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College experiences

Sensei

How was your experience at college?

I’m interested in possibly going to college this September as I want to learn motor vehicle bodywork and painting. A college nearby has a 4 year course and by the end of it I would be well educated in bodyworking and vehicle painting, both I am deeply interested in and have tinkered with as a hobby – I own a classic BMW E30 that has been my guinea pig these last 3 years – and at the end of college it would mean qualifications to work in a garage.

And I would be experienced enough to respray my E30! Win, win.

But I’m anxious as I didn’t get on well at school, I struggled with learning and the whole environment caused me a lot of anxiety at the time. Since then my anxiety has improved but I worry college could push me over the edge as I do get badly affected if I’m under too much pressure.

I’m nearly 29 and I’m jobless, I didn’t finish school and have no qualifications at all. I want my life to be more than it is. That’s why I’d like to hear other’s experiences to see how autistic people fair in this sort of environment.

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    Thank you both for your helpful replies. I really appreciate your time helping me with this. It probably seems something really silly to be worrying about, but I have been worried and in two minds about it for a long time but both of your replies have helped me immensely. So thank you so much for that! Slight smile

    Wishing you both a happy and fun Easter.

  • I think you should go for it. You have so much to gain from doing this and at worse if the anxiety is too much you can drop out and you haven’t really lost anything. I can relate to your worries considering your time at school but remember this time it’s your own interests driving you to do this, whereas at school we have go in and learn and endure all the lessons and exams.

    This is something you enjoy and find interesting so I think it would be a far more enjoyable experience for you. Like Kate said, it can bring so many possibilities when you do these things and it could lead to amazing things in the future.
    You have everything to gain and little to lose. But the decision has to be yours. Whatever you decide, good luck!

  • I think ultimately the rewards of doing this are potentially huge and we never know until we try how things will turn out. It sounds like this is your passion - and if there’s one thing I’ve learnt about autistic people it’s that our greatest chance of happiness to to follow our intense interests as this is where we thrive. It’s our strength that we can really commit to the subjects and interests that we really love. College does present a lot of challenges for autistic students - but it also gives us amazing possibilities for personal growth and tentative attempts at social stuff too that can be really life enhancing. When I went to college I struggled at times - but I also loved my subject, gained independence and met the man who I ended up marrying! If I’d given in to my fears and not gone to college none of those things would have happened. Go for it - you obviously have lots of skills in this area and you can really capitalise on that natural ability that you have. Good luck!