How do you progress in life?

Sounds like a full schedule and sometimes when the trees are thick it is darn hard to see where you are in the forest. I say go for it on the investment on several levels:

In terms of a money investment, one made now will compound a tasty amount if left alone to do so.

What about investing in some you time, despite your busy schedule? No one ever gets to the end of life and says, “Rats, I should have spent more hours at work!” They do, however, often say I should have spent more time just being, or traveling, or spending time with loved ones and friends. Those things are an investment too.

Our culture does not have enough room for fun and play for adults. I think it is vital. It also recharges one for the rest of the grind.

Play now, work later…....believe me, there will be time to be ambitious and make your way in the financial and professional world after college. Make sure you enjoy where you are now and be ready for the post-college world when it comes (it’ll come way too soon anyway) with no regrets over missed opportunities.

Of course, setting aside a bit of money now for later can’t hurt.

You will feel more satisfied with today’s drudgery if you recognize inside that it’s a step toward a bigger goal that is meaningful to you. As best you can, try to articulate a bigger goal for yourself and then spend some time observing whether the things you are doing are applicable to that path. If you need to make changes, think about whether they are changes that need to be made in a day, a month, six months or a year.

Two books that might give you some perspective on life trajectories are Roadtrip Nation by Marriner & Gebhard and Gig by Studs Terkel. Steve Jobs’ commencement speech is another good read.

I almost dropped out of a very good college my freshman year in order to go to secretarial school. Not only was there the adjustment to the academic standards and heavy work load, but being away from home and also in a single-sex environment. I caught on by sophomore year…and boy, has that Liberal Arts education held me in good stead. I have had careers in the hard sciences, the social sciences, the literary world and the arts.

Hang in there unless you have very clear (and meetable) goals that do not include a college education.

I did drop out of that very same very good college at the end of my sophomore year.
It was for a dumb reason, but I don’t regret it. People are different. What do you mean, make an investment? Say more.