JediDefender.com Forums
Community => Watto's Junk Yard => Topic started by: Lady Jaye on April 13, 2005, 08:18 PM
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Okay just was using google to look for people I used to know in school and I found out that some of the people I ran with are very successful. They are where I want to be, but not. I am so embarrassed I am still in school and still have a year to go, just to get my bachelors. And if I want to get a Law Degree that's another 3 more years. When I saw my old friend as a Lawyer for a very nice Lobbying group, it just blew my mind. I mean this kid used to be the headbanging kid with long hair and torn up Metallica shirts, and now he is clean cut and a Lawyer, and I'm still a friggin student. I am so ashamed of myself. I figured I'd post this here, since there is a older group, but most of you are already finished with your degree.
Anyhow just want to know if you are where you want to be, if not what do you have to do?? Those of you who are exactly where you are, did you have any stumbling blocks, how did you over come them???
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I'm on pace, but no where near the finish line yet. I'm only 2 years out of school and am learning more and more about the movie/commercial/visual effects industry every day. It's fantastic work and I love my job. Things couldn't be going any better (I could use a raise, but who couldn't...) but I don't see the job I'm doing this minute being the end all of my career.
No major stumbling blocks - you've just got to be willing to work for peanuts for a while if it doesn't all just drop in your lap. Which is much more rewarding in the end anyway.
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Sure. I'm happy where I'm at these days. Did my life take the course I had planned when I left High School nearly sixteen years ago?? Hell no!
My original plan had me graduating from UCF, joining the Air Force and becoming an F-15 pilot....eventally an Astronaut. Instead, I ended up leaving UCF, enlisting in the Air Force and practically paying for my Bachelor's degree in blood, taking me 11 years to get instead of the four most people take. Then, I find out I'm too old to get a pilot's slot in the Air Force, missing the age cut-off by six months.
Luckily, I worked in a squadron which had a slot for a Space Guy, and in the three years I was at Eielson, two different guys held the job. I was able to pick thair brains about AF Space Command and found it extremely interesting. I'm now a first Lt working one of the most interesting and demanding jobs the AF has to offer. With different space assignments I can get after my missile tour I will be extremely more marketable to many Aerosace corporations, companies that do consulting for the military, and even NASA.
Most of my friends from my UCF days ar still in the AF, some got out because they couldn't get pilot slots because of the drawdown after Desert Storm and got out, some are majors and I think one or wo at Lt Col's now. If I had finished college in the 4-5 year track I had originally planned I could be that rank by now as well, but I would be a much different officer than the one I am now....it's more about the journey than the destination.
So Jaye, live your life they way YOU want to live it. It's yours, and don't regret the choices you've made in the past...they've made you the person you are today.
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Well, life is long, and I’m of the mindset these days that taking snapshots of your life today compared to others isn’t healthy; nor is the process of living and advancing yourself a competition or race to the finish.
A few years ago, in my mid-twenties, I felt I was right were I wanted to be, and career-wise was way ahead of others my age. But, as you get older, your priorities change, you develop hindsight, and you can suddenly and easily fall into a mindset of second-guessing your path. Then you sit back, think about it, and realize that everything is relative, and your success is only equal to your happiness with yourself.
Me, I’ve been in the same line of work for 12 years, in an industry I thought was the **** when I started. I’ve spent the last year reevaluating where I want to be. But, I am taking the time to make the right decision and find the right home for my skill set.
So I say just keep working on what you want to do and it will come in time, and make sure you’re enjoying the process. Don’t get hung up on the go getters. A lot of them are very successful early on, but at the end of the day are pieces of **** as human beings, and that’s all anyone, in the end, ever remembers about you.
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For the most part...yes. I wish my job paid more but it's not that big a deal really. My wife finished up an interview for a job in Arizona. We are getting closer to moving out there now. That was one of our dreams before we got engaged to move there. I can't really complain about anything. I got the wife, the baby boy, good health, happy, it's all good right now.
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My wife finished up an interview for a job in Arizona. We are getting closer to moving out there now.
