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I need advice regarding my education from here onwards [long]

Slash5331

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 10, 2010
Messages
77
I'm in my second year of an engineering degree. At the start of the semester I was feeling confident that I had my alcohol addiction under control and that life was going well, so I enrolled in classes that were a bit ambitious. Long story short, my longtime girlfriend broke up with me and I fell deep into alcohol addiction and depression. I had to make some massive life changes and have had some ongoing problems with drugs.

I am mostly stable now, apart from some lingering depression. However, at this point in time it is too late to save my classes. I will probably fail 3 out of 5 of my classes.

We're about to hit summer, so unless I enroll in summer classes I won't have any until early March next year.

For the summer my plan is to get some employment or do an engineering internship, maybe play some sport, meet new people and in general, just work on myself and pulling myself out of the last of depression and drug addiction. Summer classes are also an option.

From there I could just carry on with my current course, but due to failing classes it will take me an extra year to graduate. I don't really enjoy the majority of the course content and I believe that its menial nature contributed to some of my problems.

The alternative is to transfer to a conjoint degree starting next year, where I would do some engineering classes and some science classes (want to major in pharmacology) and eventually graduate, effectively, with a degree in both engineering and science, rather than just engineering. I would take a lower course load and use the additional time to work on myself by getting a part-time job, going to the gym or whatever. Over the course of the year I'd put in my application to the army reserve, and do my training over the 17/18 summer. From there I'd be better off financially, physically, emotionally/whatever and would have more time to complete internships. If I have any relapses they won't affect my studies as much. After completing this degree I could pursue engineering, pharmacology, or a military career, and would even have the option of applying to medical school. The disadvantage is that I'd have a larger student loan (interest free) and I'd spend more time studying (an extra three years, though less stressful).

In my mind this seems like a really good idea. But then so have many things that turned out to be for shit. So I'd like people's opinion on what is the best course of action moving forwards. If you could point out any reasons why this plan is shit, any possible additions or omissions, or just tell me I'm a dickhead; that'd be great.
 
Try to enroll in a class or two over the summer. You can also work at a job and work on yourself at the same time.

You'll have to really think about the potential transfer though. But I'm guessing you can still take some courses in the summer and transfer at a later date?
 
If you choose, you can withdraw without academic penalty in classes due to your medical issue, being alcohol dependency

You can communicate this to the disability and equality unit of your university to avoid any discrimination from your faculty

I wouldn't worry about your degree taking a little longer, because it will likely be worth it in the end to get through it - it was in my experience, anyway

You can add a master's later which would likely mitigate the extra time taken it seems to have done that for me, although I have only been asked about it once that I can remember and I had gone travelling anyway, so I said that was the reason

Sounds like a good plan for your summer, get into it :)

Combined courses are great

I did engineering-arts with philosophy (logic, reasoning, history, phil. of science etc.), Spanish, and a few others. Then I changed to civil engineering/mining engineering double degree which helped me into the highly paid mining industry, before finally completing my degree with a double major in geotechnical engineering and project management

Sounds like you are an aussie - I was going to join the reserves at one point (and the airforce as a pilot), but I failed a drug test during admission which fucked up my record

Regardless, myself and the military would not be a good mix ;)
 
If you get your doctor to write you a letter, you can have any failed courses removed from your academic record

It's worth looking into the rules at your university, but it's fairly universal that addiction is regarded as a mental health issue/mental illness, depending on what stage you are/were at

I'd be working on self-efficacy at this stage in your life, and there are outpatient courses you can do at private hospitals if you have private health insurance

If not, it is worth investing in it

During the height of my addiction, my private health insurance company forked out more than $500K for all of my hospital admissions and therapy due to opiate dependence

If it were not for that, I would probably still be a junkie on the scrap heap

I met plenty of alcoholics at rehab, though - some of which were also in university, whilst one I met was a navy clearance diver

Count yourself lucky that it is an alcohol habit, and not an opiate/benzo habit or you would probably not complete your degree

The good thing about Australian universities is that you can study for free and pay it out of tax

If you choose to do so, you can go overseas and not have to pay for your university - note the difference between withdrawal without academic/financial penalty

The former is much easy to do and can be generally be done retrospectively

I hope that helps :)
 
Sounds like you are an aussie - I was going to join the reserves at one point (and the airforce as a pilot), but I failed a drug test during admission which fucked up my record

I'm a Kiwi! If I were to get a doctor to help remove failed courses from my transcript, do you think the Army know about this when it came time to apply? I don't really want them to know about it in case it's disqualifying, but I'm not sure I want to risk lying to them either.
 
Haha, I knew it was one or the other!

The financial options offered by NZ universities are exactly the same in Australia

It's just like the Higher Education Contribution Scheme, so it is basically free and you pay back a small percentage through your tax until you pass away before it is paid back or move overseas ;)

It's tough coming from the best countries in the world, hey :)

Yeah, you can't tell the military, especially during admission

You're best to get yourself off it, but if it is alcohol, you stand a better chance of it not being so much of an issue

I had undergone the questions where I had specifically answered a question for the pilot admission "have you ever taken psychoactive drugs or compounds?", to which I answered a definitive "No"

Then I tested positive for weed :D
 
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