That Forgotten College Class Dream

[Much Fishing to Do]

I'm FI, work part time, but could stop whenever I want to....

And yet, still have that dream where I realized I had forgotten about a class I had enrolled in all semester and tomorrow is the final...I'm usually running around trying to figure out what room its in and what time it actually meets...I'd guess I have the dream like once a quarter.

I remember my long since retired mother mentioning she still had it before she passed.  She was maybe 70 at the time.  We were both mostly amazed at how uncomfortable and panicked we would feel as we awoke that morning.

I mean, wtf.

[Fru-Gal]

Dang. That’s some serious programming in your brain. I had “institutional“ dreams, similar to my college experience, when I was working in the early part of my career, but that was like 30 years ago. Haven’t had one probably in that long.

[Greystache]

You're not the only one. I still occasionally have similar dreams and I have been retired for ten years!

[Telecaster]

I'm FI, work part time, but could stop whenever I want to....

And yet, still have that dream where I realized I had forgotten about a class I had enrolled in all semester and tomorrow is the final...I'm usually running around trying to figure out what room its in and what time it actually meets...I'd guess I have the dream like once a quarter.

I remember my long since retired mother mentioning she still had it before she passed.  She was maybe 70 at the time.  We were both mostly amazed at how uncomfortable and panicked we would feel as we awoke that morning.

I mean, wtf.

I have the same dream.  My mom does too.   

[BECABECA]

I had that dream all through my career, but I realize that since retiring I haven’t had that dream. I wonder why it went away for me and not for other retirees.

[Tyson]

Kafka wrote entire books about that feeling.

[Bartlebooth]

I have had a similar dream within the past year.  Something about just completely losing track of what classes I need to go to at what times and repeatedly missing them until there is no option but to drop out.  It features a weird mix of high-school and college things, actually.

That is weird because high school was smooth sailing for me but I super sucked at the classwork part of college.  Although it apparently traumatized me in some way, I still think college was a good way of getting to where I am today.

@Tyson Can you describe the Kafka stuff a bit more?

[Much Fishing to Do]

It features a weird mix of high-school and college things, actually.

Funny, the buildings in mine are noticeably some weird mix of my junior high and law school. 

Dreams are just like some sick joke our brain plays on us.

[HPstache]

I have heard this is an extremely common dream (nightmare?) for those who have attended university.  I get this dream often as well

[Moustachienne]

I've had that dream and also know two people who had "exam panic" in real life. I think knowing this could happen in real life intensifies the dreams!

One cruised up to the exam room thinking she'd find some classmates to study with for a later exam only to learn that the exam was actually in 15 minutes. She might have easily gone to a coffee shop or lolled in bed waiting for what she thought was the exam time. She passed.

The other mistook the exam location on a very large campus and had to do some major sprinting to first figure out the correct room and then run to the far flung building. He passed the exam.

[Tyson]

I have had a similar dream within the past year.  Something about just completely losing track of what classes I need to go to at what times and repeatedly missing them until there is no option but to drop out.  It features a weird mix of high-school and college things, actually.

That is weird because high school was smooth sailing for me but I super sucked at the classwork part of college.  Although it apparently traumatized me in some way, I still think college was a good way of getting to where I am today.

@Tyson Can you describe the Kafka stuff a bit more?

The Trial is probably the one most on-point for this thread.  Here's the opening line, it gives you a flavor of what's to come:

Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K., he knew he had done nothing wrong but, one morning, he was arrested.

[chasingthegoodlife]

Still occasionally have this dream (at 41) about high school maths class.

The first few years of being a parent I would also dream about forgetting my baby (though it wasn’t actually my real life baby in the dream). Thankfully those have stopped.

[iris lily]

Dang. That’s some serious programming in your brain. I had “institutional“ dreams, similar to my college experience, when I was working in the early part of my career, but that was like 30 years ago. Haven’t had one probably in that long.

i’m 70 years old. I still have academic nightmares the most recent one in the last year was somehow I didn’t really finish my four year degree which rendered subsequent degrees void.

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

You are not alone with this dream. 

Here’s my entry for a strange serial dream I have about college.  I’m in class, but I’m hanging on the ceiling, Spider-man style.  Nobody else in the dream thinks this is strange. 

