Thanks. Yeah, I really can’t wait.
You know, here’s how I feel-even if I never get a job in my field, at least I got the education and the knowledge for ME. So that I feel better.
My stepbrother got a degree in history from Harvard and currently owns his own investment banking firm. Nothing to do with his degree whatsoever, but he’s a major history buff so that’s what he enjoyed studying. So Guin, have you ever read that book?
Ooops-sorry, no, I haven’t. I’ll look for it at the library, though.
I just can’t pass this one up:
Please. The only people telling you this are losers. I’m 30 grand in debt with student loans and I don’t give a fuck, and you know why? Because I have a degree from SMITH that I got with those loans. I’ll be paying them off until I’m 80, but so what? I’d much rather have that education and a decent job than work at fucking Sonic for the rest of my life.
I damn near flunked out of high school because I can’t hack higher math and really didn’t give a shit about the other stuff, save history and English. I went to summer school for two years and graduated with my class ONLY because my senior math teacher gave me a “D” out of pity.
After graduating from high school in the bottom half of the class, I went to college and hit my stride. I ended up getting a scholarship, making the dean’s list with a 4.0 GPA for seven semesters, winning four academic awards at graduation, and graduating summa cum laude. BTW, I held down a combination of workstudy and straight jobs that totaled around 30 hours a week most of that period.
Law school wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. Yeah, I had to finance that with loans, but I got some aid and a scholarship that took some of the stress off. Then I graduated and ended up having to hang out my own shingle for three years and starve while the loan costs piled up simply because I didn’t have the money to pay them and maintain a practice too.
I’m 32 years old. I’m also $50K in debt with student loans and I’ll be paying them off till I’m 80, but you know what? I don’t care. I have two degrees, a house, three cars and a career that pays decent money.
Why do I have these things? Because I kept moving when things looked bleak. I don’t care that I’ll be sending a large check to the student loan authority for the rest of my life to pay off my education, because I HAVE THE EDUCATION. I could have thrown in the towel and retreated into a den of excuses about ten times a year over the past decade, but I didn’t. And I’m damn glad I didn’t.
I_D_B_B, if you think you can’t make something of yourself, you’re right. If you think you can, you’re right too. Too many people in this thread have offered constructive help and good advice which you’ve turned back with an excuse.
I’m not going to offer any of that. The only advice I can give you is to learn to like the hole you’re in because you’ll never get out of it.
Since perhaps this will be useful to someone else reading this thread, I’m going to jump in on this point:
The deal with working at a college and getting free classes is generally known as TUITION REMISSION. Ask for it by name! Seriously, when you fill out an application, ask “does this school offer tuition remission?” and you will get an answer. Even if that college calls the program by a different name, they will know what you’re talking about. The details change from place to place, and generally has some restrictions – you might not be eligible until you have worked there for six months, or the remission might be a percentage, like a 75% discount. This is a fairly standard benefit in higher education. Some places even extend tuition remisison benefits to spouses and children of the employee.
It is different from work study in that work study jobs are for people who are students first, and employees second. If you decide to leave school for whatever reason, you give up your work study job. Tuition remission is part of the benefits package for people whose primary role is that of employee.
Do NOT be afraid to ask about this in an interview. It’s in the same league as asking which health insurance plan is offered. Colleges want employees to take advantage of tuition remission – it’s one of the ways they are able to attract smart employees away from higher-paying private sector jobs.
Now on to the ranty part:
I am the first person to say that college is not for everyone. Some people are very happy and successful without college.
HOWEVER if you, I_D_B_B, are as unhappy with working fast food and retail jobs as you claim, then finishing your degree is one of the BEST options you have for changing your career satisfaction. I’m not saying it’s the ONLY option, and frankly I’m wondering if ANY career could EVER satisfy you since you seem very hard to please. Please, enough with the excuses!
I’m starting to wonder if the Wonderful Hubby has been telling her all this-that these excuses are really HIS excuses.
Miss Baboon, fortune teller to the primates and movie stars, submits this:
IDBB will ‘accidentally’ become pregnant, those giving the ultimate excuse for not succeeding.
Flash forward 5 years:
well, I wanted to go to school, and I was all set, and then, POOF! BadBoy Jr shows up. Well, there goes that plan. (Heavy sigh) I was so ready to go and turn my life around, too!
Flash Forward 20 years:
ah, I could have really been something you know? Except I had to work hard to raise you. (insert guilt trip that said child will probably require therapy for).
I see this happening within a year’s time.
Rebel Without a Clue meets the Tough Love Squad
Wow. Pride, fear, loathing, triumph over obstacles, a chorus of guidance, and a soothesayer. Man, the SDMB is better than Greek drama. Heck, it’s probably even better than daytime television. 
