met. To do that in a third-world country like you, you have to be aristocracy or of the rentier-class, because third-world countries have not yet reached the developmental stage where all citizens will have their basic needs taken care of.

>>19799518
Have you ever thought about working for the government? How about the cops?

>>19800030
What are some stress-free government jobs where I have time to read?

>>19800070
I'm working one right now. I can't tell you what it is, but if you use your skills of induction you should be able to figure it out. Think about the government department which the administrators would logically desire to be the slowest and least efficient, and you have your answer.

>>19799518
Same situation anon. I am about to start law school however have realised it is probably a mistake as I don't really give a shit about law and just did it because I was feeling aimless and had the marks and a scholarship. I will ride it out for a semester and then re-evaluate halfway through the year. The thought a soulless desk job makes me want to kill myself. I have done office jobs in the past and they indeed made me almost suicidal. As for why I am doing law god only knows... I made the decision while in a bit of a slump and figured it might kick some sense into me. However, as I get closer to the start of semester I am realising that that isn't a good reason to make such a big decision. Oh well, we'll see how it goes. If I drop out in the first couple of weeks I don't have to pay anything.

And if I do drop out I think I will do a working holiday somewhere for a year once things open up and come back and become a high school teacher. If I go that route I think my plan would be to specialise in ESL and eventually aim for a job in a decent international school somewhere.

Anyway, sorry for the blogpost - just know you're not alone. The thing is that I feel like I made the wrong decision but I also have no idea what a better decision would have been. In a previous generation I might have been an academic but I'm not dumb enough to try my hand at that in this day and age. I don't really feel made for working life...

>History BA
declined an actually good PhD program, instead getting a professional masters of architecture degree. My family's businesses are in construction and contracting so I'll have a good segway into a decently lucrative career

>>19799558
nice try doing that in the western world faggarino
reminder that basically every piece of land is owned by someone who will take exception to you living there, just like that guy who lived in the deep forests and got pulled to court by helicopter after ten years there.
also:
do you know how to hunt or grow food ?
do you know how to repair and create clothes ?
can you start a fire without flint and fuel ?
can you irrigate your own water ?
if no to any of those, good luck being a monk

>>19799558
on the bright side it's made me feel less pathetic about being a parents home bound neet at 23, I'm pretty open with my parents about just how it is nowadays and spend most my days doing an hours worth of job hunting for positions I know I won't be given an interview for and then spend the rest of the day reading.
it almost feels pointless to get angry anymore because of how absurd it all is.
I had a an employer ask me what would make me a good candidate for a position literally just washing pots in a kitchen.
like what are you supposed to reply to that ?
worlds burning, slave generations incoming, one day you will die and none of this mattered.
its all a dream.

>>19800242
I relate anon. Personally I think an important thing is to develop a tough skin and try your hardest to not compare yourself to where your peers currently are. That's not easy to do, but it is somewhat a necessity in order to not neck yourself. Everybody moves at different paces and so long as you are moving somewhat forward and not stagnating you are heading in the right direction.

>>19800209
I'm in a very similar situation myself, but have no idea what alternative job to pursue. Only subject I've had a solid interest in is economics, but I don't want to be an economist. Everything's moving so fast and I get overwhelmed with work so easily; it seems like I'm going to just drop out and work some shitty job for the rest of my days.

>>19799518
Get "qualified teacher status" in your state. Then, do a PGDE or (whatever the equivalent of that is in the US of A), then work as a teacher for two years post-qualification, then apply for international schools in Europe. (IB or Cambridge International schools)
Would be a bonus if you get IBEC along the way.

>>19800018
am a 3rd worlder with BA and MA (in progress) in English, can confirm.
I teach for a living, and it's survival at this point.

>>19799518
I ended up quitting my BA in corporate communication (what a gay fucking program) because I realized my only options were to either become a professional mangler of truth or to use my degree as a diving board for a different MA program. Both of those would have been spectacular wastes of my life. You can always choose to learn skills on your own. You don't have to use your degree, but it will always be good to have one. I was a truck driver for a while. All I needed was to get started was a certification which took 3 days and a driver's license. I did end up quitting, however, as I had nothing in common with my colleagues. Now I am looking to learn marketable IT skills. I will be more than content with working an entry level position as I don't need a whole lot to live how I want

>>19799658
Ay which college are you at? Im a third year at Oxford too but i study history. Life is pretty boring and the work i do is unfulfilling, all my passion burned out when the pandemic hit. Im not even british so the choice of me getting a history degree was very stupid, i think i did it just cause its oxford and i thought that meant something

>>19799985
It's not that simple. I have an excellent degree from one of the best universities in the world (not quite Oxford but oh well), and I was unemployed for 2 years. I couldn't get a job anywhere. Eventually I started up working self-employed out of frustration -- things are ok but not what I expected from my life.

