Lemmy, I have completed tens of modules across several different universities. I have been course-hopping for long enough that I’d have a bachelors degree by now had I found and stayed on a course that suited me. I can’t be asked to commit to one and study it for yet another 3 years before I get a degree*. Yet I feel like all of the effort that I have expended up to this point will go unacknowledged, just because it was spread across several unis and doesn’t fall into any of their pre-defined study plans. I am a person driven by short bouts of intense curiosity of the type that dives down Wikipedia rabbitholes**. I want to do a highly qualified job but am failing to fit in to the rigid framework that academia sets you. I have several Master’s theses that I’d start researching tomorrow if the system let me. Yet without so much as a bachelor’s I might as well go work in a supermarket. How do I move on from here?
*Perhaps it’s also because I’m now in my early 20s and finally want to have some time to explore.
**I am a logical thinker and predominantly interested in STEM topics.
It sounds like what you’re looking for is a Generalist Degree:
https://learn.org/articles/Generalist_Bachelors_Degree.html#:~:text=What Is a Generalist Bachelor’s,help of an academic adviser.
You’d need to find a school that offers it and accepts your transfer credits.
It also might help talking to a doctor about an ADHD diagnosis. Your inability to focus may be medical.
Hmm, I will look into this. You’re right, I have been diagnosed with ADHD. Pills have definitely helped me focus on long readings and studying, but I feel I am still more suited to problem-based learning than test-based cramming.
Not to belabor a point made elsewhere, but this sounds like you might be a good fit for some sort of coding work. If that doesn’t interest you, don’t bother. People who aren’t interested but who know there’s money there have ruined the field. But it’s worth exploring just in case you might actually enjoy it.