The WTF are u doing with your life thread

[TTM]

For my freshman buddies who can't decide on a major I always give them my $.02 - you can never go wrong with challenging yourself. I always tell em if you are stuck between two majors go with the harder one.

Either way, freshman don't realize that majors generally become more engrossing and more interesting the further along you are.

And for those worried about missing out on seeing all that college has to offer - thats what general education requirements are for. It may not seem like much but its enough to be a well rounded individual and gain appreciation for other disciplines (liberal arts, humanities, sciences, math).

[Macwich]

i dont want to tell anybody right now cause im not 100% sure, but i think i got into western. its killing me seeing my family and friends and trying to contain myself, so i thought id post it here

edit: oh yeah it was for the popular music studies and english programs. i don't play an instrument or sing, so the music one was big for me

[Hocus Pocus]

For my freshman buddies who can't decide on a major I always give them my $.02 - you can never go wrong with challenging yourself. I always tell em if you are stuck between two majors go with the harder one.

Either way, freshman don't realize that majors generally become more engrossing and more interesting the further along you are.

And for those worried about missing out on seeing all that college has to offer - thats what general education requirements are for. It may not seem like much but its enough to be a well rounded individual and gain appreciation for other disciplines (liberal arts, humanities, sciences, math).

This logic isn't the best for all schools. UofT where I go, for example, is pretty hard in general, so depending on what you mean by challenging, this can be somewhat bad advice. I mean, if you are just getting a general arts degree here, it's probably smarter to pursue Urban studies (supposed to be easy) or semiotics (definitely very easy) as opposed to poli sci (which i've heard is hard).

On the other hand I agree, wherein I find philosophy consistently challenging, but in the sense that I enjoy the fresh challenge it provides: the work never tedious for me. That, I've learned, is the most important thing in picking courses in college for me. I do have ADD though.

[automaton]

so ummm, I was just wondering what other recent graduates of university are doing with their lives right now?

I graduated last year with a BA in history and poli sci and since then have been working in the same shitty ass jobs that I had before I finished my degree. I have been applying for jobs with little to no success and am seriously wondering what I should be doing to improve that situation.

I know that further study in those two disciplines does not really entice me, nor does education or law, the two most common next steps for history/poli sci graduates. So what to do?

Suggestions, call outs, criticisms... all is welcome

[shufon]

automaton, I graduated last year too with an undergrad degree in finance.. was pretty screwed jobwise, but I kept looking and eventually decided to go to grad school. I had waited too long to apply for last fall though, so I moved to China for a year to study Chinese.. I'm pretty satisfied with how I spent the past year as I would've been doing jack shit in the US and speaking Chinese is a good skill to have for a ton of industries right now.. also it gave me some time to figure out what to do with myself. I just got accepted to Cornell to study applied statistics for grad school, so I'm headed there in August, otherwise I would probably be staying in China..

Anyway, my suggestion is to find some kind of one year program that seems interesting to you just to give you some time to figure things out, it seemed to work for me.

[conqueror]

after high school i studied multimedia for 2 years at TAFE (not sure what the US equivalent would be - part time community college maybe?) and got my diploma but it lead absolutely nowhere. now i'm 23 and mainly due to laziness and having no idea what to do with myself i started university for the first time this year. i'm doing a degree in psychological science and will maybe do an honours year afterwards to work in mental health (i'll be 28 by then) but i really have no idea. i've had a really rough couple of months (girlfriend leaving, great grandmother dying etc) and my grades have definitely taken a hit. i really feel like a complete and utter failiure in comparison to most people but i have to realise how lucky i am. roof over my head (even if its a rented one), food in my belly etc. i gues my only advice would be to not rush into college and try and appreciate what you have currently. the grass is always going to be greener...

[FAM0US.]

Making it rain. (10)

[tyang]

after high school i studied multimedia for 2 years at TAFE (not sure what the US equivalent would be - part time community college maybe?) and got my diploma but it lead absolutely nowhere. now i'm 23 and mainly due to laziness and having no idea what to do with myself i started university for the first time this year. i'm doing a degree in psychological science and will maybe do an honours year afterwards to work in mental health (i'll be 28 by then) but i really have no idea. i've had a really rough couple of months (girlfriend leaving, great grandmother dying etc) and my grades have definitely taken a hit. i really feel like a complete and utter failiure in comparison to most people but i have to realise how lucky i am. roof over my head (even if its a rented one), food in my belly etc. i gues my only advice would be to not rush into college and try and appreciate what you have currently. the grass is always going to be greener...

isn't it just better to go to a good college on the first go round? Either way keep your thoughts positive, staying negative will eat away at you.