Cool! Whereabouts Brian? And how soon? If it's anywhere near Phoenix or Scottsdale, I'll be able to hook up with you out there from time to time, when I cruise out to Scottsdale to visit my parents. But if you say Tuscon, it's doubtful. LMK!
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Nope. You have to work for the things you want. I have learned this the hard way. It feels good though. I have a steady job, I'm alive, I have great friends, and my legs hurt every day from hard work. I still want more, and thats what drives me. I think thats the point.
Kevin
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Sure. I'm happy where I'm at these days. Did my life take the course I had planned when I left High School nearly six years ago?? Hell no!
My original plan had me graduating from UCF, joining the Air Force and becoming an F-15 pilot....eventally an Astronaut. Instead, I ended up leaving UCF, enlisting in the Air Force and practically paying for my Bachelor's degree in blood, taking me 11 years to get instead of the four most people take. Then, I find out I'm too old to get a pilot's slot in the Air Force, missing the age cut-off by six months.
Luckily, I worked in a squadron which had a slot for a Space Guy, and in the three years I was at Eielson, two different guys held the job. I was able to pick thair brains about AF Space Command and found it extremely interesting. I'm now a first Lt working one of the most interesting and demanding jobs the AF has to offer. With different space assignments I can get after my missile tour I will be extremely more marketable to many Aerosace corporations, companies that do consulting for the military, and even NASA.
Most of my friends from my UCF days ar still in the AF, some got out because they couldn't get pilot slots because of the drawdown after Desert Storm and got out, some are majors and I think one or wo at Lt Col's now. If I had finished college in the 4-5 year track I had originally planned I could be that rank by now as well, but I would be a much different officer than the one I am now....it's more about the journey than the destination.
So Jaye, live your life they way YOU want to live it. It's yours, and don't regret the choices you've made in the past...they've made you the person you are today.
UCF eh? My sister went there for awhile - and I've got about 5 good friends who went there. Are you from Florida originally? I went to school just north of there in Gainesville.
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No, I grew up in New York, right across the river from West Point.
I went to school at UCF because they had a great engineering school and it was 1,000 miles from home. I wanted to get out and see the world.
Oddly enough, I ended up getting my degree from UAF (University of Alaska Fairbanks)...talk about the other end of the spectrum! :o
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I'm not. After high school, I was set on going to college, but for the sole purpose of playing baseball. Things didn't work out at Cal State Fullerton, so I played 2 years at Citrus College (a junior college.) When I didn't get drafted (and only got a few scholarship offers from smaller Midwest schools) I realized baseball was not my path in life beyond college. I went back to Fullerton and I got my BA wanting to work in sports TV production, but after interning at Fox Sports for 8 months, I couldn't land a job. Now I'm basically an over-educated, over-qualified white male in So Cal trying to find a career path since I definitely picked a near impossible one to get into.
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I'm in the middle somewhere. I wish I had my BA now or even my AA since I been out of High School for 7 years. The only reason it has taken me this long is that been working to pay for my school I don't want to go in debt too much for school. I just have a couple more classes until I get my AA and once I get that I'm probally going to focus more on school and getting loans so I can finish and get my BA.
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No. I only finished 1 1/2 years of a four-year degree, and I'm 24 years old now.
I would have gone back to school earlier (I just started at Upper Iowa) had I not been promoted so easily at my current job. But, I can't work for $17 a hour for the rest of my life, at least not work this hard for it.
I wasn't going to go back at all, because I lamented it was too expensive, but my brother told me "Sure, college is expensive. But ignorance is more expensive."
So I went back, and in a few years, I'll be a teacher with a minor in cinema. Go me. ;)
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I'm nowhere near were I want to be, I'm out of work, have been for quite a while now. Finding a new one seems to get harder with every day that passes, adding more and more to the timespan that I've been unemployed.
I've got an eduction (I think the equivalent is Bachelor's degree) in Commercial Economics.
But I've still got no idea what I really want to do. They ask you this in job-interviews, and I say I want to be in account-management or project-management, but I find myself asking myself if that is what I want to do.
