[Gatto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slytown /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not all parents are what they should be. It's unfortunate but it doesn't surprise me they would say this. I've had a similar experience with me mom. She was a 1st grade teacher and just retired. After 5 years of an undergrad, I decided to go to grad school for U.S. History. I'm in my second year now. When I told my parents I thought about teaching, of all people my Mom was the least enthused. She wanted me to take my double major (econ and history) and get an office job and makes lots of money. I thought, "Aren't you a teacher? Why do you care?" Fortunately my parents have always supported me. Dad was just a little more supportive about grad school. Sounds like your parents are apt to making bad decisions. If you still enjoy your parent's company, that's fantastic. But if you don't, there's no law that says you have to love em. My uncle recently revealed how much of a jerk he is, so I don't speak to him anymore and neither do my grandparents. Just do what makes you happy. No smart adult needs an authority figure.

yeah I know there's nothing saying I have to love them, but I still do. They do try to look out for me, they worry about me and make sure I'm safe. I just know their advice often sends me in the wrong direction so I tend to ignore it. It took me a long time to the point where I could stop asking for things and start telling them what I was going to do without asking permission but that's where I am right now and I'm quite happy with it.

 

[Samgotit]

You an only child, Gatto? Where are your parents from?

 

[Graphicism]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatto /img/forum/go_quote.gif my parents want me to leave school and my biomedical science/psychology degrees

Money isn't everything, money can't buy you love and money certainly won't make you happy. Drop out of school, it's an overrated corporate system that makes you 'think' you're doing the right thing by 'staying in the system'. ~ Go to school, get good grades, stay on, get your degree when your in your late 20s, get a hard stressful job, makes lots of money, grow old, retire and die.

Have you ever heard the best days of your life are when you're a kid, i.e. under 21; that's because you have little in the way of 'responsibility', no stressful demanding job, friends that you actually spend time with. So my advice to you; quit school, travel the world, have an experience... when you grow old these are the things you take with you. The best times of my life have always been what the so called 'civil society' would call me a bum for. I remember one particular morning I woke up on the sandy beaches of Magaluf, Mallorca; one of the Balearic islands off the coast of spain, with my pants covered in chicken fluff and my eyes stinging from all the foam from BCMs DJ Tiesto all-nighters.

Honestly IF and when I have children I'll likely tell them the same thing; quit this typical society BS and go live your life.

 

[wavoman]

In the long run, love of what you do all day long trumps everything. If you really enjoy the field you are in, you will radiate enthusiasm, you will achieve, you will get promoted, and you will succeed (it will matter very little where you went to school, as long as you have the minimum required credentials). If you hate your chosen profession, your degrees will make no difference.

Please trust me on this. I have a lot of years on you and have hired/promoted (and unfortunately the opposite) a lot of people, up close and personal, as they say.

There is nothing wrong with the I.T. job and the eventual promotion, assuming you go back and get the I.T. degree, assuming you love I.T. way more than bio research (and that you chose bio only to make money).

But it sound like that is false. It sounds like you took the I.T. job a while back for money, but your real love is for your bio studies which is why you undertook them.

So the decision makes itself. It is not about staying in school full-time vs working and getting a degree while doing it. Lots of posters make interesting economic arguments on both sides of this.

No. It is about "doing what you love, and loving what you do".

Never settle. Not in your choice of vocation, your choice of spouse, or your headphones. (Of course these are not of equal importance ... we all know what is #1).

Let me help: "Mom, I love biology. I don't love I.T. Of this I am absolutely sure." That will be the end of the discussion.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graphicism /img/forum/go_quote.gif Money isn't everything, money can't buy you love and money certainly won't make you happy. Drop out of school, it's an overrated corporate system that makes you 'think' you're doing the right thing by 'staying in the system'. ~ Go to school, get good grades, stay on, get your degree when your in your late 20s, get a hard stressful job, makes lots of money, grow old, retire and die. Have you ever heard the best days of your life are when you're a kid, i.e. under 21; that's because you have little in the way of 'responsibility', no stressful demanding job, friends that you actually spend time with. So my advice to you; quit school, travel the world, have an experience... when you grow old these are the things you take with you. The best times of my life have always been what the so called 'civil society' would call me a bum for. I remember one particular morning I woke up on the sandy beaches of Magaluf, Mallorca; one of the Balearic islands off the coast of spain, with my pants covered in chicken fluff and my eyes stinging from all the foam from BCMs DJ Tiesto all-nighters. Honestly IF and when I have children I'll likely tell them the same thing; quit this typical society BS and go live your life.