[Vampyrvargfesten]

Q: What was the hardest part about leaving your job — the prestige, the security, being “on track” — or was it something else?

A: The “on track” idea definitely hit a chord with me, as all my life up until the point of quitting I had done things the “right” way (at least as defined by how my parents would have wanted to steer me) – graduating high school with straight A’s, going to a well-known college, finishing at the top of my class in law school, and taking a job with a “prestigious” law firm. This led up to about age 25, and from there on out the only thing missing was making partner, buying a fancy home in a “prestigious” neighborhood and putting up the white picket fence. For whatever reason doing well in school came rather easy for me and I still managed to travel, party, play sports, etc, so it hadn’t been a huge sacrifice to do the “right” thing while still in the academic world. But with corporate law I was hit with the reality very quickly that this life meant trading off just about everything else I enjoyed in order to be good at what I was doing. And while the money was good (for my age group in particular), it quickly became clear to me that it wasn’t worth the tradeoff.

So while I for sure worried about giving my parents heart attacks, I realized that this mythical “track” wasn’t making me happy. I looked at my bosses and while I respected them a great deal for what they had accomplished, I didn’t want their lifestyle in 15-20 years. I think that was a big enlightenment point – realizing that even if all went perfectly and I worked my butt off, the “prize” at the end of the rainbow was one I didn’t want. That’s when you really know it’s time to make a change.

Q: Why do so many people do jobs they hate? And can you comment specifically on corporate lawyers?

A: I think one reason why many super bright and well-accomplished (academically speaking) people stick with jobs they aren’t happy with is because they feel they have so much to lose. Lawyers, bankers and consultants are for sure some of the smartest people around in terms of IQ scores and raw intellect, and how many times have we heard finance industry professionals leave meetings with company execs saying things like “man, these guys are morons, I could run that company 100 times better!” In fact most successful entrepreneurs didn’t have the stellar academic pedigrees to give them the option of earning $150,000-200,000 in a job right out of school. That takes a lot of cajones to pass up, particularly with everyone (family, friends, society) telling you that making that much cash at a prestigious job is as good as it gets.

taken from a semi-relevant article for you lifepath-challenged dudes

it basically resonates with that Tim Ferris book about quitting your job and partying in South America; you define your own passions and build work around your lifestyle, rather than building your lifestyle around your work, blah blah

some good takeaways, though

just a final caveat:

- its from a defunct, kinda stupid website

- article was published back in 2007

- no idea if this guy doing OK today

[puccimane]

latelier i just try making the big kinda papers, you knows what i r attempting 2 says?? ginormaous type moneys! smoke kush if not 2 expensives. meditatin with the buddhas everyday! and kop pucci upon puccis...yo. want to keep sh_t gutter, but the gutter dun smell 2 gr8. 4 the most part i is try to lives a nice and so ice-e life...YO!

[Guest on-display]

^ just looked him up apparently he started his own travel company in brazil http://www.nexussurf.com/ . not bad

[DigitalN.]

In order of importance to me:

1. Find a girl that I love and settle down

2. Finish high school upgrading, get bio/chem/physics 30

3. Pay off most of my debt

4. Go to college for Turfgrass Management, and become a superintendent.

I am pretty happy with where I am at now, just wish I didn't have as much debt as I do.

[alexryb]

latelier i just try making the big kinda papers, you knows what i r attempting 2 says?? ginormaous type moneys! smoke kush if not 2 expensives. meditatin with the buddhas everyday! and kop pucci upon puccis...yo. want to keep sh_t gutter, but the gutter dun smell 2 gr8. 4 the most part i is try to lives a nice and so ice-e life...YO!

R.I.P puccimane

[asher_roslynn]

In order of importance to me:

1. Find a girl that I love and settle down

2. Finish high school upgrading, get bio/chem/physics 30

3. Pay off most of my debt

4. Go to college for Turfgrass Management, and become a superintendent.

I am pretty happy with where I am at now, just wish I didn't have as much debt as I do.

