Struggle in Graduate Analysis course despite 'doing the right things'

[Oriako]

I've followed along with this entire thread and I'm really saddened to hear that things did not work out. Don't fret through (well it is natural to fret), but don't dwell on it for years or something like that. You have still have a lot of potential and with your mental impairment I'm surprised that you made it as far as you did in the rigid and structured, "be normal or die" environment of academia. My father has Bi-Polar disorder and my entire family essentially has mental illness so I do understand your situation.

There are many opportunities for employment where you can have a comfortable life with a decent salary and just relegate mathematics as a hobby. You can still be incredibly committed to your work on mathematics and maybe even do research every once in a while. I know of a high school teacher who teaches AP Math (where I graduated from high school) who does some research on the side and publishes a paper or two every now and then. He teaches Grade 12 Pure Math, Grade 12 Applied Math, and AP Calculus, and continues along the lines of what he did his undergraduate thesis on (he never went to Grad school).

Do not think that being a high school teacher is a failure if you do end up going that route, and if you do not want to then don't! With an undergraduate degree in Mathematics there are many employment opportunities available for you!

I wish you the best of luck and I hope you continue to update this thread with what you end up doing or let me know sometime in a PM or e-mail. Let me know if you ever want to talk, I would be willing to help support you in any way that I could if you want someone to bounce math ideas off of or whatever!

 

[TheEigenvalue]

One good thing I have to report is that my professors have been really accommodating with me in this tough time.

They understand that I want to stay until the end of the Semester for the sake of my TA- students, so they have both told me that I don't really need to come to class if I am still feeling under-the-weather. That means a lot to me since, although I haven't gotten 'depressed' or 'psychotic' from all of the bad news, I certainly have been suffering and have been even MORE tired (if that is humanly possible...) than usual.

I feel better than last week, but I won't probably be back to the classroom until the end of the week. But I still teach my TA students since that actually takes my mind OFF of the hardships and makes me happy to see their smiling faces.

There is still no 'official' word as to if I need to take final exams or not, but everyone is being very kind to me, so I am happy. I think NO one in the department wanted it to end this way, but now that it is inevitable, they are trying to keep me happy and stress-free which is very kind.