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DickBandit wrote:

Ahtman wrote:There is always the military, though that isn't a job, it is an adventure.

Don't even get me started!!

Think about what YOU really want to do.

And by YOU I mean what you and you alone want to do. Not what somebody else thinks, or what you think would be a good job.

Me, everyone thought I'd go off to college, then off to med school because I was such a "great student". Unbeknownst to them I wanted to leave my boring life and be thrown into an international conflict where I get to shoot people. So there I was as an airborne infantryman.
....AND THEN it turns out I got sent to the unit that didn't go anywhere... WHAT A TWIST!!

So after so time I am now out of the Army and came to the same decision where you are at. And I thought to myself: "What would I REALLY enjoy doing?" Well, I love building stuff, I love working with machines, I love disassembling things and putting them back together, I love using critical thinking to solve problems so I decided to go to a trade school to be a mechanic. And now I'm about to start school and I'm really psyched to do so.

It's not about the money. It never is. ESPECIALLY if you're single. It doesn't take much to survive on your own. Do what YOU want!

THINGS THAT DON'T MATTER:
~High paying jobs. Yeah, you make more money... SO WHAT?! Do you like the job? No? Thought so.
~What OTHERS expect you to become. Other people? feth them, they don't know gak about you. You know what's best for you.
And here's a big one:
~Relationships. Seriously, it can wait. 18 years old you should be worried about setting up your life.

Damn, thats completely QFT

What the heck do you want out of life?

How much money do you want to make?

How big of a house do you want to live in?

Are you going to get married?

Do you want to have kids someday?

How nice of a car do you want to drive?

What grown up toys do you want to be able to buy?


Ask youself all these questions. Then figure out how much education you will need to make your future vision of your life come true. Life isn't cheep, and a good degree in a stable feild will help you pay for it.

Then ask yourself.

Could I graduate college if I enroled today?

To give you an example of what I mean by it doesn't take much to survive:

Single male.

Car note: $190
Car Insurance: $90
Rent: ~ $600
Phone: $70
Internet: $40
TOTAL: $990

These will be my monthly expenses for a while. And I'll have a job in a year. Earning $40k a year. That is MORE than enough to survive. In fact. I'll be making pretty damn good money, and I'll have to do is go to school for one year... that's it.

You don't have to go to college if you don't want to. That's a load of gak.

In fact the hilariously ironic thing about my whole situation is that all the guys at my high school (which was college prep) who went off to LSU and poked fun at me for joining the Army are probably now going through their 3rd major change, barely making it through, making painfully slow progress. What have I done? I've done a whole damn CAREER CHANGE, and I'm STILL ahead of them. WAY ahead of them. When I graduate the school I'm going to, I'm damn near guaranteed a job upon graduation.

Bandit, the problem is rent rates are different in different parts of the country. Over here in Silicon Valley, a decent apartment can quickly run up to a grand a month.

WHile I agree with your sentiment that you should find your own path and find the job you love over trying to get oodles of money, you have to remember that living expenses differ all over the place. You might be able to live off a grand a month, but in other parts of the country a grand would barely get you the car, gas and food.

Sasori wrote:

Kragura wrote:Well I'll probably be the only one to say this on this board but unless your okay with killing people*. Don't go military.

(Which I sincerely hope you are not)

Yes, because every job in the military is all about killing.

If you don't know what your talking about, keep your ignorance to yourself, instead of posting this garbage.

That's media, because every soldier in the middle east is killing 24/7, and there's no medics, mechanics, broadcasters, etc in the military. For god's sake, my buddy is a retired soldier, who.... wait for it.....


Of course, you should think about it first, work, go out in the real world, and you'll eventually find what you're looking for. I hate how high schools in america push college on everyone, regardless of whether they're ready or not.

DickBandit wrote:To give you an example of what I mean by it doesn't take much to survive:

Single male.

Car note: $190
Car Insurance: $90
Rent: ~ $600
Phone: $70
Internet: $40
TOTAL: $990

These will be my monthly expenses for a while. And I'll have a job in a year. Earning $40k a year. That is MORE than enough to survive. In fact. I'll be making pretty damn good money, and I'll have to do is go to school for one year... that's it.

