You do want to be careful about going to graduate school, since that pretty much locks you into whatever field you get your degree in unless you want all the money you spent on it to go to waste (at least as far as your career is concerned).

If you aren't working, your options are pretty much either getting some type of graduate assistantship and taking a vow of poverty or maxing out your student loans. Some companies also offer tuition reimbursement, but probably only if the company perceives that the degree you'd get would help you carry out your current duties or make you eligible for a promotion. It's still worth looking into, though.

One thing you might do is just go ahead and apply to a couple schools and make your decision based on the outcome.


Depends on how much money you make, I suppose. At the very least you can probably look forward to turning down some invitations for outings with friends due to time and money constraints.

Most likely but, unless your graduate program is very easy, it'll probably take you a long time to get your degree (10 years? ). Most people who get graduate degrees while working full time end up taking one, maybe two, courses per semester, so you can probably count on at least two years of doing your homework after work and/or on weekends (which would help with cutting down on spending).
I would probably suggest looking at schools that offer programs geared toward people with jobs. Penn State's satelite campuses in the Philly area might be a good choice.


Perhaps there's a way to combine "what you like" with whatever specialty you have a degree in? For instance, if you have a degree in marketing but like art, you could look for a job at an art gallery... yes, that's a little off-the-wall, but it's only an example

I know the feeling. I always feel like I need to take action and sort things out ASAP unless I want to miss the boat and get stuck in a rut for the rest of my life :?

Yeah, I agree with Dave. Right now with close to a house worth of student loan debt, it's a little late to figure out I don't like being an attorney. I can't afford to "soul search".

(Today when I was at Reading Terminal Market for lunch I was thinking I would like to be a pharmaceutical rep since it was bombarded with tall, hot men from apparently all over due to some convention...lol.)

Anyway, I think loving your job makes it easier to get up and go to work in the morning but there are very few of us who really do. However, I find it helps me to believe I'm making the world a better place somehow by doing it. Some esoteric goal like billable hours is hardly motivation for me. Even if you don't like your job but feel like you'll put up with it to help something, it makes it more bearable to me at least. Otherwise, when the fear dies at work, so does my ambition in a particular position. Not sure if this helps you--different things motivate all of us. But I guess find what motivates you. (I know--easier said than done.)

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Resident of Fishtown, Moderator of Fish/No. Libs/Kenzo forum, Real Estate Agent-Prudential Fox & Roach

haha! Thanks guys! It's good to know that I am not the only one who feels this way. Why do colleges make it seem that after you graduate, you are going to get this amazing job and life will be great? It was such a reality check for me a few years ago when I graduated and was hit with "this is it?"

__________________
"Just go with it."

What I really wonder is why we force kids to go to college directly out of high school. It really is a waste for most of us. There's such pressure (both societal and peer) to continue your education immediately without any consideration of what you want to do when you grow up.

Some people are lucky (maybe) in that they have a clear idea of what it is with which they want to fill the lives - architect, attorney, doctor, etc. Most of us don't have a clue.

When my nephew Charlie graduated from high school, he decided that he didn't want to head directly off to college. So, he went on some sort of back to nature, clean up the environment program. Later, he worked on the ferries that ply the waters of Boston Harbor. Eventually, he went to the University of Hartford, where he received a degree . . . but even with the exposure to new experiences, I don't think he really knows what he will do . . . right now, he works as a marketing rep and, more importantly, plays in one of New England's favorite rock bands. But, to his credit, he's ruled out a lot of stuff and he is living his life on his own basis. And I really respect my brother and sister-in-law for supporting him in his quest (I'm sure it hasn't been easy given the sorts of bragging rights that too many parents seem to hold over their kids).

We probably all would be better if we took a couple of years off after high school and kicked around, trying things, testing things.

But even with that, most of us will have a number of "careers" during our lifetimes. That is both scary and intriguing at the same time.

In the past, most folks went to work for a company and stayed throughout their entire working life. There was a loyalty to the company and most (certainly not all) companies returned that loyalty. As we all know, that sort of situation does not exist anymore.

My advice to anyone heading off to school (or simply searching for additional training) is to make sure that you learn to write as well as possible and take a whole bunch of speech and/or drama classes to learn to speak as well as possible. You'd be amazed at how many folks cannot do one or the other. And no matter where you go, what you do, those two skills will be critical to your success.

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“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” - Jane Jacobs

I am also going to add Teacher to this list. But it's people like that who I am so envious of because they seem to have such a clear idea of where their life is heading when I am just treading water to keep my head above the surface.

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"Just go with it."

You know, I've come to the conclusion that when grownups
ask little kids what the little Kids want to do, it's not because
the parents want to pressure the kids for success, but because
the grownups are looking for ideas-

Hal

klo-

The funny thing is that I've heard some of those very people say they envy the folks who have searched around. I've known engineers who decided ten years later that they really wanted to be chefs, or yacht captains, or . . . teachers. I guess the grass is always greener (to coin a cliche).

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“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” - Jane Jacobs

:rolling_: I agree.

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Resident of Fishtown, Moderator of Fish/No. Libs/Kenzo forum, Real Estate Agent-Prudential Fox & Roach

I think there's actually a book of interviews by Studs Terkel called "Working", where he basically wrote a best selling book about
life in the big city by interviewing everyone he met in a day-
{or some pleblian idea like that}

Somewhere I recall hearing that the top 3 job satisfication ratings were morticians, ob-gyn, and heavy equipment demolition operators like wrecking ball and bulldozer operators- they each found closure, a defined end to that job, plus a feeling of accomplishment, of change.

Hal

I had a friend who wanted to be an ob-gyn all the way through middle school so he could see naked women... by the time we got to high school, he'd switched his desired career to "surgeon," but it was still a little disturbing :lol: