Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

[Handyman]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

The truth grinds my gears...

Oh and being right...sure it is fun in a ****ing contest with friends, but when it is about the important stuff I would rather be wrong, everyday, about pretty much everything.

 

[leswp1]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

What Brenthoven said-the traditional college route isn't for everyone. And that doesn't mean you have to spend your life digging ditches either.

Another option: pay a visit to your school's counseling center. They have seen this before, and you won't be the last person they talk to about it either. They can help you refocus and find the right motivation if that's what you need, or work with you to find what's best for you schooling- or life-decision-wise.

Lots of kids that do the high pressure thing in HS have problems because they go from scheduled every minute to loose, not structured environment. Some people don't do the no structure thing well.

 

[goldy_331]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

I would rather be wrong, everyday, about pretty much everything.

Huh, seems to me you are. I don't see the problem here...

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

I want to be a pilot, and have looked into a bunch of options. It's unfortunately too expensive for me to be able to afford.

UND is more expensive than the college you're currently attending? They have a pretty highly regarded aviation program up there.

 

[goldy_331]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

UND is more expensive than the college you're currently attending? They have a pretty highly regarded aviation program up there.

The high expense is that he would have to live in Grand Forks. Too high a price to pay.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

The high expense is that he would have to live in Grand Forks. Too high a price to pay.

Ah, very true, nothing is worth that sacrifice.

 

[alfablue]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

I'm a smart guy. Honor Roll through High School, took Honor Level and AP courses. College has been amazingly rough.

I want to be a pilot, and have looked into a bunch of options. It's unfortunately too expensive for me to be able to afford.

Western Michigan has a good pilot's program, too. You'll be stuck in K-zoo, but Lake Michigan is very close. Much better than a directional Dakota state.

 

[Dirty]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

Western Michigan has a good pilot's program, too. You'll be stuck in K-zoo, but Lake Michigan is very close. Much better than a directional Dakota state.

If you want to be a ****ty pilot.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

Despite being an honor roll/AP student at a well-regarded private high school, I pretty much bombed out of Tech's computer science program my freshman year. The irony is that I got a 5 on the AP CompSci exam as a HS senior. All that score did was get me bumped into the accelerated Java programming class at MTU, where I quickly burned out and lost my taste for the entire field of study.

Bottom line: Life changes and sh*t happens. Figure out what will make you happy while still giving you reasonable job opportunities, and build a career out of that.

Disaster recovery plans are grinding my gears today.

 

[bostonewe]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

Agreed on the HS not translating into college success. Finished #4 at my HS with APs and Honors classes (class of 180) in prep school. Nearly failed out of BU before changing my major from biochemistry/molecular biology & pre-med to a double major in History and Religious Studies (and hockey). Now I'm back in school getting my associates in Nursing. *shrug* College isn't for everyone and going back can be even harder, especially if you've been out of the school scene for awhile. Talk to a friend, counselor, professor, someone. Figure out what you love doing...cooking, programming, building stuff, and make that work for you. Looking back, my mom suggested nursing during my first semester, sophomore year of college, had I listened to her then, I'd have saved approximately $75k in loans and I'd already have the degree I'm now pursuing.


Take Christmas break to get some advice and mull things over...





and don't be a stubborn jerk like me.

 

[Twitch Boy]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

The problem with college is that guidance counselors and parents have crammed "everyone has to go to college if they want to go anywhere in life" down kids' throats for the first eighteen years of their lives. Thus, kids feel their life options after high school are "college" or "van down by the river." They're pressured to just pick a college and major and go because that's just what you *do*. Not sure about college and would rather skip the debt and be happy as a forklift jockey? Try telling that to your parents at 18 and see how long before you're laughed out of the house and become the black sheep of the family.

Everyone's using the excuse against student loans that "they're 18, they were legally able to comprehend and sign the loan papers, they should have known better." No, they shouldn't have. They've been brainwashed by people they trusted into doing something that might not turn out in their best interests before the real world even begins for them. This isn't like they're putting their trust in some scummy bank that sees them as a series of dollar signs; these are their freaking parents they listened to! THAT'S why so many of them are mad.

It used to be a perfectly noble thing to graduate high school and be a blue collar worker (if maybe not the best pay.) Somewhere in the 80's the US got the notion that these positions are shameful. The people who did these jobs had kids, saw the college wave coming, and wanted "better" for them. Also, blue collar jobs got stereotyped as being for slackers, etc.

Article by an X-er where he goes into more detail about this and a lot of other things.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

I'm firmly on the side of "You took out a loan, you should pay it back". I don't want to hurt any feelings...but seriously are we really at the point where we want to forgive loans for people that make a poor decision? Can't people see how that is going to snowball out of control? If you sign your name on a loan document, you should have every expectation of paying it back. Or if you really don't want to pay it back, join the National Guard, or teach in an urban school, etc. which offer student loan repayment plans. I don't blame it all on the people taking out the loans, as usual some of the blame falls on their parents as well, at least in certain cases.

On a very similar topic...we really need to get rid of the stigma on blue collar jobs/the trades. Right now a high school student is practically made to believe that they'd be a lesser human being if they became a plumber or decided that they wanted to work construction. Seriously, those types of jobs are perfectly respectable professions, and schools should realize that and promote these types of jobs as well as they do the science/business/engineering type professions. Are people afraid to direct high school students that are obviously not a good fit for a 4-year university type setting towards these respectable, well paying, jobs simply because someone might be offended?

 

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

UND is more expensive than the college you're currently attending? They have a pretty highly regarded aviation program up there.

Flying is REALLY expensive no matter where you go. Even more so with the equipment you're using. Want to know how UND affords those new Cesnna's with all glass cockpits, CRJ simulator, and a 360 degree tower simulator? Lab fees from those of us who used them.