You make a very compelling point, at least on the surface.

On the flipside, you can also delay gratification, put in your work when you are able to do it best, save up, and retire early and live like a kid again. That way, you can live a more easygoing lifestyle when you need it most. To me, that is the way to go, as the way you are describing generally makes you work deeper into your life. I do not want to work when I get old; I want to enjoy the twilight of my life living with no rules.


wavoman: very well said. Never compromise.

 

[Gatto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samgotit /img/forum/go_quote.gif You an only child, Gatto? Where are your parents from?

I have one little brother but I'm the oldest of a lot of cousins, and my parents grew up in queens.

 

[Benaiir]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graphicism /img/forum/go_quote.gif Money isn't everything, money can't buy you love and money certainly won't make you happy. Drop out of school, it's an overrated corporate system that makes you 'think' you're doing the right thing by 'staying in the system'. ~ Go to school, get good grades, stay on, get your degree when your in your late 20s, get a hard stressful job, makes lots of money, grow old, retire and die. Have you ever heard the best days of your life are when you're a kid, i.e. under 21; that's because you have little in the way of 'responsibility', no stressful demanding job, friends that you actually spend time with. So my advice to you; quit school, travel the world, have an experience... when you grow old these are the things you take with you. The best times of my life have always been what the so called 'civil society' would call me a bum for. I remember one particular morning I woke up on the sandy beaches of Magaluf, Mallorca; one of the Balearic islands off the coast of spain, with my pants covered in chicken fluff and my eyes stinging from all the foam from BCMs DJ Tiesto all-nighters. Honestly IF and when I have children I'll likely tell them the same thing; quit this typical society BS and go live your life.

That would be a tempting offer for about 80% of kids my age, but my parents want me to amount to something, not do something that might not support myself... So what's the compromise between a doctor and something audio based? Audiologist. Lets see if I'll be the guy making customs in the $100 range for hearing aids and for us HF'ers.

BTW - Gatto, did you consider that they're testing you?

 

[Graphicism]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadtonowhere08 /img/forum/go_quote.gif You make a very compelling point, at least on the surface. On the flipside, you can also delay gratification, put in your work when you are able to do it best, save up, and retire early and live like a kid again. That way, you can live a more easygoing lifestyle when you need it most. To me, that is the way to go, as the way you are describing generally makes you work deeper into your life. I do not want to work when I get old; I want to enjoy the twilight of my life living with no rules.

While I respect your outlook I wouldn't necessarily agree with it, perhaps I might however when I'm older. I cannot understand why someone would live to be old and then experience the joys of childhood when retired at the age of 67. For instance if you witness the majestic atmosphere of Theban Necropolis in Egypts 'Valley of the Kings' this could sculpt your entire life from here on out, sharing a drink of asab with the locals or getting high with... well, things you wouldn't do when you age. I've known quite a lot of people in my life of whom have retired and are either spending there days doing nothing or working for something to do. They work to take their minds of off their tinnitus or some other form of illness.

Don't live to age, live to experience. Ask yourself everyday, did I make it count? ~ I heard/read this somewhere.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benaiir /img/forum/go_quote.gif That would be a tempting offer for about 80% of kids my age, but my parents want me to amount to something, not do something that might not support myself...

I'm not sure how old you are but you need to decide for yourself what to do with your life, your parents will/should support you no matter what you decide to do... as long as it's moral and not illegal, I suppose there are a few rules to still abide by but who am I to say what is right and wrong.

- When I was 16 I graduated from high school.
- Got a full time job a week later as an office junior learning CAD.
- When I was 17 I left to work for a desktop publishing firm designing book layouts.
- After a couple years experience with graphics I went to work for a graphic design agency.
- When I turned 20 I quit my job and moved to states

I'm now almost 29 living in Florida and haven't worked a day since... yeah I play around in photoshop and people give me money for it but I don't have to get up and go to work or have a boss to answer too. This freedom to do what you want when you want to do it is in my opinion paramount to a good fulfilling life here on planet earth. I have friends that are almost 23 and still living at home, complaining how life sucks, how school is such a pain or how there career that they choose some 5 years ago is either not what they want to do any more or isn't exactly what they thought it would be.

This isn't aimed at anyone in particular but I am not surprised America is the most prescribed nation in the world for antidepressants, with something like 25% of adults having a major depressive episode sometime in their life. I just don't get it, this artificial happiness, the so called American Dream has been drilled into you since you were young.

