What am I doing with my life

a reply to: Midnight13

I'm so ready just to drop out of college... I don't want to follow the crowd.

You sound exactly like me honestly, except I have already dropped out.

I was tired of getting thousands of dollars of bills for "prerequisites" that had nothing to do with what I actually wanted to do.

I'm hoping life will throw me something, and I'm still waiting.

Whats important is that you like (or at least do not loathe) what you do to earn a living for a good portion of your life.

You are probably at least partially supported right now, so money doesn't seem that important, but once your on your own, you realize you need a lot more than you think. And since you will be working so hard, now you want to go on vacation and things like that to unwind from all the work.

So I say, don't sell out to something you don't like just to make money (which I regretfully did). I was making a good amount of money but was not really happy at my job. On the other hand, you have to make enough which is usually a lot, unfortunately, and don't want to be struggling to pay your rent and bills once your on your own, or live in a crappy place.

Good luck finding whatever it is you like.

originally posted by: Midnight13
a reply to: skunkape23

I love drawing. Been drawing since I was 4 and it's been my dream to make my own animation. Art school is way too expensive, plus,I don't want anyone telling me how to draw.

what is it you're doing now? and thanks!

Try to get at least an associates in art and then try to get a portfolio together with your work. Then, you can try to get an intern position or something like that at an animation studio that does the kind of animation you like. I think your portfolio will be the most important thing, but some sort of degree would not hurt.

a reply to: Midnight13

Let me be the the voice of "hard truth" here.

If you are going 10's of thousands in debt, you better be going for a degree that guarantees you a profession in that targeted field such as Nurse, Pharmacist, Optometrist, Dentist, Lawyer, Accountant, Chemical Engineer, etc.

If you are not targeting a specific job in a specific field then you are wasting your efforts unless you are going to work in government.

Marketing, Business, Liberal Arts, Journalism, all crap. Sure 10% of graduates or less might get something decent but most will be working the same entry level call center jobs you could do without going into tons of debt.


In 3-4 months you can have your CCNA and start working for 30-40K. Spend the time to get a CCNP and you should average 50-70k depending on area.

PMP (project management) also pays well but I am not familiar how prevalent entry level jobs are right out the door.

IT, Telecommunications, Healthcare are all fields that pay decently.

a reply to: Midnight13


When I was 23 I made a concious decision to find myself, I thought I'd disappear for a month or two and come home a different person. I was wrong.

It took me 10 years before I returned, poorer, older, and a damned sight happier, I'd learned to strive for what made me happy, not what everybody else assumed would. My motivation is not money, not what people call success, it's to wake up and actively look forward to my day.

Yep as simple as that

If I help a friend along the way so much the better, if I find new friends, better still.

Do what makes YOU happy.

Just my 2 cents

Cody

You get out of life what you put in it.
Not easy but well worth the ride.
You Have to Want it and then find the ways to do it.
Don't ask people to look/hunt/find an easy way.
Put on your boots and wok hard to get what "You want out of Life."
Not saying your sitting around moaning and groaning.. Just saying never do that or that is all you will ever do and you will get very good at it.

No one ever gave me a thing, I have earned it all aon my own. Yes I have a degree.. took a loooooong time to get but it has helped in some ways.

Today is a good day to start the rest of your life.......

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

What a waste of time. In those 4 years, they could have been teaching us a trade skill for the real world.

In my high school years, we did have classes like that. Many of us who were interested in Carpentry , Welding and several other vocations, signed up for what they called Trade School. The teachers were professionals in their field, with years of experience. They stopped those classes. Know why? Sports. They said not enough were signing up for the classes and the money that went toward the teacher's salaries and supplies, such as metal for welding and wood for carpentry, could go toward equipment for the various teams we had.

The first thing you should learn real quick is that being successful isn't a bad thing. Doing well, making money, achieving your goals doesn't make you any less nobel then someone who isnt.

If you like drawing then find some other way to generate income for yourself until your artwork becomes sustainable. Plenty of other fields you could get into that will generate income so you can draw. No one is going to pay you in life just because you are a nice person who wants to draw. IT, medical billing, healthcare in general are things that could find your dreams.

Contrary to what seems to be the common thought process of those under 30 life an no one on the planet owes you anything. So it's on you to find a way to nuture the talents you have so that they can give you the life you want.

Someone mentioned an Etsy store and that seems like a great idea but just remember success takes failure, growth, perseverance and luck to hit your mark.

a reply to: DYepes

You can easily make $500 a week doing basic automotive maintenance tasks. That's what I do a lot and I couldn't agree more on having a truck. Most mechanic shops add on so much for labor it makes people junk perfectly good cars just needing a new set of gaskets and a bit of component replacing.

I`d be interested in how you started managing your investment portfolio, I tried reading into it but that sort of lingo goes right over my head. Not to derail the thread but if you authored one on the topic I would enjoy reading.

a reply to: StratosFear

yeah.
repair shops are known for hiring disabled females with no experience to work on peoples death boxes.
good call

if you mean her doing it under the table herself is even more LOL

just gonna run out and make 500 a week doing repairs.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
tools? mechanical aptitude?

originally posted by: Midnight13
It's just scary for me because I can't seem to find a job because of my disabilities:/

So I'm thinking about becoming some kind of art freelancer. Maybe doing illustrations.

@skunkape: funny that you mentioned John K. I used to be in contact with him back in 06 when I found his blog! he sent me a how to draw cartoons book and a signed ren and stimpy sketch! sadly I don't have it anymore...and we also don't talk anymore:/

Nursery wall Murals ?? People are always having babies ... so you will never

run out of new customers.

a reply to: Midnight13

I understand depression, as I have been dealing with it my entire life, and I am 43. The fact you are 25 and have never worked is not going to look good to any employer, no matter what degree you have. I hope you are not waiting to get a degree, before you get a job. A 30 year old with a bachelors degree, but 0 experience is not going to make you look desirable.

Look, if you have been getting treatment, perhaps you are seeing the wrong doctors. I honestly think you should seek different doctors and phycologists out.

If you do not want life to pass you by, YOU are going to have to FORCE yourself to move forward. Nobody is going to do it for you.

I assume you live at home with parents. If you get a job, any job, Walmart greeter, whatever, you will have a little of your own money, and that can boost your moral. You HAVE to get a job though. You will feel better, and you will look better to future employers. Especially if you keep the job until you finish school.

It sucks, but you are going to have to do some work if you want to feel better.

a reply to: Midnight13

I'm in a similar boat. 25 year old male. I didn't chose to attend any college though. Had a few crappy jobs and wasn't able to hack it with my mental issues. I'm blessed to have a family who keeps me around as long as I help out with maintaining the home (I currently babysit my two nieces for my brother)

I have a similar view I just never felt the need to follow the crowd and do whatever it is everyone seems to expect you to do. I'm happy blazing my own trail. Good luck to you!

a reply to: StratosFear

dude it takes so much time to learn it, but I think I can give a quick summary. Mine is through the company I work for. I basically had to look at all the indexes, equities, and other money market funds available . Then I have to see which companies make up the largest share of each index/fund, as this is where much of the fund is pooled into. Many we recognize, others we dont. Than I compare the yields of these funds to one another, and research last five years of financial performance of each company to see where the potential for growth and thus increase share value are. It can take hours to do this for a single index! And theres dozens to choose from just through my employer. the Market has hundreds if not more.

Like I said it as very time consuming. During stable times consumer tech and telecom companies and growing retailers, or the indexes they are a part of were good because lots of growth potential. However as our paid for representatives keep screwing things up royally the world over creating massive instability in the markets, I get a little more skiddish. Consumer spending confidence may dwindle and these companies will see slow growth or stagnate. Wal-Mart recently peacked near $90 around the new year. I sold all my stock when I saw that. That is not a natural price IMO and I was reading Wal-Mart was hiding its domestic losses with its international profits. That sounds like tricky accounting to me, and having been there as long as I had, selling at the price made sense.

I will of course pick it back up once the system crashes again soon. The greatest thing about a market crash is the rock bottom prices you can pick up stock with.

At this point my fund are tied into energy and utility companies, precious metal and other mining companies. Or basically the real asset fund my company has available for me to invest. I moved into that fund when I noticed metals and oil prices began to sink earlier this year. Because I know that given the state of the world, those price drops were unnatural and bound to rebound sharply soon. So I started picking that up while the prices were low.

Now we see both oil and gas are gaining in value once more, and so would the stock price of any companies associated in those industries. That then translates to the entire fund gaining value as all these shares are paying out some nice dividends now.

Thats barely the surface dude. I am not even a professional, it just took me many years and hours and hours day after day to kind of learn the ropes. If you have decent money to throw around, consult a professional. Im just a guy that took control of where my money was being invested instead of expecting the company knows what its doing. thats why I wont really make a thread on it, as I am not an expert. I am an amateur civilian just trying to get by in the game that has been setup for us. I took a peak into one part of that game and noticed I may be pretty good at it.

Just an FYI, its not only knowing numbers and predicting demand. A big part of the market is knowing human behavior and where the latest trends will generate demand for new products/services that companies will offer.

As an example Mcdonalds has been doing poorly and has had to completely restructure its entire business model recently. This will generate new interest (remember human behavior) and should translate to steady gains again over the next couple of years IMO. But I a still waiting to see. They made these plans in the first and second quarter, and will being to implement them through the third and fourth. I will decide whether to pick up any after I review their fourth quarter earning at the end of the year to see if the plans translated to any kind of increase.

