Optimistic but Uncertain
About the study
A Study done by the SOCI 2001 Class
Students in SOCI 2001 class conducted interviews on undergrad students about optimism in their undergrad study. The participants were undergrad students in years 2 to 4 at Carleton University. The outcome of the interview was that most students seemed optimistic about their future but as well as uncertain.
Methods
The method that we decided to use to conduct this study is individual interviews with undergrad Carleton students. We try to find them at Carleton University. We start by going up to the individuals and asking if they are undergrad students in their 2nd, 3rd or 4th year. Once they have confirmed their year we, later on, asked them a series of 10 questions about optimism.
Themes
The discovered themes that notably stood out from this research study had most students feeling a sense of uncertainty. At the same time, despite students feeling this way, many also believe it is best to remain positive and remain optimistic.
Optimism
The majority of students who were asked if they were optimistic about the future responded yes to being optimistic. The responses from each interview showed similar answers between students by generally suggesting that as students they should feel optimistic and have a positive mindset towards the future because attending university is the first step in getting closer to reaching their goals.
Uncertainty
When asked why they are optimistic, the responses were mixed between students who either felt uncertain or had a clear path of how to reach their future goals.
Results From Each Conducted Interview
"Would you say overall you are optimistic about your future or not?"
Out of 24 students from different undergrad programs who were asked this specific question.23 students said they were optimistic about their future overall.
A Sample of Some Students Answers
"A little bit of both, I mean it's always best living and being optimistic but its a lot of factors that come into play that worry all of us actually. Gotta always be positive and hope that you can make the change and hopefully you can see a positive outcome out of it."
"I mean, um [pause] it changes day to day. Again, like, those fucking ‘ifs’ [laughs]. I mean, I’m optimistic about what I want to do. Like, getting into a new field of study would be really cool. It’s just everything uh, between now and then, I guess. Again, um, the uncertainty, the hard work, um, [pause] the chronic pain."
“Oh yeah! Oh, 100 percent. Uh I mean, school will definitely… grades will differentiate that, you know, however I do. But I think just being here in the first place has definitely made me very optimistic towards being able to get that job in my future. Uh, like being here is just good, like good for me, at this point so. Uh, yeah I, I would say that. Yeah, I’m optimistic.”
"I would say I am. I always try to live in, like, [using finger quotations] “the now” [laughs], as cheesy as that sounds. But, just focusing on, like, currently how I'm doing, what I can do to get to my goal each and every day and I feel like as long as I’m putting in my best efforts it’s all you can really ask for and do at the time, so, yea."
Final Thoughts
This study has shown us a commonality between students when it comes to future aspirations and achieving their goals. A reasonable amount of students in this study have suggested it is best to stay positive, hopeful, and have a good work ethic to get through university; despite how uncertain they may be. If there is anything you should take away from this study, it's that its best to try and live in the "now", be present and not worry too heavily about the future because everything will fall into place eventually.
First Year? Don't Know What You Want to do?
Check out Carleton's first-year seminars.
https://carleton.ca/first-year-seminars/
First-year seminar (FYSM) courses are small classes designed to give students the opportunity to discuss and research topics of interest in a core subject area.
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