With a one year degree I assume you're a union employee. If that's the case, you need to include dues, and semi-required events. Then there's food, which is a fairly stiff tab for single men, as they tend to eat out a lot; especially the ones who say they don't. Utilities are also critical, especially in certain parts of the country. And God help you if you find a girl/boy.

I'm not saying you can't live without a college degree, I'm just saying that you seem to be underestimating the cost of living a bit. I've also noticed that, very often, ex-military guys tend to forget about a lot of the expenses they would incur were they not living on base. Just fair warning.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

ChrisWWII wrote:
WHile I agree with your sentiment that you should find your own path and find the job you love over trying to get oodles of money...

See, I feel like that's too restrictive. I think you should think in terms of lifestyle.

For example, I love to travel, basically more than anything else in the world. As a result, I've chosen a lifestyle that allows me to travel constantly. Before academia I took a job with long weeks, but good vacation benefits and great pay, this let me fly around a lot. Now, being in the academy, I can finagle my way into independent studies wherever I want on the school's dime. It fills my needs even though I have to dip into savings whenever I need/want something. For example, I bought my car out of pocket.

Figure out what you want to do, in general, and then figure out how to do it. No matter what you will dislike part of your life, its just how valuation works.

"High paying job" is a reason to go to school. I've worked in call centers alongside people with college degrees, and student loans to boot. College won't get you a good job, networking skills and good contacts and being able to lie convincingly will get you a good job. If you want to go to college, great, fine. If you want money, be a plumber.

dogma wrote:

DickBandit wrote:To give you an example of what I mean by it doesn't take much to survive:

Single male.

Car note: $190
Car Insurance: $90
Rent: ~ $600
Phone: $70
Internet: $40
TOTAL: $990

These will be my monthly expenses for a while. And I'll have a job in a year. Earning $40k a year. That is MORE than enough to survive. In fact. I'll be making pretty damn good money, and I'll have to do is go to school for one year... that's it.

With a one year degree I assume you're a union employee. If that's the case, you need to include dues, and semi-required events. Then there's food, which is a fairly stiff tab for single men, as they tend to eat out a lot; especially the ones who say they don't. Utilities are also critical, especially in certain parts of the country. And God help you if you find a girl/boy.

I'm not saying you can't live without a college degree, I'm just saying that you seem to be underestimating the cost of living a bit. I've also noticed that, very often, ex-military guys tend to forget about a lot of the expenses they would incur were they not living on base. Just fair warning.

Not necessarily union, from his previous post it sounds like he is going to a tech school, and with that aside he could just move to a right to work(non union mandatory) state


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Requia wrote:"High paying job" is a reason to go to school. I've worked in call centers alongside people with college degrees, and student loans to boot. College won't get you a good job, networking skills and good contacts and being able to lie convincingly will get you a good job. If you want to go to college, great, fine. If you want money, be a plumber.

And if you want ladies go into music(jk that field is feast/famine)

dogma wrote:Don't be completely discouraged from college if you just barely graduated, I've known many people that barely graduated HS, or even failed to do so only to earn a GED, who became leading students in college. I've also known people who were great HS students who washed out of college due to the greater independence given. Collegiate life is very different from high school life as you can get away with just showing up and turning in work, without having to deal with teachers or other students more than you want to.

God, this. This all day long.

I was absolutely awful at school - it bored the gak out of me and I resented authority, so just acted out the whole time. I don't think I handed in a singe piece of coursework in my final GCSE year. I was high for some of my exams, in fact. True story.

Anyhow, now I'm at university as a mature student and I get straight As (well, here the equivalent is called a '1st'). I just respond better to the freedom, and to studying a subject which I am passionate about.

I suggest you take some time to figure out what you're passionate about, and find a way to pursue it. Is it possible to take a year or two out of education there? I would try working for a couple of years whilst you figure out what you want to do. Or, if your parents are fairly wealthy, go traveling. Avoid anywhere with a 'stan' on the end, though...

Think of what you love doing, find courses, education on expanding that. then go for it and work in that area.

Working in an area of passion is a good idea, and don't be discouraged by career shifts, they can occur 8 times in an average person's life.

remilia_scarlet wrote:

Sasori wrote:

Kragura wrote:Well I'll probably be the only one to say this on this board but unless your okay with killing people*. Don't go military.

(Which I sincerely hope you are not)

Yes, because every job in the military is all about killing.

