suspiciouscoffee said:
Take up writing. I'm currently trying to write a semi-autobiographical screenplay (which isn't the first time, but it's the first time I'm not trying to hide behind genre and am just making a straightforward dramatic telling of my life and a hypothetical future). It's terrible, but dammit I'm gonna finish it if it kills me.
I really like this suggestion. I've enjoyed writing, but have always found an excuse not to, or procrastinated or all that, but I do really enjoy working the English language. I just have to force myself to focus. Thanks!
Gaith said:
What classes are you taking, Handman? I majored in History as an undergrad, and while I enjoyed it at the time and don't regret having done so, per se, it certainly didn't do all that much for my career prospects. In fact, I'm now in my first semester of nursing school. (But it's a Master's program, so my History BA qualified for that, at least - after 1.5 years of additional, post-undergrad community college pre-reqs, that is.)
Ah, I have a lot of love for history majors. The people I've gotten along with the best have been history majors. In fact, the only people at this university I could consider friends are
all history majors. It's a subject I'm very passionate about myself, having a pretty good memory helps. But it's not something I've ever considered majoring in myself, more to study in my own time and at my leisure, for as you said, it doesn't help much in career prospects.
I'm currently studying Information Technology, after a few years of being forced into an engineering major. I chose this major logistically, as I could have done Computer Science, but figured I wanted to be done and get out of this stage of my life as soon as possible, and I perceived the benefits of a CS degree to be negligible against possibly taking much longer to complete. Unfortunately, nobody seems to know what they're doing, and it's aggravating. No one has any motivation to learn and they're overall... well, ignorant, full-of-themselves, children (you'd have to see it to believe it). And the classes aren't any better. I'm currently in two general eds, which are complete garbage; one math class, which is really elementary (I took more advanced classes while in engineering, but am required to take this specific class for my major, ah,
bureaucracy at work); and one actual IT class, with a professor who doesn't seem to know what he's doing. My grades are set, but, man, is it frustrating.
And you know what really pisses me off? Hearing that you had to take an additional 1.5 years of pre-reqs before being able to do what you want, after having received a Bachelors degree. That's a lot of time spent doing something other than what you ought to be doing. This college system here really needs a rework. We spend years in useless classes, filled with wackjob teachers who are nowhere near as qualified as they should be, in the hopes that this piece of paper will land us a job. And it often doesn't. So what is it all for? To increase your chances, because without one you haven't got a shot. It's all so... miserable, isn't it?
I have to commend you for going into nursing, it's something I would never be able to do. My mother, her brother, and her mother were all nurses, and it's hard work. I'm not a good enough people person to ever do that. So, I wish you luck in that pursuit.
There are two questions I like to ask people, from coworkers to first dates to new friends and generally pretty much everyone - which are arguably one question, phrased differently.
1) If you could have any job in the world simply handed to you, on a silver platter, what would it be? (You don't have to be qualified for said job on Day One - you can apprentice/intern your way intro proficiency on a reasonable schedule, so long as you show enthusiasm and put in the work. So you can choose "brain surgeon" if you like, meaning you'll get all the classes/training/expert private tutoring and eventual job placement you'll need, but you'll still have to pass the same vocational exams everyone else does.)
This is easy for me,
film preservation in some form, be it actually handling the film, working with it digitally to restore it, or
archiving it. This requires a Masters, which I'll have to fund entirely on my own, so it's a long way off for me now. With how important the digital side is, and having been pushed into an engineering type field for my undergrad, I felt IT made the most sense for the undergrad, to gain a technical background, and get a solid career to pay for that further education. How viable this all is, realistically, I've no idea, and I haven't had any help in figuring it out. But I know I want to be involved with it.
2) If you won the lottery today, and your lump sum, post-tax bank account was an even $10 Million US dollars, what would you do?
I'd pay off my parent's house and car, and help them renovate the house they're currently trying to sell. That is, if they'd let me. That should leave a good $9.5 million, I should think. I'd see how I could help my grandmother, if she wants to move out of the house she's lived in for well over half a century. I'd pay off my tuition. Then I'd indulge on the more selfish desires of mine. I'd get a new car, or at least one in better condition than what I currently drive. I'd buy my own house, an old house. Nothing fancy.
But I think I'd still be stuck in these classes,
and alone. Only difference is I'd have people asking me for money. $10 million is too much, really. I'd save the rest and see if I could invest it somewhere, and donate whatever is leftover. I'd help fund the projects of people like poita, Mike Verta, and Team Negative1, and try to learn from there. I could possibly make campaign contributions and gain a foothold there... start local and work my way up to federal...
