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| Adulthood; When the hell did that happen? | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 9 2011, 06:12 PM (6,382 Views) | |
| flumes | Aug 6 2012, 01:12 PM Post #326 |
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CLEVELAND ROCKS!
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Have you considered trying to run a website/blog on the side of your job? There is definitely an interest for video game sites and sports sites (or whatever you want to write about), although they are also a dime a dozen. With journalism, your personal name brand means a lot more than in other fields so going at it alone can prove successful, although the logistics of it are complicated and require additional work. I have no clue what I'm doing. I need one more class for my Finance degree. I feel extremely confident I can get a job semi-related to my field, even though it won't be a dream. job. I might take the class at Cleveland State or Akron if I can to save money if that is possible. Ohio's move to semesters from quarters isn't well timed for me. I wish I could get into Real Estate development immediately like I want. I want to buy cheap houses in a rough neighborhood of Cleveland that I think is due to boom. I actually saw a friend on facebook post about a house in that neighborhood.. 7,000 square feet. $100,000.......... Yeah, kinda a rough neighborhood. I think there are a ton of houses decently sized that I could grab for 30,000, max. :lol: Edited by flumes, Aug 6 2012, 01:15 PM.
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| Aelius | Aug 6 2012, 01:23 PM Post #327 |
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Norman Warlord
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In that lies the problem. I certainly could do that, and I'm kinda trying to help get GeektheNews off the ground for that reason. The problem is just trying to build that brand. Basically, the best solution is to just write anything, anywhere, as near as I can tell. I just don't have the kind of initiative that I need for that to work out, nor do I have many connections in the fields I want to write in. Idk, I've periodically mulled over starting a restaurant/bar in an under-served area that needs one, or starting some sort of business. I just wouldn't know what to go with. |
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| Aelius | Sep 3 2012, 09:05 PM Post #328 |
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Norman Warlord
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So, the thought occurred to me today: would I do well in the Navy? The reason I'm considering this is mainly because I feel adrift right now: I've got a service industry job that will be tedious at best, it'll pay me enough to get by and pay off my student loans, but not enough to really prosper, no romantic prospects, no real social prospects, I'm sick to death of Oklahoma, and my degree is more and more starting to feel like it was a dead end. A military life may not suit me that well, given my demeanor and my tolerance for certain things, but with a Bachelor's, if I could get in as an officer instead of enlisted, I could be making a lot more money than I would be doing tech support, I could get the GI Bill to pay for a Master's, and most importantly, it may actually give me a direction to take my life in, give me a better sense of what I'm good at, what I should actually be doing with my life. If I'm not very good at it or don't like it, I can leave at the end of my commitment and move on, get my Master's in something, which may help my future job prospects. If I do well enough, though, perhaps I could rise through the ranks. It'd be fun to be Captain of my own ship. :lol: The reason I'm thinking Navy: I don't think I'm quite cut out for the kind of physical wear and tear of Army training (and I don't want to get blown up by car bombs in Somewhere-istan), but the Air Force may not be great either: plenty of AFBs are in East Jesus Nowhere, which is what I'm looking to get away from. If I go Navy, though, I'll almost always be in coastal environments (bye bye, Oklahoma), but I'll still get to see the world. I'm not married to the idea, by any means, but I'm wondering, if we get to be another year or two down the line and nothing seems to be improving or progressing with my life, maybe it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world. TO, you're in the Navy, what's your sense of it so far? Everyone else, any thoughts or suggestions? |
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| Telosan | Sep 4 2012, 05:31 AM Post #329 |
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The Foremost Intellectual Badass
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Your degree could perhaps point you to the more technical side of the navy. Communications onboard ships? Also remember the navy employs plenty of land based personnel. I personally don't think you should join the navy. You're fresh out of school now working on your first real job. See where it takes you. It seems like you're overall to quick to drop the gun and start running. Stay the course. You never know what life will throw at you. Even if this is a crappy job, its far more valuable as work experience. Take a decent amount of experience and look elsewhere at other opportunities. Without that experience, those potential future opportunities Kay not even look at you. With it, you may yet find yourself going somewhere. |
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| Menhad | Sep 4 2012, 10:32 AM Post #330 |
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ET2(IDW)