If you don't know what your talking about, keep your ignorance to yourself, instead of posting this garbage.

That's media, because every soldier in the middle east is killing 24/7, and there's no medics, mechanics, broadcasters, etc in the military. For god's sake, my buddy is a retired soldier, who.... wait for it.....

Spoiler:

is a registered nurse, and 42

Of course, you should think about it first, work, go out in the real world, and you'll eventually find what you're looking for. I hate how high schools in america push college on everyone, regardless of whether they're ready or not.

The medics are there to patch up soldiers who.. wait for it....



the broadcasters are there to... wait for it....



the mechanics are there to fix vehicles that are then used for...



It's an entire institution for killing people, what on earth did you think the guns were for?

Wardragoon wrote:
Not necessarily union, from his previous post it sounds like he is going to a tech school, and with that aside he could just move to a right to work(non union mandatory) state

"..just move to..."



"Why good sir, I will contract you to move my belongings from this state to the next!"

"No, that rate is no agreeable, I will do it myself!"

"Hang the price of gas!"

"...just move to..."

JFizzle51 wrote:i jsut graduated highschool, a miracle if you know me. Well now i'm faced with a decision, college, or job. i cant make up my mind and i was hoping some of you dakkaites would help me.

You need to define:

1. What you like to do.

2. What you are actually good at.

3. What are your resources?

Join the Navy SEALS and stab people in the face for money.

Beats a proper job, and if you really hated high school I doubt you want to study anymore.

mattyrm wrote: Join the Navy SEALS and stab people in the face for money.

Pah! You don't need to join the SEALs to stab people in the face for money. I mean, as long as the OP belongs to an ethnic minority, of course.





I AM KIDDING.

AvatarForm wrote:First Rule: Don't ask the Internet for advice.

Probably the best advice in this thread.

Ask friends and family members. They know you better than mooks on the internet.

chaos0xomega wrote:

Kasrkai wrote:

Sasori wrote:

Kragura wrote:Well I'll probably be the only one to say this on this board but unless your okay with killing people*. Don't go military.

(Which I sincerely hope you are not)

Yes, because every job in the military is all about killing.

If you don't know what your talking about, keep your ignorance to yourself, instead of posting this garbage.

I don't know about you, but the American military sucks. Not as in skill, just overall.

Please don't speak unless you have some experience regarding the subject you're speaking of. From your post, I'm guessing you don't, since I myself and many others I know would strongly disagree with you.

I do. I was in the Air Force, and I left as soon as I could. Perhaps my own experience wasn't the best that could be offered, but that's simply my opinion on the subject. Whether or not I like the military ought to be irrelevant to you as a person. I'm not saying that it's universally despised or evil or anything. Your just as in titled to love the military and all they do. I simply do not.

DickBandit wrote:To give you an example of what I mean by it doesn't take much to survive:

Single male.

Car note: $190
Car Insurance: $90
Rent: ~ $600
Phone: $70
Internet: $40
TOTAL: $990

These will be my monthly expenses for a while. And I'll have a job in a year. Earning $40k a year. That is MORE than enough to survive. In fact. I'll be making pretty damn good money, and I'll have to do is go to school for one year... that's it.

You don't have to go to college if you don't want to. That's a load of gak.

In fact the hilariously ironic thing about my whole situation is that all the guys at my high school (which was college prep) who went off to LSU and poked fun at me for joining the Army are probably now going through their 3rd major change, barely making it through, making painfully slow progress. What have I done? I've done a whole damn CAREER CHANGE, and I'm STILL ahead of them. WAY ahead of them. When I graduate the school I'm going to, I'm damn near guaranteed a job upon graduation.

Worth pointing out that your car insurance is probably coming from USAA/Navy Federal, which offers insurance plans that are unmatched in the civilian sector. Your 90 dollar car insurance bill is a couple hundred bucks to the rest of these guys.

I do. I was in the Air Force, and I left as soon as I could. Perhaps my own experience wasn't the best that could be offered, but that's simply my opinion on the subject. Whether or not I like the military ought to be irrelevant to you as a person. I'm not saying that it's universally despised or evil or anything. Your just as in titled to love the military and all they do. I simply do not.