My Girlfriend has a parttime job, with varying workinghours. We live mostly on social benefits.
I've tried to apply for all kinds of jobs, even as simple as data-entry, but then they think I'm overqualified and I have huge salary demands and likely be gone in a few days when I find another job more suiting me. Well, hello, if the latter were the case, I wouldn't be applying for Data entry. Duh... ::)
So, where am I in life? Most looks like in a thick cloud of fog.
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My wife finished up an interview for a job in Arizona. We are getting closer to moving out there now.
Cool! Whereabouts Brian? And how soon? If it's anywhere near Phoenix or Scottsdale, I'll be able to hook up with you out there from time to time, when I cruise out to Scottsdale to visit my parents. But if you say Tuscon, it's doubtful. LMK!
We are trying for the Phoenix area. Not Tuscon. Yeah, that would be great! We don't know anything yet. She just had the interview yesterday. They are supposed to contact her next week. She said she will take if it is offered to her. So, if that happens we have to find out when they want her out there and all that good stuff.
It could all be going down really soon. If she gets it then I will have to find something there or hopefully get a transfer.
We will have to rent a place first. I hope she gets this job so we can get things rolling. This is REALLY going to put a halt to my collecting ways for awhile. Good thing this happened after 4/2 :)
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I'm pretty sure I'm right where I want to be in life; however, it's not where I thought I'd be or even planned to be. I've got two beautiful daughters under two years of age and a lovely wife who's also a great mom. We own a small home in a crappy area of town, but it's improving. Our cars, though old and too small for a family of four, are paid for. My job doesn't pay a lot, but it's just enough to allow my wife to stay home with the kids AND pay the mortgage and other bills, plus, it's also fairly flexible so I can come in at 5 am and leave at ~3 just to spend more time with the kids. It's also fairly nonstressful, so I don't leave work bitter and annoyed.
I think if I'd been asked ten years ago where I wanted to be, I'd have said I wanted a family, but I'd have also included a high-paying, rewarding career and more money. We would be able to afford more stuff, and I'd still be able to buy figures and not have sold them to pay for kids supplies. However, I learned fairly early on that being intelligent and a hard worker in no way guarantees a successful career. Luck above everything determines where your career goes. (A little brown-nosing doesn't hurt, either.) Plus, things have a way of not going the way you plan, so I'm still extremely happy with where I'm at today.
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Career wise, yes. Financially, no. :P
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I'm on the path. Once I legitimize my small business as I want to, I think I will have finally laid the foundation.
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Lady Jaye,
Interesting topic, thanks for being open and posting.
In response, I am very content in my lot in life. Nine months ago I purchased a home in AZ from CA. My wife and I decided over lunch that it would be better to sacrifice my career as an operations supervisor at a Fortune 500 Company so that my boys could have a home.
The owners decided to sell etc. at the last three townhomes that we rented so that meant our boys having to go to new schools over and over again. The cost of living in L.A., CA is so high we did not have too many options.
God really blessed our family. The week after I returned to work in CA from moving my family to AZ I found out that my company was relocating to AZ of all places! A few months later I was promoted to Operations Manager and received about a 35% increase in six months.
My advice would be to keep your eye on the prize. Set goals and work towards them. Nothing good comes easy.
I do not have a college degree and just enrolled at my local community college to finish the 3 classes that I need for an AA. Primarily, because that was a goal that I set for myself as I am set in my career path.
Best Regards,
DBK
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Darth Broem,
I am not sure the line of work that your wife is interviewing for but I am actively hiring for positions in Chandler, AZ. Feel free to drop me a PM with you or your wifes job information.
If you make it to Phoenix I would like to get together for coffee.
Let me know,
DBK
My wife finished up an interview for a job in Arizona. We are getting closer to moving out there now.
Cool! Whereabouts Brian? And how soon? If it's anywhere near Phoenix or Scottsdale, I'll be able to hook up with you out there from time to time, when I cruise out to Scottsdale to visit my parents. But if you say Tuscon, it's doubtful. LMK!