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You summoned? The Navy from what I've seen is of the mindset of work hard, so we can go home early. We have more military bearing than the chair-force (Whoops I mean Airforce), but not as super squared away as the Marines, and you get treated more like a real person than the Army. But like any other branch you will still have to put up with dumb shit, embrace the suck, etc.... Also, unlike the other branches, expect more responsibility. Which is a good and bad thing, more recognition but also more stress, and sometimes longer hours. But if you're shit hot, it will be rewarded. And you also get to see more of the world, and get to see/do some awesome things. Meet a lot of cool people, from jocks to DnD nerds, and you'll learn how to drink and cuss like a sailor(For the enlisted types, officers, not so much). If you go officer, just so you know, your not going to get any respect until you hit O-4 (Lt. Commander), and you at best will be overseeing tech people not anything hands on. For enlisted you might want to look into Information Tech(IT) or Electronic Tech(ET), the cool thing about these rates(jobs) is that you can go pretty much anywhere. Want to work with SEALs? Sure. Seabees? You bet. Small Ships? Yup. Carriers? Oh yeah. Subs? Yeah, but why would you want to? Only you know if you want to do it, sleep on it, think about, and if you have any questions ask me or AA. |
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| Aelius | Nov 10 2012, 01:53 AM Post #331 |
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Norman Warlord
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I've been considering this more and more considering that I feel trapped in my own life right now. However, Sed is under the opinion (which may be correct) that I would need to be in absolutely perfect shape to have any chance at getting through OCS, which I am not at present. I suspect you and AA both went in as enlisted, though I don't know for sure, but I'm curious how Naval OCS differs from OCS in the other branches. I just know I'm already extremely tired of doing tech support for these retards. I really think there needs to be an IQ test before we give people smartphones, especially for older people who've only used phones that can just make and receive calls. (No offense intended, NH, I don't know what your experience level is with mobile phones. :P ) More to the point, though: I hate this job. It stresses me out about as bad as Walmart did, if anyone remembers how that job made me feel, although it does pay a good deal better. I'm about ready to just say "fuck it" and immediately join some service branch, if only because it would immediately get me out of Oklahoma and force me to make changes. I think I need to be more aggressive in general, less willing to put up with bullshit, less willing to deal with the status quo, and less willing to deal with this sort of thing. I think my biggest drawback right now is that I can't deal with stress well, can't deal with angry people. I like solving problems, but I don't do well with people yelling at me, it just makes me nervous. Ideally, I find a good writing job in the private sector and keep moving forward, but I'm honestly concerned that those don't exist. The military would waste (at least) four years of my life, but if I'm going to be spending four years doing a plebian job for just over $25k a year without any romantic or social prospects, what do I really have to lose, I'm wondering? I will say this, if I can't get into the military as an officer, I don't see the merit in joining at all. I have a Bachelor's, so I think I should at least be granted that opportunity. If I'm not in good enough shape and they'd tell me I'd have to go enlisted, I suspect I'd decline altogether. Even being miserable at Sprint, I'd still make more money that way, so I may as well stay on that route if I'm gonna be miserable either way. I guess I'm just disillusioned and unhappy. I want to be able to live for myself, get to travel and experience a full, real life, rather than spend my evenings trying to teach these morons how to get their email working on their phones. I really wish I hadn't gotten laid off from my previous writing job. :sad: The job was boring, but at least I was good at it and I was making decent money. -sigh- |
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| Menhad | Nov 10 2012, 04:45 AM Post #332 |
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ET2(IDW)
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I'm 99.9% sure AA was enlisted and I am. To find out more about officer requirements talk to a officer recruiter. I'm pretty sure if you enter enlisted with a Bachelor's degree you will get auto E-3. Also there are plenty of programs to go enlisted to officer, check these out or sta-21. My current XO(2nd in command behind the CO) is an O-5, and he went through the LDO program to become an officer. The PT scores, The height/weight requirements, and if you're overweight, then they tape your neck and waist. What ever branch you join you're going to have to learn to deal with yelling and stress, especially during boot-camp. Afterwards there isn't nearly as much yelling, at least in the Navy (From what I saw on the army base I was on for seven months, they get quite a bit more). But stress is still constant, about 1/3 of all Navy personnel smoke. Stress from moving, trying to get quals done, studying for advancement, trying to fix your gear while someone is breathing down your neck about it, etc. And I'm sure officers get similar amounts of stress. Enlisted isn't all that bad, in the Navy they don't treat you like shit, sometime you will get shafted, and its kinda simpler. Also you have the consider all the benefits you can get, medical/dental, BAH (basic allowance for housing), BAS (basic allowance for sustenance), COLA (cost of living allowance). A lot of these a dependent on many circumstances (like if they let you live off base, where you are stationed, and your rank). Hell I make more than $1000 ever two weeks, and you know how many bills I have? Fucking none. Also now that I'm in Bahrain I will start getting HDP (Hazardous duty pay), OCONUS COLA (Outside Continental United States cost of living allowance), OHA (overseas housing allowance, when I move out the barracks. Cause E-4 and above are allowed too here), I'm tax free, and my life insurance is paid for while I'm here. I am here for two years, with the option to stay for three. #MakingBank Edited by Menhad, Nov 10 2012, 04:46 AM.