These goals just remind me of how quick time goes- specifically what comes to my mind is how much my goals have changed from when I was 16 to now 22. I remember just wanting to become the next rockstar at 16. Then 18-19 considered marriage (moreso my gf's idea at the time, thank the lord it didn't happen), 20-21, dying to get out of community college after getting (2) associates degrees (indecision) and wanting to take a break and work saving up money, but now I'm at the point I'm tired of working near minimum wage as cashier, and want to go back to school for the most part. I'm not angry with where I'm at in life, though I'm sorta stoked to see what my goals are going to be in the next 3-5 years. I'll probably wish I was working as am now, as I tend to shrug off the present, but then look back on good times when it passes. Weird stuff.

But I see a big deal with your no. 1. Love is kind of a special thing. Though I had a sour ending with my one and only ex a few years back so I'm flying solo for awhile. I wouldn't have it any other way right now.

So I guess some points of interest for me right now are:

1. Find 2nd job for more income

2. Buy newer used car aside from my buick lesabre hitting 180,000 mi, probably a VW

3. Finally get approved for a credit card (thank goodness I'm 0% in debt) for credit building purposes

4. Possibly going back to school next year

5. Find love somewhere inbetween

That's my five minute story, ha

[Vampyrvargfesten]

great life philosophy

http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/topofthetimes/topstories/la-me-weeds-ss,0,4653627.htmlstory

makes me want to build a clay dwelling

[Quiver]

^a part of me always find that kind of thing very noble...you know, the simple and humble way of living without the multitude of problems and ugliness we see and experience in the first world today...yeah, it all sounds good in principle, but fuck me if i was to do that for real... definitely something i would've aspired to when i was younger and more naive/optimistic, but the working life (and economic slavery?) has gotten to me since

[alexryb]

for the past five years i've been been wanting to pull a kerouac. i'm not sure when this urge will subside

[villain]

a lot of these fucking guys on that "live life your way" shit are able to do that because they are privileged enough, this guy went to Princeton and then transferred to Stanford because he didn't like the preppy fucking atmosphere

xD

I would go to Princeton if that shit was located in hell, for a dude like me the opportunities are invaluable

you can't tell a broke kid from the BX going to a community college to "live life your way"

kids gotta eat

[clothes_addict]

Want to be a surgeon, need to finish college and get into med school first

[Macwich]

for the past five years i've been been wanting to pull a kerouac. i'm not sure when this urge will subside

same same. id probably give up after just a few days though

[billiam]

ive finally got my drivers license, thing is i have no job which means i cant fix/drive my car.

[red120]

great life philosophy

http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/topofthetimes/topstories/la-me-weeds-ss,0,4653627.htmlstory

makes me want to build a clay dwelling

there's a certain romance to that.. also in the way that very few people are able to leave everything behind.

but to leave everything behind also means you don't have any way to protect your way of living when others want to attack it. like the guy in the video - no money to pay off the crooked company that removed brush on behalf of the government, probably not enough to hire a big shot lawyer.

if it's peaceful, it's all good.. but the world is really pragmatic.

[fads]

i spontaneously applied for and got the job

i get a parking space and im happy about this

[billiam]

quitting smoking, bought my last pack of cigarettes. camels

[asher_roslynn]

Still working as a cashier for near minimum wage- stoked for the 120 degree weather here in AZ though.

Trying to keep my eyes on the prize during work; going to Vegas next week, with a good friend flying in from NY, should be good times.

[tyang]

interning at film production company 2 days a week and a tv production company 3 times a week. both from 9-7 for $0

[jackg]

Currently 3rd year Arts/Marketing Monash University

work part time in a retail store

[cheapmuthafukr]

im a surveyor for a heavy civil construction company. i help organize local skateboarding events in my spare time. i also make beautiful babies... who are no longer babies.

[unfuccwittable]

unemployed looking for production jobs in the video game industry.

[RandR]

formed a new LLC for our family estate management. Currently finishing up my CPA(2 more sections), then MBA in finance at NYU or Columbia.

Also been running a lot lately - after getting mugged and fucking up my ribs I've been hitting the elliptical instead.