The Way of the Ant

Up the wall it moves, oblivious to everything around it, taking the circuitous route in the way that only ants do, it's destination known only to itself. I watch in awe, wishing I were that ant, with nary a worry in the world. Or so? I do not know, so I cannot say for sure. But I still wish I were the ant. Better yet... I raise my right foot and bring it close to where the wall, close to where the ant is. My foot lingers for a moment, tracing the little creature's route, and finally comes to rest right over the tiny shape. It senses something amiss, but alas it is too late, my foot moves toward it even as the ant tries to back away. It's bye bye life for this ant. Just like that, there's one less ant in the world. I wonder if this makes me an evil person... have I just made a widow out of a pretty little woman ant somewhere? Orphans out of cute little baby ants elsewhere? I laugh at the absurdity of my thoughts. Meanwhile the creature has fallen off the wall, and I notice it trying to move. Hmmm, I wonder, it's not dead yet. Should I put it out of its misery or leave it to maybe recover its health by some miracle. My foot moves over it one last time and comes crashing down. This time it is still. I feel a lot less guilty, for I just helped it by putting it out of its woeful misery.

My life is a wreck. In reality my only common trait with the downed ant is in the way it moved. The way which to humans looks aimless, but possibly to the subject species has some meaning. It knew where it was headed. That I do not have in common with the former ant. The common trait is in the motion, not the knowledge of the destination. I cannot look in any certainty a day ahead and say where my life is headed. I envy the ant. I wish I had been it. I will walk up a wall, only to be crushed by a human foot. My meaningless life extinguished without as much as a thought on the part of my executioner. But for now, I will be human, and I will study the way of the ant, and maybe one day, I will see my destination.

 

[Gatto]

One thing I truly appreciate about this forum is how varied people's opinions are here.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graphicism /img/forum/go_quote.gif While I respect your outlook I wouldn't necessarily agree with it, perhaps I might however when I'm older. I cannot understand why someone would live to be old and then experience the joys of childhood when retired at the age of 67. For instance if you witness the majestic atmosphere of Theban Necropolis in Egypts 'Valley of the Kings' this could sculpt your entire life from here on out, sharing a drink of asab with the locals or getting high with... well, things you wouldn't do when you age. I've known quite a lot of people in my life of whom have retired and are either spending there days doing nothing or working for something to do. They work to take their minds of off their tinnitus or some other form of illness. Don't live to age, live to experience. Ask yourself everyday, did I make it count? ~ I heard/read this somewhere.

Believe me, I would love to do that (although shlepping the kids kinda puts a kibosh on that

), but in my profession (teacher), you have to build up seniority to be able to retire with good benefits and pay. It is better to start young and retire when medicare kicks in at 65 rather than to work until you drop dead. Having said that, in 40 years, who the hell knows what will be available, so Roth 403b here I come...

 

[Graphicism]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadtonowhere08 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Believe me, I would love to do that (although shlepping the kids kinda puts a kibosh on that )

And I bet you wouldn't trade that for anything... I suppose the flaw to my argument is settling down and starting a family, I am happily married so perhaps one day. I suppose we amicably agree to wait until a little later on in life to start that, or be one of those 'crazy hippies' that drives their kids around the state in a bus... like the Paskowitz Family!

 

[chadbang]

I'm sorry, maybe I missed it. What are you planning on doing with your degree, profession-wise? There's no point in any degree unless it's aimed at a specific profession.

 

[Gatto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadbang /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm sorry, maybe I missed it. What are you planning on doing with your degree, profession-wise? There's no point in any degree unless it's aimed at a specific profession.

Either medicine or medical research

 

[TheAttorney]

Another example of dubious parental career judgement: A long time ago, my friend wanted to go to University. His dad had a working-class background and was very proud of it. His dad had no real ambition himself and just couldn't undertand why his son wanted someting more than to follow in his father's footsteps into a lowly paid manual job. Luckily his mum sided with her son, and so he did go to university and has never looked back. As far as I know, his father has remained in the same town, same factory, same job.

On the other hand, my parents, also of humble origins (refugees actually), made it clear that I would be going to university or I'd be in big trouble! They were determined I would do better than them. I went to the same university as my friend and have also never looked back.

 

[itsborken]

A $15/hr IT job is $31K/year for the next two years. This is hardly an IT career; more like a helpdesk job. IT isn't necessarily a stable field and small companies merge with larger companies all the time so your future isn't guaranteed. Stay in school, learn what you are interested in, and make a good name for yourself. Don't sell yourself short or take the easy way out.