Every so often, I have the Dream. That I’m in university, and I’ve signed up for a load of classes, and that there’s one I’ve not gone to all term, and end of term’s coming up, and I’ll get a big fat “Incomplete” or even zero, and I’ll never get a job as a result.
Some times I’ve forgotten about the class all term and just re-discover my sign-up sheet; other times I’ve been too busy to go; other times it’s some abstruse topic that I just can’t understand, like calculus or high-level logic, so I’ve been skipping.
Doesn’t matter what the exact reason is in the Dream - I wake up all irritated and upset.
Look, stupid subconscious part of the brain: we made it, remember? We got through what, six universities and four degrees, and we’re done now! we have a job and now the only reason we have to go back to university is to teach guest spots. Let it go, already!
I have that dream regularly too, and I graduated several years ago. Okay, 4 years ago. But 4 years is plenty of time for my brain to have caught up on the fact that we are not currently in school!
I have that dream sometimes and I graduated 23 years ago. I also have a happier university dream - one where I realize I don’t HAVE to finish and can go onto something more worthwhile.
One of the folks I know at our school lived this last year. Nobody could figure out what he was doing. He showed up for other classes, but not a certain one. In the end, he failed that class. As far as I know, he repeated it last fall, and passed, but his job prospects are dim.
Me, I don’t dream of missing classes I’ve signed up for. No, instead, I dream of taking exams–over, and over, and over. Since I absolutely hate exams, these are more like nightmares.
I’ve only ever took one semester in community college, and I have a recurring dream almost just like that. Most of the time, I realize there’s a whole slew of courses I was supposed to be taking, but I just never went. Then I’m freaking out thinking, what was I doing that whole time. It’s been 16 years since I’ve last took a class in anything. I have a great job and a good life. Why this dream?!
I remain convinced that there is a class at CU (uni of Colorado at Boulder) that I signed up for and forgot about. I have had this dream repeatedly for the last 20 years (not often). It is finals week and I realize that I never went to class. I have no book, no notes, not even sure where the class meets. I tend to have this dream when I am faced with a difficult situation that I am not sure how to handle.
I think these dreams (especially when you’re long past college age) indicate a wavering of self-confidence or that there is an issue you are insecure or unsure about. At least I hope that’s what it is…
What you need to do is live the dream a couple of times, then you won’t have it anymore. I recommend gallons of 100 proof schnapps and several kegs of beer to keep you distracted so you don’t go to class.
Worked for me… Also why it took 13 years to get my degree, but at least I don’t have that dream!
I’ve had that dream. More often, I’ve had its bastard cousin - the dream wherein I am well aware that I graduated nine years ago, but the university calls and tells me that they made an error in giving me my diploma. I have to go back and finish a year’s worth of classes. In the dream, I struggle to arrange leave from my job, find childcare for my kids, and go apartment hunting so I don’t have to commute from my home back to college. It’s all very depressing.
I’ve been out of school for over ten years and still get this dream. Of course, I would rather have this than the sudden realization of baldness dream. That one terrifies me.
I haven’t had that dream in a long time, but oddly, when I do have that dream, I still have the arrogance to think that it won’t matter because I’m good enough at what I do to get a job anyway.
I had no idea how common that dream is. I’m 37 and I’d say I have that dream about 2-3 times per year.
I’ve signed up for classes, but halfway through the semester, I realized I’ve missed the math (sometimes it’s history) classes. So I’ve missed all this work and midterms are coming up.
Sometimes, the dream is that I’m going to my classes, but I’m late and never have the right book.
I don’t think the dreams are about school, rather it’s more about the fear that I’m not prepared for something in my life. I often feel like that during my waking moments and I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop and I find out that there’s something that I’m supposed to have done, but I haven’t. So that’s how I feel in the dreams.
I’m curious to see if any of you procrastinate. I think that’s another reason I have the dreams. I’m always struggling with procrastination in my work and personal life.
I get it for college and high school. Usually it’s accompanied by a rush in the hallwayand I can’t remember the combination to my locker.
The worst one was where I somehow was redoing senior year at college this year and I go backto my old apartment (which is/was a dump). I get so depressed I want to shoot myself.
Dammit this is so common a dream; are there no psychiatrists/psychologists out there who have studied this phenomenon?
The worst part is, when I wake up from it, I’m often not sure whether the dream or my real life is real. That happens with that dream much more often than with other dreams, for some reason.
That is the only dream I have where I can’t get away from it even when I wake up. I’m dreaming that I’m not sure where the class is held, who the prof is, and whether I’ve bought the books. I can’t remember if I’ve even been to a class yet, and have I already missed tests and assignments? Then I wake up and I still can’t figure out if the scenario holds in real life (even though I’ve been out of school for 15 years). It takes a good long time for the rising panic to subside and the realization that I **do not ** take classes anymore to sink in.
I have that dream where I’m trying to get a man-eating custard pie off my head while people are chasing me with exploding pie balloons. That sucks.
(Seriously, I think it’s what Nutty Bunny said–it’s like the same thing as showing up stark naked for your big speech in front of a huge audience.)
I found a way to get rid of that dream: become a professor. But then, I started having a different dream. It’s the end of the semester and I come to the horrible realization that there’s a class I forgot to teach… (Really, I had this dream regularly the first few years I taught.)
