Summary

The author describes their journey of dropping out of university after realizing that the traditional education system was not contributing to their personal growth or career aspirations, despite societal and familial expectations.

Abstract

The author, an immigrant from Iran to Canada, initially believed in the promise of success through higher education, as instilled by their parents. After struggling to choose a field of study and eventually settling on psychology, the author experienced two years of university education that left them feeling unfulfilled and disillusioned with the education system. Despite good grades and some enjoyable aspects, such as discussions with professors and the campus experience, the author concluded that the system was fundamentally flawed. After much contemplation and inspired by stories like Steve Jobs', the author decided to drop out, embracing the pursuit of happiness and success on their own terms by entering real estate and starting a marketing agency. The author encourages others to consider their own paths to fulfillment, emphasizing that success is not solely defined by academic achievements.

Opinions

The author believes that the education system, from middle school to university, is broken and inefficient.
They suggest that success and personal fulfillment can be achieved outside of traditional academic paths.
The author challenges the notion that a university degree is a prerequisite for success, citing personal examples within their family.
They express that taking risks and pursuing one's interests can lead to a happier life, more so than following a predetermined educational track.
The author encourages individuals to critically assess their educational choices and consider alternative routes to success.

Why I Dropped Out of University

My experience from 2 years of university and why I decided higher education wasn’t the right path for me

It seems like universities have been around forever, and it also seems like that’s where you want to be if you wish to become successful. At least that’s the way most of us feel when we’re in high school.

A few years ago my family and I moved to Canada from Iran for the reason that I’d get to study at a good university and become successful. That’s what my parents told me when I asked them for the reason we moved to Canada. Growing up I never thought about not going to university and my only concern was what subject I wanted to study. And trust me, I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life.

I Was Never a Fan of School, but I Wasn’t Bad at It Either

In all my years of being a student, I somehow managed to get good grades in all my classes without spending a minute on studying; because of that I never really focused too much on what I wanted to study in university until the last semester of high school.

I first wanted to study industrial design, and then I changed my mind to study architecture, mechanical engineering, business, criminology, philosophy, political science, and finally psychology. Finally, after hours of thinking about what I could study that would lead to a good career path and also be interesting, I settled on psychology.

Why psychology?

For some unknown reason, 99% of immigrant parents only consider medicine, law, and engineering as good career path, and if their children study anything else they will always remind them that they could do better.

The average psychologist in Canada makes around $100,000 per year and they also get to put ‘Dr.’ behind their names; that was all I needed to tell my parents for them to approve of my decision and sign the applications for my student loan. Now all I needed to do was get a Ph.D. in psychology.

First Year in University

It was 2018 and I was 4 years away from getting a bachelor of science in psychology at the University of Toronto. The first year was a mixture of sitting in long and boring lectures with 800 other students and writing pointless essays the night before they were due. Don’t get me wrong, the whole experience wasn’t that bad. For instance, I enjoyed the long drives to the campus with my best friend and buying Iced Caps from the Tim Horton’s that was across the lecture hall. Some courses were also focused on interesting topics and I enjoyed talking to the professors about what their personal opinions were about what they were teaching in class. But at the end of the day, I didn’t feel more educated as a result of being at school.

I still had faith in the system

I decided to take summer courses so I could graduate faster; otherwise in the best-case scenario, the earliest I could become a clinical psychologist was in my thirties. That’s a very long time for someone who isn’t even 20 years old. I again magically managed to pass all my courses with good grades in all three semesters and I couldn’t wait to move forward with hopes that next year’s courses will be more engaging and educating.

Fast forward to fall 2019, Classes are the same if not worse; the lectures are longer and the new professors are not as enthusiastic as the ones from first year. I used to often zone out during lectures and daydream about what I wanted to do in the future, or I would leave in the middle of the lecture to go to one of the coffee shops on campus and talk to my friend about how disappointing the education system was.

I truly believe that our education system is broken, all the way from middle school to university. It’s so broken that it’ll be more efficient to completely rebuild it from scratch than make improvements to it.

Time to Say Goodbye

At this point, I’m considering dropping out seriously for the first time and it doesn’t scare me that much anymore. I’m 2 years in and thousands of dollars deep into student loans when I decide this is it for me. I could have made the decision before I spend nearly $15,000 for 2 semesters of university, but it’s better late than never.

I’m confident enough in myself to find success elsewhere and I don’t believe that I’ll need a piece of paper to prove that I’ll have a bright future. My dad has a Ph.D. in microbiology and he’s a successful entrepreneur and my brother studied finance at one of the top universities in the UK and he’s now a self-taught programmer working for a startup company.

“…I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. — Steve Jobs

Graduating from a reputable university is more like a safety net for most of us, and it makes us feel safer on our way to our dreams. But if we take a closer look we’ll see that it might tie up our hands more than it can help us. We can lose the best years of our lives to a rushed decision we made when we were 18 years old and never get to take risks that could change our lives forever.

Pulling the Trigger

It’s now 2020 and it’s been almost a year since I dropped out. I’m now taking courses to become a licensed real estate agent and I’ve also started a creative marketing agency. I feel much happier than I did back when I went to university and I get to spend my time freely on what I enjoy. My parents still push me to go back to school and get my degree and it’s good to know that I can always go back. But as I always tell myself, you are never too old to learn but you can get too old to take risks.

I didn’t write this to encourage you to drop out, or promise that you will become successful if you do so. I just want to tell you that success is more about being happy with your life than being a doctor or an engineer.

Hopefully, this story will inspire you to take that leap of faith you’ve always wanted to take to take things into your own hands and find your path towards a happier life.

Remember to always work hard and never lose hope.

Thanks for reading this story, I hope you got some value out of it.