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| Sedulius | Nov 10 2012, 11:26 AM Post #333 |
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Field Marshal
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To get into OCS for any branch, you have to not only pass but also do well on a PT test and you have to put together a packet which includes a recommendation from at least one officer (I think it's two). After that, you have to go before a local review board that will ask you several questions to judge whether you are to be an officer, which will send their evaluation to be evaluation by a higher review board. If you get through all of that, you still have to get through OCS itself, which though it has gotten easier than it used to be in the last few years is still ridiculously harsher than basic. That said, the graduation rate is actually very high, at 90% for Army OCS. I can't get into OCS right now in the shape I'm in, and you know I'm in better shape than most people. I could get in if I trained extremely hard for a month, but that's because all I have to do is reactivate my capabilities. I told you, Aelius, that you would need to train hard for at least a year. You would absolutely need a workout partner for this to be fully effective. Many who've been through basic will be in good enough shape, but most would not be qualified. OCS graduates account for a pretty small percentage of officers. Most officers went through ROTC. SOOO... if T.O. only has to stay in the Navy for two years, then the Navy isn't so bad an idea. Two years in the Navy and then to OCS would perhaps be a good way to go. It would get you into shape and get you a lot of knowledge. THAT SAID, I would think that Navy OCS is more difficult to get into than other branches, as I would think it would require a certain amount of maritime knowledge to become a naval officer. I could be wrong. Of course, as T.O. says, if you join the military, you may only be making as much as you are now, but you're having to spend it on next to nothing. As long as you diligently save you're money, you'll be leaving the military with a great amount of funds. Most people are foolish and don't do this, but I know you aren't. That said, I wouldn't say, T.O., that you're making bank. You're still at the bottom when it comes to income in this society. It just feels like you're making bank because you're making more money than ever have before, and you have the capability to save more than you would anywhere else. But it ain't making bank. |
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| New Harumf | Nov 10 2012, 12:34 PM Post #334 |
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Bloodthirsty Unicorn
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All jobs become boring after a while. It is unavoidable. The only way to avoid this is to change jobs frequently, either within an organization, or by switching companies. Have you considered a consulting firm? |
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| Aelius | Nov 10 2012, 01:28 PM Post #335 |
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Norman Warlord
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What exactly is a consulting firm? Is it like "the Bobs" in Office Space, or am I thinking of something else? :huh: |
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| New Harumf | Nov 10 2012, 05:37 PM Post #336 |
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Bloodthirsty Unicorn
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Well, I do not watch "Office Space" so I don't know. There are many different types of consulting firms - engineering, systems, accounting, etc. etc. Essentially, a company has a need and either doesn't want to add new employess, especially for a short term project, or, the budget only allows hiring consultants, or they want someone to pin things on if their ideas don't work; so they contract with a consulting firm. The firm usually places people on site within the company and the company pays an hourly fee for them. The consultant can be either a salaried employee of the consultant, or paid hourly (the more likely prospect). The pay is usually good - I usually got between $55 to $90 an hour depending on the type of contract. I imagine their are firms that specialize in technical writing of all sorts since those types of projects are generally short (usually the length of the development cycle which can be 6 months to several years). More and more technical companies are realizing they need tech writers involved in projects from the planning phase, especially companies that are using a development method called "Scrum". They have finally wised up and realized developers are the very worst people to write technical and user manuals, and on-line help screens. |
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| Aelius | Nov 10 2012, 05:57 PM Post #337 |
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Norman Warlord
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Office Space is a Mike Judge movie (guy who made Beavis & Butthead and King of the Hill). Really funny send up of office culture, and it's set in Texas. You might get a kick out of it. :P $55 an hour? That sounds pretty substantial. I wouldn't really know where to look for these sorts of firms, though. Suggestions? |
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| New Harumf | Nov 10 2012, 06:25 PM Post #338 |
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Bloodthirsty Unicorn
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I'll check around Monday at work - doubt they would have a presence in OKC. Most big firms I know of are in Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Dallas or L.A. |
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| Aelius | Nov 12 2012, 01:04 PM Post #339 |
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Norman Warlord
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Let me know where all in the US they might be. I'm at the point where I'd be willing to check anywhere. |