[SunnyDays]

Yup, I have those dreams too.  I'm either in high school or university, and either can't find my locker/ remember the combination, or miss a bunch of classes because I never got a schedule and just luck out on happening to find some of them.  I also have dreams that I went back to work without pay, but now I'm changing my mind and want a pay cheque.  Which I never get.  I'm 63, have been out of school for 39 years and retired for 8.  I guess it never ends.

[Psychstache]

Mine is that it is somehow discovered that I am actually one class short of my degree, so I have to put my life on hold until I can get the last class done, but I am so out of practice on being a student that stuff keeps going wrong.

I call it my Mr. 3000 dream:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._3000

[mistymoney]

I think this is all a very sorry statement on how deeply scarred we all are with the "system".

It's all a bunch of hooey, but it keeps perpetuating itself generation after generation.

[Bartlebooth]

I think this is all a very sorry statement on how deeply scarred we all are with the "system".

It's all a bunch of hooey, but it keeps perpetuating itself generation after generation.

I don't know, I think the result is worth a couple bad dreams.  The things our civilization has accomplished due to the intense education that we receive are astounding.

I could be having dreams about getting eaten by a tiger, stabbed in the middle of the night by neighboring tribe, working 100 hour weeks in a sweatshop, going without food for a week, etc.  But apparently the biggest trauma in my life was doing paperwork for a few years?  I've got it good!

[FireLane]

I still have this dream too. And I've been done with school for two decades and retired for three and a half years! It's so unfair.

I knew I wasn't the only one who has this dream, but it makes me feel a little better to see how common it is. It seems to happen more often when I'm worried or stressed about something.

[Ron Scott]

Same dream! I’m in my 60s now and haven’t had it in say 10 years, but yeah…

[LD_TAndK]

I have nightmares about showing up unprepared for work meetings. Like I forgot my powerpoint and just have to stand up there and make a fool of myself without visual aids. Or the demonstration application just isn't working that day.

[Louise]

I've had a similar dream many times. Mine is where I have to cram a semester's worth of learning for a math final. I always wake up relieved! I didn't have trouble with math, so I'm not sure why it's always that subject. Maybe it's because you have to keep up with the homework?

[sonofsven]

I can tell none of you went to The Evergreen State College (go Geoducks!):
Only one class per term.
No finals.
No grades!

[FLBiker]

Interesting.  I can't remember ever having that dream.  I did have a dream about going to school in my underpants when I was in elementary school, though. :)

[GuitarStv]

Interesting.  I can't remember ever having that dream.  I did have a dream about going to school in my underpants when I was in elementary school, though. :)

I went to school in my underpants every day.





Otherwise your regular pants can cause some uncomfy chafing.  :D

[oldladystache]

I used to dream that I arrived at class and discovered I had forgotten some essential article of clothing. Haven't had that dream for a long time.

[Much Fishing to Do]

I think this is all a very sorry statement on how deeply scarred we all are with the "system".

It's all a bunch of hooey, but it keeps perpetuating itself generation after generation.

I don't know, I think the result is worth a couple bad dreams.  The things our civilization has accomplished due to the intense education that we receive are astounding.

I could be having dreams about getting eaten by a tiger, stabbed in the middle of the night by neighboring tribe, working 100 hour weeks in a sweatshop, going without food for a week, etc.  But apparently the biggest trauma in my life was doing paperwork for a few years?  I've got it good!

Heh, I certainly would not deny that it was fear above anything else when running my business that drove me to a $5M net worth.  It is quite the motivator.  OK, I guess I come by the dream honestly then....

[oneday]

This being posted in Post-FIRE and having the word dream in the title, my impression was the thread would be about going back to school and taking the fun classes. How wrong I was! lol

Sounds more like a nightmare than a dream.

[2sk22]

For the first couple of years after I retired, I would sometimes wake up in a panic wondering if I had forgotten some task for work. Glad to say that this has gone away in the past year.

[cpa cat]

I have the same dream as you about forgetting to attend a class all year and then having to sit for a final.

I also have a dream where I arrive in Madame Ford’s French class (first period, grade 11) having forgotten to study for a test.

The thing about these anxiety dreams that gets me is that I legitimately failed to attend a class one semester due to depression, but showed up for the final and managed to pass. In addition, I was only a C student in Mme Ford’s French class and didn’t have nightmares about it when I was in the actual class.