No magic bullets though. Remember this entire scheme is nothing more than a gamblers game. If you arent willing to risk or capable of losing thousands, better step back and read more first.

I am very tempted to get involved in the market full time, but as of right now I am just controlling which companies I have a stake in through my retirement/investment portfolios from my company.

That was a mouthful. Its funny because I actually said very little even those it was alot of words.

a reply to: Midnight13

I can assure you that you are not alone.

I studied IT in the early naughties and that didn't even get my foot in the door. One has to question the merits of higher education when there are more graduates than jobs-what's the point of training a thousand pediatricians when only a hundred are needed?

originally posted by: kurthall
a reply to: Midnight13

I understand depression, as I have been dealing with it my entire life, and I am 43. The fact you are 25 and have never worked is not going to look good to any employer, no matter what degree you have. I hope you are not waiting to get a degree, before you get a job. A 30 year old with a bachelors degree, but 0 experience is not going to make you look desirable.

Look, if you have been getting treatment, perhaps you are seeing the wrong doctors. I honestly think you should seek different doctors and phycologists out.

If you do not want life to pass you by, YOU are going to have to FORCE yourself to move forward. Nobody is going to do it for you.

I assume you live at home with parents. If you get a job, any job, Walmart greeter, whatever, you will have a little of your own money, and that can boost your moral. You HAVE to get a job though. You will feel better, and you will look better to future employers. Especially if you keep the job until you finish school.

It sucks, but you are going to have to do some work if you want to feel better.

I've applied to lots of jobs but no one wants to hire me...I even applied at a Goodwill once, got an interview, didn't get hired.

You're right, who wants to hire a 25 year old with no work experience...

Such a slippery slope here. No matter what you say you want/need to be happy, I t will change. It's impossible to plan your life while your young and you have a type freedom that pumps through your veins. Poor and limited what that allows you, but freedom just the same (something not all people get until it's gone). Even if you find an okay job for you now, money being dangled, a better position, a new direction will slowly and subtlety crawl in.
College seems to be a must anymore and no, it guarantees nothing but maybe a better chance to be called for an interview. I really don't know what advice to put out there. It's that time in life where you slowly put aside the real things that make you happy just to slowly bleed into mediocre. I worked hard as a musician from 11-12 years old to late 30's. I don't remember exactly when I put my guitars and keyboards away, but there in cases in a couple closets in the house. I make a very comfortable living doing something I hate. Every weekday is another day in hell.
What advice would I go back to the 23 year old me and give? If it's important to you then (my past tense) you will only have a void where, that love once resided. Who is that person you want to be in 20 years? Is it a Wal-mart greeter? Is it a welder? Opportunities will show themselves to you, the carrots will be dangled and very likely, that's where you will be far into the future. I know just the need for security, peace of mind is taking center stage now, but don't sell yourself short, your future self will never forgive you.

a reply to: Midnight13

Midnight, Drop out of that Government brainwashing institution immediately. Save yourself the debt, and the waste of precious hours of your life that could be spent enjoying it, or actually making some money for yourself to live. You will get out, and some brat who learned code will be making 5 times as much as you.

College is the biggest scam for the Sheople, other than falling for being charged with interest on student loans. You can much easier educate yourself online these days, or in your local Library. The Universities are blood suckers, and they are a dying breed other than for a few various occupations like being a Doctor, Lawyer or football player ect.

I am not saying that College is bad for all, because it's good for many. However, it wastes so much time for the majority of sheople who fall into their orchestrated merry go round. Go to a school to learn a trade, or educate yourself and create your own business. The American dream is still alive and well, but getting sucked into their debt slavery hell hole is no longer a part of it. ~$heopleNation

a reply to: Midnight13

I'm writing to you as a mother of four. Three grown daughters one 16 1/2 year old son. Let me just lay down a tad bit of their background. I'll name each child as numbers 1-4 with one being the oldest and four being the youngest.

#1
Came back into my life at age 16 after I hunted her down. Her grandmother ran off with her while I was at college.
There's years that we missed, but I encouraged her to go to college just as I did. She's just now graduating after a 7 year bid in college with a BS in chemistry and who'll be 25 in June. Hell, had that been in my collegiate days, I would have had 3 degrees after 7 years. She went to a Cal State institution where the tuition more than tripled since she began and classes were cut. She insisted on caring for herself while a student, so she worked at an elementary school until her 6th year when she had to resign so she could get the classes she needed to graduate. Her work schedule and school schedule made it impossible for her to do both successfully. To this very day, she feels like she let hundreds of middle school aged children down by leaving. She wants to be a Principal of a middle school one day. In a matter of weeks, she'll be back in Los Angeles looking for work as an educator. Right now she's a bartender at Applebee's

However, she did need a couple of degrees to follow her pursuit of being an educator. So sometimes and often a college degree is necessary depending on what you want to do. Discipline is a must completing college, it's not easy and it's even more difficult and incredibly expensive even at a state level if you're paying for it on your own (which #1 is not she has us). That however, should not deter you if you know you need a degree to do what you want with your future and to secure your financial future.

