I should probably start off by saying that my headline is a little misleading; I'm not quitting college per say, just putting it on the back-burner of my priority list. Before I jump into the details of why I prioritize this new job and what exactly I'll be doing, let me just give you a little context as to why I decided to do it.
Firstly, I'm poor.
No, like seriously. Everyone knows the saying, "broke college kid," right? Well take a "broke college kid" and take away their parents' money, any sort of scholarship or FAFSA money, and then that's me. I pay for everything myself. Car payment, insurance, rent, college fees, etc. And let me just point out that none of that is by any means cheap. And I get what you're probably thinking, "Oh you're not alone, you're not special, tons of college kids pay for everything themselves." Okay cool, good for them. I know I'm not special in this whole being poor thing, but not being able to afford basic needs leaves me unhappy. The fact that I have to ration my food every week and sometimes skip meals leaves me very unhappy. But instead of dwelling in unhappiness and complaining to others in hopes of getting help, I decided to do something. If something bothers me and makes me unhappy, I set out to change it so I can be happy. And that's why I'm leaving college.
As a whole, college does not fulfill my happiness requirement in life. Don't get me wrong, I love the environment, the people, the possibilities of expanding my network for a career, and pretty much everything else, but it's not what I need in life right now. What I need is financial stability and I aim to achieve that. Not to mention that I've been in college long enough to be burnt out of it; I need a break.
The "how" factor of achieving financial stability (at the ripe age of 20) was an opportunity so good that I couldn't refuse it, and it basically fell right into my lap. I'm not going to go into detail of what it is I'll be doing exactly, but I currently have 2 jobs. At one of my jobs, a superior presented me with an opportunity to get a full-time position. At my other job (retail) I would have turned down a full-time position because school came as a priority above it, but this particular full-time spot is exactly what I need. The hours are great, the pay is way better, and I'd be able to save a lot of money while living my best life.
Now, about my misleading headline, I do intend to return to college. This new job I'll have (which, by the way, I can turn into a career if I want to) will allow me to save a lot of money so that way, when I do return, I won't be living the life I live now (you know, rationing food and scraping up money to pay for my bills). Plus I have full intentions of keeping my second job at the retail store as well; I would just have to work weekends at the store and weekdays at the full-time position.
When I return to college, however, is a different story. It could either be in one year, two years or maybe three. I haven't really decided. When I return, I still plan on finishing my bachelor's at my current university, joining social groups, and living a normal college life. In the meantime, I'll do online classes to finish my associate's degree (I only have about one or two classes left) and live the sweet life of financial stability.