Then you shouldn't be posting that the american military sucks overall. You should be posting, 'I had a miserable time in the military, and here is why'. Your experiences differ from others, although if thats the attitude you took whil you were in, I could see why you hated it so much. What you get out of it is what you put into it.

Anyway, in regards to the whole 'i hated high school' thing, I did decently well in HS. Wasn't top of my class, but I had a 3.7-3.8 GPA when I got out, went to a really good engineering school (Rensselaer Polytech), everyone thought I would do great, etc. and I did miserably. A lot of it had to do with my major being like a completely different language to me, but I burned really hard, and very nearly crashed. If it wasn't for the fact that I switched majors after 2.5 years of study, I probably wouldn't have graduated. I had to do an extra semester, but I managed to turn my dismal GPA around and make it out alive. Compare this to my friend who applied to the school as a joke, not expecting to get in, had like a 2.8 or so in high school. Got in because the Army threw a scholarship at him, majored in mechanical engineering, never studied a day in his life (not easy to do), slacked off all the time, etc. got out with an above 3 gpa, top of his army commissioning class, army is offering to pay for his masters, etc.

Kasrkai wrote:

Sasori wrote:

Kragura wrote:Well I'll probably be the only one to say this on this board but unless your okay with killing people*. Don't go military.

(Which I sincerely hope you are not)

Yes, because every job in the military is all about killing.

If you don't know what your talking about, keep your ignorance to yourself, instead of posting this garbage.

I don't know about you, but the American military sucks. Not as in skill, just overall.

Please, just GTFO.... Any particular reason why it "sucks"?

There is no right path. You need to decide what you want from your life and pick a route that will take you there. Some people want an expensive life so will take the highest paying job, others just want to enjoy their jobs.

You can still get advice but no one can really give the right advice for you until you decide what your goals are.

While it sounds easy I know how hard a decision it can be. I'm at a similar stage and need to make decisions about my life but nothing seems to obviously stand out like it did every other time I was required to make a decision.


If Kasrkai doesn't like the military he is entitled to state his opinion. Many people have said the miliitary is great without any backing evidence, why does he have to prove it if you don't? He may have had a bad time and that is good enough backing for his statement. many of the people who say the military is good are only using their own experiences. His opinion is as valid as yours is.

DickBandit wrote:

Ahtman wrote:There is always the military, though that isn't a job, it is an adventure.

Don't even get me started!!

Think about what YOU really want to do.

And by YOU I mean what you and you alone want to do. Not what somebody else thinks, or what you think would be a good job.

Me, everyone thought I'd go off to college, then off to med school because I was such a "great student". Unbeknownst to them I wanted to leave my boring life and be thrown into an international conflict where I get to shoot people. So there I was as an airborne infantryman.
....AND THEN it turns out I got sent to the unit that didn't go anywhere... WHAT A TWIST!!

So after so time I am now out of the Army and came to the same decision where you are at. And I thought to myself: "What would I REALLY enjoy doing?" Well, I love building stuff, I love working with machines, I love disassembling things and putting them back together, I love using critical thinking to solve problems so I decided to go to a trade school to be a mechanic. And now I'm about to start school and I'm really psyched to do so.

It's not about the money. It never is. ESPECIALLY if you're single. It doesn't take much to survive on your own. Do what YOU want!

THINGS THAT DON'T MATTER:
~High paying jobs. Yeah, you make more money... SO WHAT?! Do you like the job? No? Thought so.
~What OTHERS expect you to become. Other people? feth them, they don't know gak about you. You know what's best for you.
And here's a big one:
~Relationships. Seriously, it can wait. 18 years old you should be worried about setting up your life.

Hell, I am 26 and still no relationship. It's kinda wearing on me but I know in due time that I will find one. And a good paying job starts with a job that you love, because the longer you love working your job, the more opportunities you will have to gain promotions or whatnot.

Like what others have said about college, if high school was a struggle, but still want to go the college route, try out a community college and get an Associates degree. From there you can decide if you want to continue or not. I did the same thing and continued into my Bachelor of Science - Computer Science and I am so glad I did from the amount of money I saved.

Kragura wrote:

remilia_scarlet wrote:

Sasori wrote:

Kragura wrote:Well I'll probably be the only one to say this on this board but unless your okay with killing people*. Don't go military.

(Which I sincerely hope you are not)

Yes, because every job in the military is all about killing.