Anyway, just so that this isn’t a total drive-by, I’d like to just say a few things about IDBB’s attempts at finding another job – Back when I was laid off, one of the points the outplacement people kept hammering on was that sticking your resume on places like Monster.com and filling out applications all over creation is, in spite of the amount of effort involved, actually a passive form of job searching. Active job searches, on the other hand, are much more likely to succeed and essentially boil down to one word: networking. Oh sure, you say, you don’t know any high-powered corporate executives, so how is it going to help you? Well, that’s not what the word means. And it also doesn’t mean passing out your business card at yuppie wine-and-cheese parties. What it does mean is:[list=A][li] Tapping everyone you know for leads: your friends, neighbors, family, former co-workers, and hey, even Internet message boards. Recently Johnny L.A. posted a link to a large number of job openings at his employer, and I remember a thread about a year and half ago from dropzone where he had positions available and wanted to give first choice to Dopers – so see, that’s how it works. And remember, you’re not asking for jobs, you’re asking for leads.[/li][li]One way to broaden your circle of contacts is, surprise-surprise, going to college. I have nothing to add to this matter. Another way is to join volunteer organizations, which will, in addition to letting you meet new people, allow you to show off your work ethic, and someone at the organization might just take notice.[/li][li]Speaking of the work ethic, the people who are best-positioned to decide whether they want to hire you or not are those who have seen your work in the past, so I hope your work history has been good (I’m not accusing you of being a slacker, this is just a general remark).[/li][/list]The above, if successful, will likely send you down a traditional career path of “real” jobs. What if this path doesn’t fit you? Are you going to be trapped for life? Well, no. Not any worse than being trapped in fast food, anyway, and it’ll probably pay better. I realize you’ve said that you don’t know what you want to do, but would it be possible to develop any interests or skills that you already have into a job or business? That’s certainly another possibility, though I can’t tell you how to do it – I got an engineering degree and went to work making electronics products, which is about as dull and straightforward of a career path as imaginable.
Now, turning to a slightly different subjecct, my “rebel without a clue” characterization is unkind, perhaps, but it came from reading your LJ entries (since you offered) and getting a sense that you have a rather undefined rage against…what, exactly, I can’t tell. Based on your writings both here and in the LJ, the best I could figure was some antipathy against those who, in your eyes, are “rich,” and you’re afraid that by getting a college degree and a better job, you’ll become one of “them.” Well, let me assure you that people who live in well-to-do neighborhoods aren’t all high-society types who think they own the world. Maybe you’re just noticing the assholes, but assholery knows no income boundaries. More to the point, why do you think that having a high income places you in the evil class? I hope you realize that labels such as “goth” and “preppy” are shallow, and you can choose to either ignore them and get on with life, or believe them and pigeonhole everyone, including yourself, into a misery-filled future.
IDBB, I’d like to chat with you sometime, if you’d be amenable. My email’s in my profile, and my AIM nick is dayglowitch.
Go into debt. Mortgage the cat. Do what you have to.
You’ve got a computer and an internet connection. Go into medical transcribing…my dear ol’ grandmother does it. Your typing speed will skyrocket, your self-esteem will do the same (it gives you exactly what you put into it; you get paid by how much you do), you will be bringing in money, and while you are doing it you will be getting an education.
Even if you don’t have a computer or you have a crap computer, it doesn’t matter. The company should provide you what you need, or at least they will have a place you can show up for work every day.
You can more or less make your own hours in medical transcription; you can work part-time or full-time (or, depending on the co., as much as you want).
But do not waste one second feeling sorry for yourself. Ever ever ever ever. I’ve been locked in that room, I know how it feeds yourself, but you have got to be Superman-strong to get out of it.
And you ARE. Everyone is. But depression, grief, guilt, and loneliness are as seductive as a really good male baritone. Seriously – they will drag you back every time, and they will not let you go until you break free of them.
Or, do what I did. Ignore my degree, it hasn’t gotten me jobs. My job experience got me jobs…and I didn’t have a degree when I got the experience.
Be an administrative assistant. Start out as a receptionist and work your way up. Work your typing speed through the roof, get all the computer skills, and you’re golden. I had about six months of admin assistant experience when I got out of college, and I was able to get a job pretty fast. In all of 2001 I was unemployed for about 4 weeks…because I have secretarial experience. People are ALWAYS hiring for secretaries.
And the most important thing you must do, after you curb your depression (Counseling, medication, all that. Don’t say it’s too expensive. I’ve worked for the great state of Texas, I know how much we have out there for the poor, hungry, and disadvantaged. It Is Possible), fix your attitude.
Don’t look at me like that. You must never, ever, EVER snap at a customer. No matter how much you want to. Ooh, I know what it’s like. I’ve worked in food service, I’ve worked for tech support (and Lord a’mighty, you don’t know what “aggrieved customer” means until you’ve worked at an ISP), I’ve cashiered. I’ve wanted to bludgeon customers daily.
Here is what I did. First, you must smile. If you must envision the customer passing through a sausage grinder to do so, then so be it. Smile to every customer first thing. Make it good.
If they start bitching at you, become Concerned. This does not mean that you, IDBB, are actually in your heart concerned that Bobbie Sue will no longer bring her little ones to Sonic. This means that you are officially Concerned. Nod your head.
Do what you can to help them. But it’s common that there’s nothing you can do. This is when you become Helpful.
“I’m sorry, sir/ma’am. There is nothing else I can do. I can bring my manager, if you would like to speak to him/her.” You must say this with an aura of Zen. Zen pisses people off, because they don’t have it. If you are Zen at an angry customer, one of two things will happen. Either they will be calmed by your strange pacific, beatific voice, or they will get madder.
Watching them get madder gives me sadistic glee. Especially when I’m just doing my job. They’re the ones giving themselves an embolism, not me. If they get this pissed this fast, imagine how much their children hate them (if they don’t now, they will in a few years).
I have dealt with the Customer From Hell. I am calm, constantly calm and peaceful and Zen with her. It is more satisfying than you can imagine, because you are proving, with every word you say, that you are better than the psychotic shrew. You don’t have to say “I’m better” or “I’m smarter.” You don’t have to say anything other than “I’m sorry, ma’am. I have done all I can for you. I can bring my supervisor if you are unsatisfied.” But you must say this without a trace of attitude.
Damn, I need a microphone for this stuff. 