u/ritix__

I’m 23 from the US and just finished a 5-week study abroad in Japan. Now that it has completed, I’m going to start my job. At a glance everything seems great, and I acknowledge that, however, this post is more about my mental state and the realization that I feel I have “wasted” both my high school and especially college years.

These past 5 weeks have genuinely been the best time of my life. The fact that is is Japan is part of it, but the main reason is the relationships that I have formed with both the few people that went with me from my school, and the students at the Japanese school that I have been studying at.

Throughout my 5 years of college, I have commuted. The drive was only about 20-30 minutes, so I felt it was smart to do in order to save money. I still think this way, but in terms of social relationships, it has been a disaster and I am finally accepting that and not pushing it to the side. Outside of groups that last a semester, I have not made one college friend. I never went to any parties, hung out with anyone, did any sports, or joined any clubs. I simply went to class and went home.

I think the only thing that helped me was the few online friends I have and my supportive family. 

However, after going from 5 years of that to having the best 5 weeks of my life surrounding by people and doing both fun things and just hanging out, I now have realized what I have missed out on and it’s hitting me hard. Also, the relationships I formed during the study abroad were very natural. I would not call myself awkward at all, but I am definitely introverted and somewhat quiet, though I feel this experience has helped me grow out of my shell a decent amount.

Now that I am graduated and beginning to work, I feel it will be even harder to have experiences such as this study abroad. I am incredibly grateful that I did it, but I feel it’s hard not to feel even more lonely than if I had been ignorant to possibilities of such relationships with people and not gone at all. I acknowledge this would only have delayed the realization, but now that I have accepted it, I am confused as to what to do next.

In college, even though I clearly did not take advantage of it, you are surrounded by people the same age as you and moving from that I just need help on the right direction to go in now that I won’t have that anymore.

Another aspect of this is that everyone I was with during this trip, both students from my school and the Japanese school are not graduating. Most of them are 2nd and 3rd which makes me feel even more isolated as they will be able to go back to their college relationships while I will be trying to figure myself out in the real world.

Overall, my biggest needs for advice is 

1. How to deal with the loneliness after the temporary pause from it

2. How to come to terms with the fact I feel I wasted my teens and early 20s in terms of in person social relationships

3. How to move forward to have experiences and relationships similar to that of my study abroad.

I am not looking to replicate the feelings of the study abroad, just to move forward socially at least a little bit.

Also, I understand that apart from this, I am doing well for the most part. I am very grateful to have a job, to have a caring family, and to not have any financial burden. I do not want to sound so pessimistic in that sense, but after 9 years of high school and college loneliness, I have finally been shown the joy of in person social relationships, and I really want to do all that I can to help myself achieve that consistently in my life.

I’m 23 from the US and just finished a 5-week study abroad in Japan. Now that it has completed, I’m going to start my job. At a glance everything seems great, and I acknowledge that, however, this post is more about my mental state and the realization that I feel I have “wasted” both my high school and especially college years.

These past 5 weeks have genuinely been the best time of my life. The fact that is is Japan is part of it, but the main reason is the relationships that I have formed with both the few people that went with me from my school, and the students at the Japanese school that I have been studying at.

Throughout my 5 years of college, I have commuted. The drive was only about 20-30 minutes, so I felt it was smart to do in order to save money. I still think this way, but in terms of social relationships, it has been a disaster and I am finally accepting that and not pushing it to the side. Outside of groups that last a semester, I have not made one college friend. I never went to any parties, hung out with anyone, did any sports, or joined any clubs. I simply went to class and went home.

I think the only thing that helped me was the few online friends I have and my supportive family. 

However, after going from 5 years of that to having the best 5 weeks of my life surrounding by people and doing both fun things and just hanging out, I now have realized what I have missed out on and it’s hitting me hard. Also, the relationships I formed during the study abroad were very natural. I would not call myself awkward at all, but I am definitely introverted and somewhat quiet, though I feel this experience has helped me grow out of my shell a decent amount.

