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Schooling and Work
Hey everybody, i'll get right to it. In my experience with bipolar i've found that setting a billion goals for myself tends to cause breakdowns, manic episodes, and overall makes it nearly impossible to focus, let alone stay balanced. I've recently decided to get back into college, and i wanna go full time (because honestly i love school), but i'm left with the issue of my job. I'm working 40-58 hours a week.. it changes constantly. I've tried talking to supervisors and all that trying to get them to accommodate a school schedule, and the response was pretty much what i expected.. "we'll see what we can do, but some overtime is mandatory.
So there's that issue, and i think to myself.. well i could just quit and find a part time job and do that (i am living with my parents atm, and i'm paying rent because i want to, not because they told me to) and i would still have the money to pay rent, AND the time to focus on school. But i feel as though if i did that my parents would be really upset with me.. yeah i'm in my 20's and should be able to make my own choices, but i still have this feeling that if they're disappointed it'll make things even more difficult..
If anybody has any suggestions please help me.. and sorry about the venting, it's been a rough week, i just really need some help from people who understand...
(side note: I thought i was dealing with depression for most of my young life, it didn't really hinder me till later on. I found out, and was diagnosed with Bipolar 5 years ago when i was 18, i'm now 23. It's been a roller coaster for five years, and i feel like if i make this first step towards something i really truly want, i can overcome even more)
So there's that issue, and i think to myself.. well i could just quit and find a part time job and do that (i am living with my parents atm, and i'm paying rent because i want to, not because they told me to) and i would still have the money to pay rent, AND the time to focus on school. But i feel as though if i did that my parents would be really upset with me.. yeah i'm in my 20's and should be able to make my own choices, but i still have this feeling that if they're disappointed it'll make things even more difficult..
If anybody has any suggestions please help me.. and sorry about the venting, it's been a rough week, i just really need some help from people who understand...
(side note: I thought i was dealing with depression for most of my young life, it didn't really hinder me till later on. I found out, and was diagnosed with Bipolar 5 years ago when i was 18, i'm now 23. It's been a roller coaster for five years, and i feel like if i make this first step towards something i really truly want, i can overcome even more)
Best Answer
School should be your first priority (after taking care of yourself). My advice is to explain the situation to your parents. If they've been supportive of your mental health issues, you can tell them what stress does to you, if not, you can just state "work is not giving me the time to do my best at school" in a simple, factual way. It's very, very hard for a "normal" person to work full time and go to school. It can be done, but you have to make sure not to overload yourself or you'll end up in the ER.
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I'm not sure what state you're in, but if you're in California, you're still at an age where your eligibility for financial aide and the BOG fee waiver will be determined by your parents' income. Fill out that information as soon as possible. It may be that you won't qualify, but once you turn 24, you'll be able to qualify as dependent and on your own income. Make sure they're aware if you quit your job before finding a new job you may need their help with the fees and perhaps work out an agreement for you to pay them back now to come into effect when you find a job.
Do consider not taking a full time load the first semester or so. School will be a new thing now, considering college is so much different than everything else you've been to high school and earlier. The work load is different. The atmosphere is different. At least talk to a school counselor about the work load expected per unit before simply signing up for classes to add up to a full time load. You know what you're capable of but I just don't want to see you set back the way I was when I first started, so consider easing into it the first semester.
Best of luck!