|
I was in exactly this situation back in 1996. I moved back in with my parents and enrolled in a couple classes at the local community college. I guess the assumption was that I'd get back on track and transfer back to a 4-year program, but that never happened (academia really wasn't for me). At the same time a friend connected me with an internship doing what amounted to desktop PC support, though it developed into more than that over time. It turned out I was much better suited to (and motivated by) real world work. (I already had a reasonable amount of software development experience prior to college.) I quickly proved my usefulness, was able to take on more responsibility, and learned a ton about networking hardware over the next year or so. I should point out that during this internship, I was working a lot. I was really into what I was doing, really enjoyed everything I was learning, and seeking lots of feedback from everyone around me. Since dot-coms were all the rage at the time, there were tons of places hiring anyone who knew anything about the internet (today, it would be mobile or web development perhaps). After a year or so, when I started interviewing, it was apparent I had the relevant experience and no one cared that I hadn't finished college. I got lucky with the internship, I got lucky with timing (dot-com boom), and I got lucky that I really enjoyed doing something that happened to be highly marketable. But I also was really motivated and worked hard. I hated school because it felt so pointless. But entering the real world, I felt super-motivated because I felt I was doing something productive that wasn't just a contrived assignment to be graded and discarded. If this sounds like you, maybe you'll follow a similar path. On the other hand, if your poor performance in school is a reflection of general lack of motivation that would carry over to work, you've got a tougher problem to solve. My guess is that based on your previous internships, you already know the answer. |