Why does my brain preload these scenarios as being exceptionally stressful, when I’ve already lived them and survived them and they weren’t that bad?

[LaineyAZ]

There's a theory that those of us who are more conscientious are the ones who have these kinds of panicky dreams.

I'd be curious to ask those who basically "wing it" through life whether they have these same types of dreams.

[Telecaster]

Why does my brain preload these scenarios as being exceptionally stressful, when I’ve already lived them and survived them and they weren’t that bad?

That's the thing!  I never forgot where my locker was or my class schedule in real life.   Now decades later my brain is still worried about it.

[blue_green_sparks]

Not a dream. My last class, final exam, I woke up with a fever, 101.5. The prof was one of those hard ass, no exceptions ever kind of teachers. I wore this giant hooded parka for the chills and pulled a chair way over in the corner, so I was isolated from the others. The prof asks "what are you doing", I told him, and he says, "Ok, you got your 'A' ", get out of here. I literally recovered that evening and still wonder if I was really even sick.

[Cannot Wait!]

There's a theory that those of us who are more conscientious are the ones who have these kinds of panicky dreams.

I'd be curious to ask those who basically "wing it" through life whether they have these same types of dreams.

I'm definitely a "wing it" type - never had these kinds of nightmares, asleep or awake.
My partner has an amazing reoccurring dream where he's on 'the right path' and he just follows it confidently through all obstacles.  Ex if a house is in his path he just opens the door, climbs the stairs, goes out a window, jumps from the roof, etc and continues on his way.
How wonderful is it to have your subconscious  telling you that you're doing it right?
Although, we do have an amazing life, so there's that.

[markbike528CBX]

The dreams:
Forgetting about undergraduate Inorganic Chemistry final.. it didn't and it thought the class was OK.
I majored in Inorganic Chemistry in grad school.   
Didn't have the Dream until I was about 5 years out of schooling and into a real job that was sort of unrelated.

About 3 years after leaving my last job, I started having dreams about or related to that job.
Nothing traumatic, but after I would wake up, I had a feeling of relief that I was FIRED and I could just sleep in.
That job had incidents that would cause other people to make million dollar decisions on my say-so.
I have since realized that the job was more continuously stressful than I realized at the time.

The reality:
I woke up one time and wondered what the pink thing sticking in/near my eye was.
It turned out that I had fallen asleep during a final exam, and the pink thing was a pencil eraser.
Don't worry, I got an A- (just looked at my undergraduate transcript).

[Retireatee1]

I got those into my 40s or so.  They were harsh because I actually lived the nightmare in college.  I didn't forget about class, but I did have to blow off one exam to cram all night for another.  I had situations where the best I could hope for was a D, there was financial strain, and all my friends dropped out.  So, the nightmares weren't as bad as the reality.

[Just Joe]

Yup, I have those dreams too.  I'm either in high school or university, and either can't find my locker/ remember the combination, or miss a bunch of classes because I never got a schedule and just luck out on happening to find some of them.  I also have dreams that I went back to work without pay, but now I'm changing my mind and want a pay cheque.  Which I never get.  I'm 63, have been out of school for 39 years and retired for 8.  I guess it never ends.

Don't forget the oldie but goodie - that you were late to the exam and also showed up half dressed or undressed.

I had the HS version of the undressed dream several times but not in several years now. I graduated in the late 80s.

I remember thinking in the dream: maybe nobody will notice...

Edited: I cans English - honest!

[markbike528CBX]

Yup, I have those dreams too.  I'm either in high school or university, and either can't find my locker/ remember the combination, or miss a bunch of classes because I never got a schedule and just luck out on happening to find some of them.  I also have dreams that I went back to work without pay, but now I'm changing my mind and want a pay cheque.  Which I never get.  I'm 63, have been out of school for 39 years and retired for 8.  I guess it never ends.

Don't forget the oldie but goodie - that you were late to the exam and also showed up half dressed or undressed.

I had the HS version of the undressed dream several times but not in several years now. I graduated in the late 80s.

I remember thinking in the dream: maybe nobody will notice...

Edited: I cans English - honest!

My dream was :
Scenario: Staff meeting, at a big table.
Someone mentioned that I had no pants/bottoms.
My response in the dream, --- So what is your problem.

I took that as a sign that I really needed to move on to a different job.