 

[UNH GH]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

I wouldn't do a university flight school at this point. Too much money and not enough return on hours, experience, etc.

I'm looking into a flight academy for a few reasons. The industry is changing, and soon. Minimum hours will be going up thanks to the government. Jobs are going to be opening up in the next 18-24 months. Getting in quickly through a flight academy has a TON of value.

...the problem is it's super expensive and I can't get me a cosigner.

 

[Twitch Boy]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

Are people afraid to direct high school students that are obviously not a good fit for a 4-year university type setting towards these respectable, well paying, jobs simply because someone might be offended?

A little of that, a little of the parents being able to brag to Agnes and Walter at their weekly bridge tournament that their snowflake got into Harvard.

The world needs ditch diggers too. Problem is, we've convinced the world that they don't want to be one.

 

[RaceBoarder]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

From my own situation, I can definitely say that the constant judgement of my current position in life gets old and can take a mental toll on someone... That has been the biggest obstacle I have faced since graduating in 2008... You simply can't help but question yourself when everyone is making degrading (although not always intentional) comments and criticism... There have been times where it's given me some pretty deep feelings of depression....

Recently I have turned a corner and been able to come up with a more positive outlook on life, but it still is something that can bring you right back down despite your best efforts...

Example: I'm currently working at a Dick's Sporting Goods store as a Department Lead... I also ran the store's ski/snowboard service shop until the company discontinued those services... Snowboard sales have been my bread and butter since arriving in the store in Nov. 2009... Over Black Friday, I had a college age girl and her dad shopping for a snowboard for her... The girl was wearing an NMU hoodie... After finding out the girl was an NMU student, I struck up a conversation about Marquette and Northern as I explained the various snowboard equipment... The whole time the dad had a "What the hell is this kid doing here?" kind of attitude after telling them that I was a 2008 grad... From his attitude, I wouldn't be surprised if he told his daughter "That is what happens to you if you don't get straight-A's." and tried to scare her into success...

I've had a couple of run in's like that over my time in retail... Each time I want to just pull the people aside and thoroughly explain to them that I'm not here by choice, I am here by necessity... I don't exactly get paid a "College Graduate" salary, but right now, it's the best I got... I can only imagine what their reactions would be if I told them that 3/4 of Minor League Baseball teams have gotten a resume from me in the past 2 years, yet I've only landed a small percentage of interviews and a lone job offer that was nowhere near being feasible financially or socially...

It all comes back to what Twitch's article talks about: PERCEPTIONS... Unfortunately, those of us who don't fit the mold can't quite earn the respect of the masses...

 

[The Rube]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

Perception is correct. My brother went to "Harvard Tech," the (unofficial) nickname for Hennepin Technical College (all you need is an ID to get in, and that's even not written in stone) to become a mechanic. In H.S., that's where the "dumb kids" went (according to stereotype).

He just bought a 5BR 4Bath house, with an attached 2 car garage, and detached 6 car garage (fully wired), on a few acres of land. I'd say he's doing well. Blue collar people can definitely make the money, depending on the field.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

I'm a smart guy. Honor Roll through High School, took Honor Level and AP courses. College has been amazingly rough.

Join the club.

AP classes were the dumbest thing I ever did in HS. I took AP classes starting my sophomore year in HS and had well over 50 credits going into my freshman year. Took me two years acclimate myself to college and pretty much all four to get my grades up to reasonable levels.

 

[Twitch Boy]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

From my own situation, I can definitely say that the constant judgement of my current position in life gets old and can take a mental toll on someone... That has been the biggest obstacle I have faced since graduating in 2008... You simply can't help but question yourself when everyone is making degrading (although not always intentional) comments and criticism... There have been times where it's given me some pretty deep feelings of depression....

Recently I have turned a corner and been able to come up with a more positive outlook on life, but it still is something that can bring you right back down despite your best efforts...

Example: I'm currently working at a Dick's Sporting Goods store as a Department Lead... I also ran the store's ski/snowboard service shop until the company discontinued those services... Snowboard sales have been my bread and butter since arriving in the store in Nov. 2009... Over Black Friday, I had a college age girl and her dad shopping for a snowboard for her... The girl was wearing an NMU hoodie... After finding out the girl was an NMU student, I struck up a conversation about Marquette and Northern as I explained the various snowboard equipment... The whole time the dad had a "What the hell is this kid doing here?" kind of attitude after telling them that I was a 2008 grad... From his attitude, I wouldn't be surprised if he told his daughter "That is what happens to you if you don't get straight-A's." and tried to scare her into success...

I've had a couple of run in's like that over my time in retail... Each time I want to just pull the people aside and thoroughly explain to them that I'm not here by choice, I am here by necessity... I don't exactly get paid a "College Graduate" salary, but right now, it's the best I got... I can only imagine what their reactions would be if I told them that 3/4 of Minor League Baseball teams have gotten a resume from me in the past 2 years, yet I've only landed a small percentage of interviews and a lone job offer that was nowhere near being feasible financially or socially...

It all comes back to what Twitch's article talks about: PERCEPTIONS... Unfortunately, those of us who don't fit the mold can't quite earn the respect of the masses...

I wonder what the depression rate is in those under 30 right now. This generation needs someone to stop all the vitriol and talk them down from the ledge before someone out there does something drastic.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

I wonder what the depression rate is in those under 30 right now. This generation needs someone to stop all the vitriol and talk them down from the ledge before someone out there does something drastic.

I'm doing just fine! Long way from the ledge for me. Did fine in college, graduated with honors, had a job lined up 1 year before graduation, been working for the same company since in a job in my major, and about a month from making Senior Engineer and getting about a 15% boost in salary. Life isn't that bad.