Now that I am graduated and beginning to work, I feel it will be even harder to have experiences such as this study abroad. I am incredibly grateful that I did it, but I feel it’s hard not to feel even more lonely than if I had been ignorant to possibilities of such relationships with people and not gone at all. I acknowledge this would only have delayed the realization, but now that I have accepted it, I am confused as to what to do next.

In college, even though I clearly did not take advantage of it, you are surrounded by people the same age as you and moving from that I just need help on the right direction to go in now that I won’t have that anymore.

Another aspect of this is that everyone I was with during this trip, both students from my school and the Japanese school are not graduating. Most of them are 2nd and 3rd which makes me feel even more isolated as they will be able to go back to their college relationships while I will be trying to figure myself out in the real world.

Overall, my biggest needs for advice is 

1. How to deal with the loneliness after the temporary pause from it

2. How to come to terms with the fact I feel I wasted my teens and early 20s in terms of in person social relationships

3. How to move forward to have experiences and relationships similar to that of my study abroad.

I am not looking to replicate the feelings of the study abroad, just to move forward socially at least a little bit.

Also, I understand that apart from this, I am doing well for the most part. I am very grateful to have a job, to have a caring family, and to not have any financial burden. I do not want to sound so pessimistic in that sense, but after 9 years of high school and college loneliness, I have finally been shown the joy of in person social relationships, and I really want to do all that I can to help myself achieve that consistently in my life.

Hello. Since January, I have been working on an app using Claude Code that I have published to the App Store and am still working on. I understand that due to it being vibe-coded, it is not incredibly technically impressive, so I understand if you do not think it should go on my resume, but I have gone from 0 to publishing an app (LLC creation, Apple developer, Expo, etc.). I’m not sure if this commitment to seeing something out outweighs the lack of actual development done, so that is what I am here to ask. It's not that I don't understand how anything works. The logic I am comfortable with and would definitely seek to understand even more if I were to put it on my resume. The UI design, not so much, as app development is something I have never done and relied heavily on Claude for.

If I were to put it, it would be a short mention as a third project on my resume. I already have 2 projects I will definitely put on, and one other smaller one that I feel could be interchangeable with this app one.

Thanks for any help! 😄

Hello. Since January, I have been working on an app using Claude Code that I have published to the App Store and am still working on. I understand that due to it being vibe-coded, it is not incredibly technically impressive, so I understand if you do not think it should go on my resume, but I have gone from 0 to publishing an app (LLC creation, Apple developer, Expo, etc.). I’m not sure if this commitment to seeing something out outweighs the lack of actual development done, so that is what I am here to ask. It's not that I don't understand how anything works. The logic I am comfortable with and would definitely seek to understand even more if I were to put it on my resume. The UI design, not so much, as app development is something I have never done and relied heavily on Claude for.

If I were to put it, it would be a short mention as a third project on my resume. I already have 2 projects I will definitely put on, and one other smaller one that I feel could be interchangeable with this app one.

Thanks for any help! 😄

Hello. Since January I have been working on an app using Claude Code that I have published to the App Store and am still working on. I understand due to it being vibe-coded, it is not incredibly technically impressive, so I understand if you do not think it should go on my resume, but I have gone from 0 to publishing an app (LLC creation, Apple developer, etc.). I’m not sure if this commitment of seeing something out outweighs the lack of actual development done, so that is what I am here to ask.

If I was to put it, it would be a short mention as a third project on my resume. I already have 2 projects I will definitely put on and one other smaller one that I feel could be interchangeable with this app one.

Thanks for any help :)

I have been looking for an API that will allow me to get logos or pictures from any given US college, but I can’t find any. Anyone know of any I can use or possibly a better approach?

I have been looking for an API that will allow me to get logos or pictures from any given US college, but I can’t find any. Anyone know of any I can use or possible a better approach?

I have been looking for an API that will allow me to get logos or pictures from any given US college, but I can’t find any. Anyone know of any I can use or possible a better approach?