You primarily need marketable skills.

>>19799518
go work as a marine biologist

>>19800105
Can you please be more specific than that, government is so shit that you're not really narrowing it down.

>>19799518
I double-majored in English and philosophy. I graduated last spring and I have a decent paying administrative assistant position (decent pay for my first year out of college).

>>19800909
Why did you post this?

>>19800242
>I had a an employer ask me what would make me a good candidate for a position literally just washing pots in a kitchen.
>like what are you supposed to reply to that ?
that you won't drop the dishes and will clean them well?

>worlds burning, slave generations incoming, one day you will die and none of this mattered.
its all a dream.
People with no Torah really have sad and miserable views

>>19800242
>I had a an employer ask me what would make me a good candidate for a position literally just washing pots in a kitchen.
>like what are you supposed to reply to that ?
>worlds burning, slave generations incoming, one day you will die and none of this mattered.
>its all a dream.
Write a poem about this anon. I would read it.

>>19799518
>b.a. chemistry
My options are to become a lab monkey and work for minimum wage and die at 40 from cancer, or go to grad school to become a lab monkey and work for slightly more than minimum wage and die at 40 from cancer.

>>19800070
there is no such thing as a stress-free life without trusting HaShem, if you don't obey God, if you don't trust Him, you will "flee when no one is chasing", no matter what you work you have

>>19800921
Not him but I'll give it a shot:

I had an employer ask me what would make me a good candidate for a position, literally just washing pots in a kitchen.

Like what are you supposed to reply to that?

World's burning, slave generations incoming, one day you will die and none of this mattered.

It's all a dream.

>>19800242

hey man from personal experience your education doesn't evaporate if you go into the trades, few of my professors came to PhDs from backgrounds like carpentry and mining, I will eventually try and do the same

anything is better than filling your days with 4chan. God bless you anon

>>19799518
>B.A European Studies
idk

graduated last year with a ba in social sciences, so far I worked at a pizza delivery service, a postal warehouse and as a glorified intern in a public sector office at 7 hours a week because there are only so many menial tasks that require no training that nobody else wants to do.
I didn't even care about my field in the slightest so it's not like I sacrificed my employment chances for authenticity or anything like that,

>>19799518
>getting a soulless desk job in an office.

A soulless office job isn't so bad.

I work less than 40 hours a week, have financial security, low stress, and I can do whatever I want with the rest of my time.

>>19801339
>soulless office job isn't so bad.
This. What do anons expect from life? Do they think they'll make a living from writing poetry while helping out in the Greek War of Independence or something?

>BA in EE
>colleagues are (metaphorically and probably literally) killing themselves trying to get all A's, do club work, make industry connections, spend hours daily applying for internships, manage life in the godawful dorms, cultivate a oneitis with the sole female in class (who has dozens of other people fantasizing about her despite having a Lib Arts bf), and maintain a social life with however many other colleagues who are going through the same shit and who probably only see them as a potential job connection
>meanwhile I've been borderline NEETing living with my parents, working arguably the lowest effort retail job, doing the bare minimum required to pass my classes, and just generally treating uni like a slack-off job
>a month ago I got a job guarantee from a friend of my grandfather's who retired from a major defense contractor, all the while I've done literally nothing to deserve a job more than my colleagues, who will likely either graduate with PTSD or continue for an MA out of Stockholm syndrome
>mfw

>>19801339
what kind of office job do you have?

>>19801375
Its the messed-up dating mechanics and low fertility rates I think. Its the fact that for many of us, especially on this board, it will all be for nothing. Slaving away for others, whether its our fault or not.

>>19801395
I'm this but I work as a barkeeper, get paid pretty well and have a place of my own. I also slack off to read verse and novels or opinionated essays instead of coures work. Grades aren't that bad, and I'm improving.
I was never really taught to write papers, essays, reviews and had to figure all that out through painful trial and error during covid with everything online.
But you shouldn't be improving by semester 3 imo. You should be flying straight As at that point. Feels like you're only allowed to get a C in this environment maybe on your first graded work in first semester or something equivalent to a C in an ungraded work during first semester.

>>19800105
IRS or DMV?

>been fucking around in university for 3 years now
>decided I wanted to go into English this year after 2 years in Science
>University isn't high quality so tuition is dirt cheap
>Professors are still passionate, classes are small, on first name basis with lots of my profs.
>able to pay it off working minimum wage ~15 hours a week, more during breaks, and living with parents
>haven't taken a single student loan.

