You seem to know a lot about trolling, and not so much about real adult life. OP — You really don’t need to make a decision about Columbia immediately. Do what you can to extend your leave, maintaining your status as a student. It’s just keeping your options open. For now, focus on your mental health and well-being, and getting the support you need. This might be getting to an ER to address suicidal issues, and taking the time to explore multiple treatment modalities — including making space in your life for joy. Then coaching or counseling or the perspectives you’ve gained can help you chose your next steps. Wishing you the best OP. |
It's just one vile poster who I'm beginning to suspect is actually OP's mother. Either way, they are cut from the same cloth. There are many supportive posters here, and then this one person who is bizarrely invested in making OP feel terrible for feeling terrible and wanting to break away. I'm one of the middle class Asian women PPs and I have plenty of middle/UM class female Asian friends. They have jobs in DoD, biotech, environmental science (similar to forestry someone else mentioned?), state department, marketing at a big company, NIH, accountant, an environmental non-profit... and those are just off the top of my head. None of them went to an Ivy that I know of, but to be fair I only know where half went to college. I guess it never came up with the others. Ironically, the one thing that pulls us all together is complaining about conservative, crazy parents and in-laws
People are changing, cultures are changing. OP's parents and the crazy poster are a dying breed, and good riddance. |
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I’m Asian and I’m a teacher. I’m in my mid thirties and only making 68k.
It’s fine though. I can live on it and I mostly like my job. There are other Asian teachers at my school. Teaching is challenging and intense but it is nice to have a summer break to travel, etc. You can also make more money by tutoring, bar tending, teaching summer school. Being middle class can still be a good life. |
OP, don't listen to that "best years of your life" poster. She doesn't know what it's like to grow up with abusive parents. I do. Your parents are emotionally abusing you right now. Thus, right now is the opposite of the best time of your life. Sure, for kids who go pursue their dream major and who are into it with uber supportive parents and no debt, they might be having a great time in college. When you have abusive parents, life gets better when you are free from your abusers. This *will* get so much better OP, I promise. And honey, Columbia is not all that. I have a friend who went there. He has been unemployed most his life and lives with his mother. In his 40s. Another person is a fed employee. Nothing special. What's special is life. The next 60+ years of your life. You be in love, get married, travel, buy your first home, move wherever you want to move. Learn some hobbies. Make so many friendships. You will rarely even think of college. Please, do not commit suicide. Don't let your parents destroy you right when you are so close to freedom. No way. I'd rather walk out. Talk to someone. A church leader, college counselor, your old high school counselor. Get support to get out of this rut. |
Assuming this isn't a troll, this is obviously not somebody you should relate to. They claim your life is to set up your kids for success. I don't feel like that's your goal. If you want to set up your kids to have an awful upbringing like you did and maybe give yourself a pill addiction, maybe Columbia is your best route. But maybe if you just want to teach kids about moss, you can afford to take a different path. |
PP here. Asian immigrant culture dictates that OP's goal is to sacrifice for the next generation and set her kids up for success. I find the Asian way much more effective and fulfilling in the long-term than the American way of chasing short-term happiness and "satisfaction" -- choosing what makes you "happy" never works because happiness is always fleeting and short-term (there's lots of psychological research on this). The Asians are right that the most fulfilling way to live is to set up the next generation up for success and honor your parents' sacrifices. If OP doesn't do that (which dropping out of Columbia would ruin), she's throwing away her whole life. Also, OP's upbringing wasn't "awful" -- she had caring parents who pushed her academically to get into Columbia! And did you forget the part where OP says her parents make $200k/year? That's solidly middle class in California. She cannot "afford to teach kids about moss" -- that's for rich kids with parents who will pay their first downpayment. OP, the posters here are wealthy white people oblivious to their privilege. Stay at Columbia. |
Um, just because you know two Columbia grads who aren't successful doesn't mean that the name brand of the school holds immense appeal in the job market. Their most recent career report says that Columbia grads make a median of $80k a year in just the first year after graduation (since it's a median, that's including all the English and Anthropology majors -- impressive!). As a first-gen Asian immigrant, OP NEEDS the name brand of Columbia since her parents don't have connections. |
#1 - This is America. OP is a legal adult and free to do as she pleases. #2 - OP failed out of her science major. She has a humanities major. Graduating with a humanities degree, $80,000 in debt, from Columbia is not going to "set up the next generation for success" in any meaningful way. She isn't a CS major looking to hit the ground running at a FAANG company. Hello! #3 - OP is suicidal. Whatever other non-suicidal people do that you know is irrelevant. Her mental health needs to be the priority. This is a matter of life and death. |
You are an idiot. The average of all majors is meaningless. Really meaningless. The ONLY Columbia grads I know are unemployed living with mommy man and fed man. Maybe they majored in English or basket weaving. But hey, I'm just a privately educated Washingtonian. Who do I know
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Holy shit this is so out of touch. My family makes 60k a year (pretty good in my rural town ), and several of my friends became teachers after going to community colleges and state schools. Even though my parents only made the national average family income, I still feel like I've done okay for myself. No reason to think her kids wouldn't too if she got a decent paying job like teaching.
OP, please seek advice from another forum. Go find a subreddit for bored college advisors that I'm sure exists. They can answer the questions you have. And I'm sure support forums for asian women also exist. They can offer more tactful ways to approach this decision. Do not seek more support from these people who don't know anyone that makes less than 300k a year. |
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OP, you should take a gap year, travel, work on your mental health and happiness, and then make a decision when you come back. Life is worth living, ups, downs and all. This too shall pass, and one day you will feel happy and fulfilled, I promise you that.
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| We have not heard from OP in several days. OP, I am thinking of you. |
That’s not at all what I said. I said life is more complicated than school prestige. Stop and consider that your failure to thrive in the work place is your low reading comp skills rather than your degree…. |
The PP you're responding to sounds suspiciously like the Columbia booster from the College forum. Hence the nasty posts to the OP that began when Columbia was mentioned. |
Well state college certainly don’t train reading comprehension as well as Ivy or Smith. A lot of articulate women on this forum (likely white) either went to top school or did law school, neither is accessible to a state college Asian women. Some of my Asians friend who did relatively well in corp all hired coach /accent reduction at some point. Again, not accessible to lower middle class. |