Have you gone to college yet; if not why?

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For me, I have not... nor will I ever be able to. I had a hard time all through school. I was glad to get out when I finally graduated but in high school, I always made excuses to come home and my mom still made me go. I mean it was so bad that I'd be on the phone sobbing because I wanted to be home. There was something about being at school that made me wish I could escape forever and never go back.

So after graduation, I started seeing a therapist and a psychiatrist and recently have been diagnosed with extremely severe anxiety. It hinders my life a lot because I get so overwhelmed that my mind tells me to escape and just run away from whatever is causing me such stress and anxiety. I also have agoraphobia; meaning for me, I have a hard time melting down or having a panic attack without having an escape or a way to go to safer place.

I do meltdown a lot but at times, I feel so frightened that I will stand there frozen until my mom or dad have to explain to the person or explain the situation and answer for me.

Most people always tell me, "but you can go to college, you are capable" when really, I'm not. I wasn't very comfortable being away from home. I didn't enjoy heavy workloads or homework or even just being there because I had to go and as described above, you see why I avoid it.

I have anxiety too, but it's not bad enough to keep me from going to school. I'm in college right now, and I'm loving it. I'm able to roam the halls without being stopped by security officers; I can leave class without a word to use the restroom and I don't need a pass; I can pick which classes I want to take and when I want to take them.

In the event that I'm having high anxiety (which really doesn't happen often on campus), I have plenty of places that I can escape to. In my opinion, college is vastly superior to high school in every way, shape, and form.

I'm 37 and I have never been to college. I have never had a real job. My childhood dreams of having a tong-term professional career in cartoons, animation or video games were a waste of time. My older brother, on the other hand, has just recently graduated from university, and I've heard he's even planning to earn a PH.D. My mother said that he seems to be on a mission to become the most highly-educated member of our family. She was sort of joking, and I love my brother, but his proverbial shadow suddenly grew bigger and darker than it ever did that day. Nearly everyone I knew as a kid had to leave cape Breton and travel at least halfway across Canada to complete their education and get a real job. There is nothing here. I can't even drive a car, so I can't go anywhere that's halfway decent. I have a place of my own, but I hate still being dependent on my parents for financial and emotional reasons. I feel alone, isolated, trapped, bored and frusterated. Sorry for sounding so "emo", such a stupid "word".

I'll start taking a class at the local community college in August.

College can be a lot less scary for agoraphobes because there is always an escape route. There is always some empty classroom or corner or library where you can get away. You can come and go as you please at all times, even leaving any class without an excuse. You can take as many or as few classes as you want. Then, there is always the option of taking college courses online. Also you can drop courses that you don't like, although there is a deadline after which you can't get your money back. Although it ultimately took me seven years to get a 3-year degree, part-time, it was not an upsetting experience like high school was. There is very little to make you feel trapped in college.

*sigh* But its still hard for me. It's not so much agoraphobia but I hate being away from home. As far as online colleges, money can be a problem for me and also my parents as well... I am extremely forgetful and I could easily forget about the online college after a few days. I hardly check my email for reminders and I also get to the point where I get tired of doing something involving online college. It would not be easy for me and my anxiety itself is so severe that I could break down instantly without any warnings. I've had rough times in school, bad experiences so terrible that its left me unable to go because of the emotional abuse from elementary, being rejected, no one eharing what I NEEDED to get through the hardships, that I would literally scream at my mother to let me stay home. She would have to come into my room four or five times until she was screaming at me to get out of bed. I used to always wish that she would over sleep and I would get to stay home and not go.

Do you still think online/community college would help me? Not even. There was way too much stress for me to handle.

College is a scam anyway. Double goes for online ones...

I agree. That only value you get is if you take IT, science, or engineering classes. The value of education is going down.

I am halfway done with college. I am enrolled in the UC system. It is hard work, but I have grown as a person since attending. The only reason I go to college is that all the tech jobs require at least a Bachelor's degree.

I also want to specialize in computer security, so I can get a government job.

Long ago I did.

I would likely not now, not if I could get decent advice so as to anticipate.The economic boost is minimal, the spitback linetoing unberable, and there are too few benefits tio justify the cost, when I could pay say $100 a year and get access to the U library.

I've had more success with the private career training schools than public colleges. I found they're more structured which helps me.