#2 Didn't go to college at all, but was accepted to over 20 schools nationally. Some offered full rides and some did not. She was also an incredible athlete as she ran track. Instead she opted for Vocational training as a cosmetologist, quit school because she wanted to live on her own. Found a job working as a Bud Tender at a Medical Marijuana Dispensary 3 years ago. That dispensary has now opened up 3 stores which she manages all three and makes well over $8,000 a month. She's doing incredibly well for a 23 year old. Has since bought her own condo, financed 2 cars since she was 20 and pretty much is enjoying life her way. #2 had all the options available to her to go to whatever college she wanted. She told us that college just isn't for her...so screw it. She's working on her personal stylist business here in Los Angeles and it's going quite well. The only problem is, is that she spends most of her time working 12 hour days 5 days a week. She depends on no one and has a very large bank account.

#3 Went off to Temple University, majored in bio-chemistry finished 3 years and said "what the hell am I doing, this is costing you guys a ton of money and I'm coming home". #3 just returned home in January after being laid off from a very very good job doing medical sales for a huge company that flew her all over the US selling their products. With only 1 semester of school left to obtain her BS. She said "screw it, this is insane and for now, I'm done". She's now working for a huge corp selling their crap (I seriously disprove of this corp). Nonetheless, she lives with #2 and she's doing well and promises herself she'll return to school just to get that Doctorates degree to prove a point to herself but at her pace.

#4 My son who graduates in 2016 just doesn't seem to know what he wants to do He sure as hell plays a lot of video games though. So I advised him to start his own game company where he can create characters and write story lines for new games. He's an incredibly gifted writer and very intellectual...very opinionated indeed. Instead he shows most interest in wanting the collegiate experience and wants to start his own food delivery service while in college making his "Special Sandwhiches", which are exceptionally awesome! Not sure which way he'll go, but whatever he decides, his father and I will back him. He doesn't want to leave the west coast however and is considering North Cali or the Pacific Northwest as his next new home for learning. My son is a truly gifted writer and strategist. Hell, I even ask my kid for advice more so than anyone else. As a matter of fact, I find myself asking my children for advice before just about anyone...except child #1. She just seems so attached and lost

So, in closing it is my sole opinion that unless you do what makes you happy...nothing will make you happy. However, you must try, try and try again until you find what's right for you. It's a trial and error type of deal life is and you just never know what you're going to get until you...well....TRY.

Whatever it is that you see yourself doing I say go for that immediately. I'm by no means putting a formal collegiate education down BUT, I am saying that it's not for everyone. College nowadays is not looking out for you. These institutions along with the Dept. of Education are looking for you if you're willing to rack up debt. Unless, of course you come from one of those families who has endless funds to pay for it. Then maybe, who cares just spend Mom and/or Dads money up as "you" see fit.

By the way, my two eldest children have two different fathers as well. #2 Has a very famous father (singer) who drops her money in her bank account without her ever asking. As a matter of fact, she dislikes him very much and always sends his money back. #1's father is broker than a joke and graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Science and never has any money to assist her with.

You need to do some soul searching and do what you think is best for you. Guidance from someone who's been there done that wouldn't hurt either. There's a reason the world is full of entrepreneurs. Some successful some not so much, but they all tried.

My entire family are made up of entrepreneurs. Myself, primarily because I don't like to be told what to do, having someone breathing down make neck and I have a bad temper. I have 2 degrees, worked at the CDC as an intern and even went to volunteer for the Peace Corps after college. I've worked for 2 of the prior biggest corps in the world when in 1997 just before my son was born I said "# it, I'm done with getting stepped on". That was my interpretation of work and professional gratification at that time. I experienced depression, setbacks, collection notices being delivered via USPS for years until I found my calling. I can't tell you what I do as I'm fearful of ATS T&C's, but it's similar to what daughter #2 does only, I manufacture legally and I love what I do as my company assists tens of thousands of people

Just find your calling fearless of what others think of you. All you can do is be you right? So be you and be happy with being you and always hold your head up high while you're being you

I've been a little lofty here, but I hope I haven't sent the wrong message. If you're wanting to be a professional you'll need a professionals degree and that costs money...college/university money. Either pay for it or figure on something else, maybe such as a trade or vocational skill. You can always private message me if you'd like.


The Best of Luck to You,
TPE