We are trying for the Phoenix area. Not Tuscon. Yeah, that would be great! We don't know anything yet. She just had the interview yesterday. They are supposed to contact her next week. She said she will take if it is offered to her. So, if that happens we have to find out when they want her out there and all that good stuff.
It could all be going down really soon. If she gets it then I will have to find something there or hopefully get a transfer.
We will have to rent a place first. I hope she gets this job so we can get things rolling. This is REALLY going to put a halt to my collecting ways for awhile. Good thing this happened after 4/2 :)
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I'm not there yet, but on the way. I'm about 2 years out from getting my PhD, then I'll be looking to get a little further along on the track I want to be on.
It's a bit tough to be in school for so long (4.5 years undergraduate, then almost 5 years so far for Masters + PhD work), but I can finally start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
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Let's see. I'm 26, single, and still working. Nope, not where I want to be. I'd prefer to be retired by now.
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I love what I do - hate the drive and wish I made more $$.
Love my wife and kid - wish I had a bigger house.
Am I at where I thought I'd be in life? I guess.
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Finacially? - no
Educationaly? -no
I'm still single and don't have my own place or a halfway decent car, so no I'm not at where I was hoping to be by now. But I'm only 19 and in my first year of college so I guess I have plenty of time to change that. :)
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Thanks for the input guys. Kahuna, glad you liked the topic. I think it's good to look back and see if you are acheiving what you set out to do a couple of years ago and what not.
I also appreciate the words of encouragement. I guess sometimes things do end up working out. This past weekend I volunteered for the NYS Assembly/Senate Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caucus, where I got to meet and greet many of our State Legislatures, but the highlight was meeting and talking to Senator Hilary Rodhamn Clinton, and taking a picture together. Even if I am a Republican, it was nice!! It might be little steps, but I'm getting there hopefully!!
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Lady Jaye-
One of the most important and most profound things ever told to me by a friend happened after my wedding. She looked me in the eyes and said
"life is a series of little wins, today is a little one, and you will continue to have them your entire life. Always remember the days you won."
I feel like I'm a winner everyday. I've been married 14 years to my much wiser and beautiful wife. I am fortunate to have a beautiful home and in good health. I have friends and a family who care about me. Everything else is just material and temporary and can always be replaced. I'm glad my life so far has left me in the +1 column
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I'd like to have a thicker penis :'(
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LOL! Well, yeah.
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Lady Jaye,
Thats great news and your welcome. FYI, my wife is Puerto Rican and Black from St. Croix in the USVI. Thanks for the update.
This topic made me register at Classmates.com to try to get in contact with my old friends. I heard back from one today and heard about two others.
I grew up in L.A., CA and feared that some friends did not make the right choices. I am in the process of getting the writing address for two that I found out are in prison. I spoke with one friend today after 12 years! She is excelling in her career and we had a great talk. I plan on meeting her for coffee the next time I fly into L.A. on business. It was great talking to her and seeing she made out well.
Infamy Of Crete,
Thanks for sharing, that is a fantastic viewpoint that you shared, I will use it.
I share a lot of the same sentiments.
DBK
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Hey that's great to hear Kahuna. I don't think I'll be contacting anyone, at least not yet. When I am successful, then I'll give all a look up. It's cool to find what people are up to.
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Lady Jaye, I wouldn't want to tell you how to live your life, but I don't think you should feel embarrassed about your life to the point of not wanting to contact old friends from High School. You're pursuing your dreams and doing great at it.
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Good question , can i answer it? probably not, see i hit a wall a while back and started questioning everything. I don't even know where i want to be in my life, am i happy at the moment, hell yes, i'm married to a wonderfull lady , have 2 fantastic kids, just purchased a new home and i'm generally happy.
I have a good circle of mates , as far as my work goes , hell i don't know what i want to do , so i'm just selling real estate at the moment and making good money , is this what i want to do ? no idea !
I guess i could say i'm where i want to be, i always wanted to be married and have kids, I'm married and have 2 , i wanted to be an architect when i was in school , didn't go down that path.
I dunno this is a tough question.
Family - Yes
Work - no
There thats about as close to answering it as i can.