Is there anyone out there willing to help?

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Hi guys, I was wondering if y'all could lend a helping hand, should you have the time of course. My big issue is, should I stay here, in school? I tried going to a normal university, made Dean's List, did very well for myself for about a year, but I DID NOT like going there, I hated the people, I hated most of the professors, and most of all, I hated the fact that all I was doing was racking up immense amounts of debt just to get a freaking piece of paper that says I know stuff.

So I quit, and then went to a tech/vocational school, in which I am still currently enrolled. I am once again, performing at the top of my class and I have obtained at least one certification that can help me get a job in the IT field. I am also about to (in like, a week) take the exam to get another certification for networking. I LOVE the people here, I LOVE the instructors, but here's my problem: I am racking up immense amounts of debt just to get a freakin' piece of paper that says I know stuff. The stress of having this debt is almost too much for me to bear, especially when I am having such difficulty finding a job to start paying early (I applied for 7 jobs last week, none of them replied.) That stress combined with the stress that comes with the fact that if I fail the cert exam, I have to pay close to $150 to take it again, it is now too much to bear. This school even though I love the people and I am interested in what is being taught, is breaking me. All I do is get angry and depressed anymore, I can't even escape into another reality anymore via books, movies, or video games because I can't stop thinking about that wonderful debt.

All this stress is going to put me into an early grave, everyone I know has said that, EVERYONE. I understand that, but I can't stop worrying about it. I understand that this is normal for some folks on here, and I am just need advice at this point, before I completely break. I have made it abundantly clear to everyone I know that I can barely stand this anymore. All they've said is basically: "Do what makes you happy!" But is that what's best? I don't know anymore...does anyone have any advice? I apologize for being so sappy and serious...

I experienced a similar issue the 1st semester of my senior year of college; the money & pressure to succeed with no second chances. I became so anxious I was almost frozen and was unable to work. I went to the school psychologist who gave me Valium to take the edge off the anxiety. The Valium made me too tired to work.

That new fear (the fear of being too tired to work) snapped me out of it. I stopped taking the Valium after two days and simply started working again.

I'm not saying that you need Valium. I'm saying you need to snap out of it. I don't know how you'd do it though.

Believe me, I know how you feel, but you should come to appreciate the knowledge gained during this course. In my opinion it is better to live poor and smart than to live rich and stupid.

The people, school, and professors don't matter. If you can draw that conclusion, you will walk away with satisfaction that you have gained knowledge.

Perhaps, though, since you are doing well, you aren't learning anything but just repeating what you know. In that case, try to challenge yourself outside of school to learn as much as possible.

I used the same argument about the college degree: that I don't need a peice of paper to tell me that I'm accomplished. However you can't deny that it will someday provide physical evidence from a credible source of your learning to a potential employer.

If you quit now, you racked up all that debt for nothing. Stick it out. A week is not long enough to give up on hearing back from the jobs you applied for, either--many employers have a time window (as long as a month) where they gather resumes, then start interviewing people the NEXT month, for a job to start the month after that!

Finish the Tech degree. The first job might be hard to get, but if you are competent after a bit of experience, you should have no trouble getting a good job.

I know. I worked in applied science as an industrial automation tech for 20 years.

Soon enough, you'll have that debt paid off and then everything after will be gravy!