>>19799518
>>19800209
Law is fucking miserable. I did philosophy in university. You can't make a living with a philosophy degree, so I decided to pursue a law degree. I passed the bar exam, and now I practice as a civil litigator. The people suck. The clients suck. And I'm in an insane amount of debt. It's not for me -- and it never was.

Are you a energetic soul? Passionate? Kind perhaps? Are you thoughtful? Well then I suggest that you turn around very quickly, because the law is everything but those things. It's cut-throat. It's dry. It's extremely difficult and confusing. It's all about the money. Throw any idea of "justice" you have out the window, because that's not how it works.

Think long and hard. Once you're in the law, it's very difficult to escape.

>>19805197
OP here. Truthfully, no. I don't want to do law. I don't really want to do teaching anymore either, though. Teaching is a hard, hard job, with shit pay and long and hard hours. Doesn't seem worth it. I guess an office job might ultimately be the best bet.

>>19805221
I don't think anyone wants to do law, truthfully. They have some sort of romanticized notion of what the law is. And once they're thrown into the practice of law, they find out it's complete shit. People turn into miserable bags of meat after practicing for a few years. I can tell you, I very much changed, in a significant way, after I got involved in the law.

>>19805197
Yeah I hear you. I'm basically waiting for the semester to start so that I can quit heh.

>>19805108
But what are you gonna do after uni?
>>19801339
What do you do?

>>19799518
Technical writing
Software
Remote
Program and or people management

Take that route. I'm at $135k in a small, remote town.

>>19799518
Im my 3rd year in and its beyond depressing. They somehow find a way to relate everything to the social issues of the day, defiling the artistry. I just dropped my victorian literature class because the conversation around the first book, Jekyll and Hyde, was about how it represents homosexuality then they also talked about how victorians thought criminals were devolved and beast-like and how thats totally wrong and all criminality is due to environmental factors, which turned into, of course, a conversation about blacks. All the students parrot the same shitlib horseshit and I am afraid to dissent even in the slightest. I'm so fucking depressed. Every class turns into this.

Lads, the best route you can take is to gain as many practical skills and as many connections as you can and then leave. Sure, you may care deeply about literature, but hanging around a bunch of Harry Potter-loving undergrad fags isn't going to cut it. You'll be miserable when you finish. Get in with a couple professors. Find an attainable career goal that'll help you actually use your English skills (if you want to go that route), and go for it. Whether or not you actually stick around long enough to get the piece of paper in the end is up to you.
t.dropout who went on to become an author

>>19805333
Insanity. I'm in my British Victorian Literature class right now. Reading Jane Eyre. Luckily my teacher is one of the bearable ones because he's an old boomer that is also a marine biologist. If they were all more like him then the school might actually be decent.

>>19805333
nothing is worse than listening to the self-righteous fucks talk in the discussions that are the basis of every literature class. I feel borderline homicidal with how they rape great works of art. Disgusting.

>>19805344
I have to switch my classes around an innumerable amount of times in the first two weeks when I still can and still end up with shit. The first two weeks are online too due to muh omicron, so I can't really get a feel for the classes when I can still drop and add. It breeds such a resentment in me that I can't imagine that its worth it for the piece of paper. I would be willing to suffer myself if America were to collapse and id get to take joy in the suffering of my classmates.

>>19805342
There are no connections to be made. Believe me.
>>19805333
I've been taking Russian literature classes, which I thought would be safe, and today the teacher say that she was saddened that Russian scholarship didnt recognize more POC writers.

>>19800224
what on earth are you even talking about?

>>19805373
There are always connections to be made. Your classmates probably aren't doing anything at the moment, but down the line, they'll start to make moves. That's when you can start showing value to them and vice versa. Trust me -- I've collaborated with several artists I went to school with. I was even able to bring one of recently after recommending her to my publisher.

>>19805387
when did you go to school
?

>>19799518
I graduated last summer with the highest grade possible from a very decent uni and I’m still essentially unemployed despite applying to countless jobs I should be qualified for and more than capable of doing. In that time I’ve been doing manual labour and now a zero hours contract customer service job which has been immensely unpleasant. I think I’m going to start full on lying to employers about experience and see if it saves me from this hell by getting me some sort of secure pen pusher job, I have nothing to lose.

>>19805494
I'd say go to graduate school or law school, but any further time spent in the dying education system is time wasted

>>19805494
>the highest grade possible from a very decent uni and I’m still essentially unemployed despite applying to countless jobs I should be qualified for and more than capable of doing

Exact same story going on two years now. I got the highest grade possible and a prestigious award in my final year but employers couldn't give less of a shit lol. I'm not looking for sympathy as I did it to myself really, but this is indeed the way of the world.

>>19805515
I have a 4.0 now but am about to stop giving a fuck