If you don't know what your talking about, keep your ignorance to yourself, instead of posting this garbage.

That's media, because every soldier in the middle east is killing 24/7, and there's no medics, mechanics, broadcasters, etc in the military. For god's sake, my buddy is a retired soldier, who.... wait for it.....

Spoiler:

is a registered nurse, and 42

Of course, you should think about it first, work, go out in the real world, and you'll eventually find what you're looking for. I hate how high schools in america push college on everyone, regardless of whether they're ready or not.

The medics are there to patch up soldiers who.. wait for it....

Spoiler:

Get right back to killing

the broadcasters are there to... wait for it....

Spoiler:

Help the soldiers kill people

the mechanics are there to fix vehicles that are then used for...

Spoiler:

Killing people

It's an entire institution for killing people, what on earth did you think the guns were for?

Okay...what do carpenters do in the army, also what do Nucler biological and Chemical personnel do, what do plumbers and electricians do, and hell what do cooks do. Needless to say not every job in the military is about killing, and if you want to draw abstracts you can say highway construction crews are killers because, it allows soldiers to drive to train to 'kill', also they provide the terrain in which car crashes happen.......Point being OP if you seriously have no clue what to do I would say work for a year or two, or enlist for a 2 year stint, you may find what you love or hate in a carreer, either way it will hopefully be educational.


I feld the troll, sorry, I promise to help clean up the poo he will undoubtedly fling (JK just saying it to lighten the mood in this thread)

Actually, I agree with him regarding the killing thing. Ultimately, every job in the military boils down to either killing directly, or supporting the warfighter so that he can kill more effectively, regardless of whether or not you yourself are directly involved in it, but a lot of jobs in the civilian world do eventually boil down to that too.

Well it can be argued all jobs boil down to it on the tax end of things

I still think you should join the USMC... Aside from the killing, they can groom you into become a little more efficient and functional and then that can help you with further pursuits. Plus women love men in uniform.

djphranq wrote:I still think you should join the USMC... Aside from the killing, they can groom you into become a little more efficient and functional and then that can help you with further pursuits. Plus women love men in uniform.

and if what I've heard is true, then the Department of Homeland Security will mark you as a potential terrorist when you're out! (Don't ask, something about DHS saying every retired Marine is a potential terrorist or something like that).

chaos0xomega wrote:

djphranq wrote:I still think you should join the USMC... Aside from the killing, they can groom you into become a little more efficient and functional and then that can help you with further pursuits. Plus women love men in uniform.

and if what I've heard is true, then the Department of Homeland Security will mark you as a potential terrorist when you're out! (Don't ask, something about DHS saying every retired Marine is a potential terrorist or something like that).

.....And this is what happens when we have 60's radicals into political power, they say stupid gak like that

(Sorry, being largely libertarian I am not liking the current admin)

chaos0xomega wrote:Actually, I agree with him regarding the killing thing. Ultimately, every job in the military boils down to either killing directly, or supporting the warfighter so that he can kill more effectively, regardless of whether or not you yourself are directly involved in it, but a lot of jobs in the civilian world do eventually boil down to that too.

Believe me, no. No it isn't.

The only guys that supported us (infantryman) and were actually worth a gak were medics. That's it. The other "support" jobs I had to put up with on a daily basis (Supply, Finance, COOKS *oh dear god*, Truck drivers....) gave me horrible headaches. Their lack of organization and military bearing gave me an AWFUL headache.

DickBandit wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:Actually, I agree with him regarding the killing thing. Ultimately, every job in the military boils down to either killing directly, or supporting the warfighter so that he can kill more effectively, regardless of whether or not you yourself are directly involved in it, but a lot of jobs in the civilian world do eventually boil down to that too.

Believe me, no. No it isn't.

The only guys that supported us (infantryman) and were actually worth a gak were medics. That's it. The other "support" jobs I had to put up with on a daily basis (Supply, Finance, COOKS *oh dear god*, Truck drivers....) gave me horrible headaches. Their lack of organization and military bearing gave me an AWFUL headache.

What branch were you in?

Marine cooks are dead 'ard. I daresay that they were crazier than the grunts.

Let's stop feeding the troll guys. We can open up another thread to discuss the morality of joining the military, but let's focus on helping the OP first.