A little backstory: I came to the US to study Computer Engineering as an undergrad back in 2017. Internships were required as part of my program, but I only managed to get 2 out of the 4 blocks I was supposed to do, and those two internships barely had anything to do with my major (it was really basic IT stuff). The other 2 blocks were waived due to COVID.
I started my grad program back in Fall 2020 in Software Engineering entirely online. I later did my Spring 2021 semester in another country because my parents insisted to come over. Probably the worst decision of my life as without getting into details, I did not enjoy living in their household, I failed one of my classes and I wasn't able to leave until late summer essentially.
Fast-forward to now where I am trying to get out of academic probation and need to decide whether I need to do a capstone and graduate early or an internship next semester and extend my program. I did not want to do a thesis because I suck at research and my advisor advised against it. My goal is to make a life of my own independent (through career opportunities in the US) from my parents so I don't end up being stuck with them again.
I am unsure what to do considering my visa is expiring on summer 2022. After speaking with my international services department, they basically said as long as I am a student in the institution with no travel plans outside the US, I can still stay and even apply for OPT later on. I haven't told my parents about this yet because I don't want them to know that I won't be able to travel out of the US after next semester if I choose to stay longer (this is kinda relevant since I financially depend on them for my college program).
To make matters worse, I have basically fucked up my job search for next semester. I think I only applied to 20ish jobs and I only got 1 interview and 2 coding tests. No offers. I have been dealing with motivational issues as well and am still playing catch-up with academic stuff. I am also going to be speaking with a faculty member about my capstone, and I just told her about my internship plans but she hasn't responded and I don't know if she is okay with it.
If I do end up only being able to get a job through OPT, what if I end up going in a shitty internship with no opportunities for sponsorship? What happens if my internships and OPT ends? Where do I go? Some people tell me to enjoy life by living in the moment, but I can't do that when my future can be potentially chaos. How do I not fuck up my career opportunities, provided I haven't already screwed them up?
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/qpim06/i_think_i_screwed_my_future_as_an_international/