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| New Harumf | Nov 12 2012, 02:50 PM Post #340 |
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Bloodthirsty Unicorn
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Well, I found this with just a 20 second search on Monster.com (it was also on careerbuilder.com) http://jobview.monster.com/Technical-Writer-Intern-Job-Las-Vegas-NV-115621467.aspx . . . and a big company in the field is the All Native Group - look them up on-line. Spend some time looking at Technical Writing positions - you obviously want entry level to build some experience, sonce, of course, most ads ask for a few years experience. Just make sure you know MS Word inside and out before you apply. That is all that is used in the real world. |
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| Aelius | Dec 1 2012, 01:03 AM Post #341 |
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Norman Warlord
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(This is largely a copy/paste from my post on Facebook, but I think you guys may have a different perspective, at least for those I'm not friends with on Facebook.) So I put in my two weeks' notice with Sprint yesterday. Reason being: the lease on the place we're in will be up at the end of the month, and Dad's going to move out of the city. Basically, if I were to stay at Sprint, I'd have to get an apartment on my own and be stuck here another year, and I don't think I'd be willing to stay in OKC that long while most of my money goes to paying bills on that apartment with a job I'm not particularly fond of, when I should be paying off my student loans and (potentially) saving up to go back to college for a Master's degree, or maybe even a different Bachelor's that can actually get me a long-term career. So, unless I get a particularly nice job with TravelOK.com that I've been trying for, I'll be leaving OKC at the end of the year, hopefully to Colorado, but I guess that's subject to whether or not Dad changes his mind and wants to go elsewhere. In my mind, the last few months of my life have been me being stalled out, if not being an outright failure on my part to actually make any meaningful progress. Even though I actually had a writing job for a few months, it feels like that I'm now in the exact same position I was in when I first got out of Walmart. Simply put, I'm unhappy with where I'm at right now, and as many people have said to me, only I can actually make any meaningful change in my life, so I'm doing so. Until I can find a real job that either utilizes my writing/journalism talents/education, or an equivalent job that would actually move me forward in some way, I'm taking a hiatus from traditional employment. Now, this won't be a long hiatus (I can't afford for this experiment to last more than a few months), but I'm simply at wits' end with service industry work. I'm not cut out for call center work, and I need something that will justify the time and financial expense that my degree required. So I'm going to follow Dad, use my savings to help him out where I can while I spend all my time applying for jobs, and have the free time to go wherever I need to go in the US (or elsewhere) for job interviews. Granted, this is an extremely massive risk on my part, and I have no guarantee that I'll even be able to land a writing job, but given the lack of success I've had here, I need to be able to actually look nationwide for a writing job, and I simply don't have the time or means to do so with the position and schedule I currently have. Now, I'm not going to go for broke here and just wager my entire future on this suspicion I have about where I live and my current schedule. Should I not be able to land a job that is to my satisfaction within a few months (or by the time I can no longer use my savings to support myself and Dad), I have come to accept the possibility of military service as a potential measure to avert homelessness and total failure. While I do not feel that I may have the necessary mindset to truly excel in such a lifestyle, I certainly have the education that they would accept me, and perhaps could gain an officer's commission, once I got myself into the appropriate physical condition. (Note that I would not attempt an Army/infantry position, I'd prefer to keep myself safe and off the front lines. More than likely, my first choice would be Navy, with Air Force being a second option.) Once my commitment is concluded, I'd go back to college, GI Bill in hand, and either pursue a Master's in Journalism or perhaps a Bachelor's in Computer Science or another field that will actually result in me making some level of progress. Perhaps the training for whatever position I'm deemed suited for in the armed forces would help me try to find what I should be ultimately doing. At any rate, it is a plan of action, should the worst-case scenario occur. I will not allow myself to be homeless, nor will I allow my recklessness to doom my father as well. But I guess this all speaks to a larger point: At this exact, specific time, I view my degree in journalism to be an incorrect decision on my part, at least on a basic level: in spite of my education, I'm doing a job that seemingly anyone is qualified for (although those who are actually good at it deserve the utmost respect for being able dealing with these sub-humans), but the job is really not the right fit for me. I have a certain level of antipathy for people and their mundane complaints. Likely, this is just my ego running amok, but I desire greatness, or at least some level of importance, if only in my own mind. I want to do something that actually validates my pursuits between 2007 and 2011, and the events of the last 18 months have led me to believe that it's possible that those pursuits may have been one grand folly. Am I just overly pessimistic, or do I really need to start over? For reference, Alexander of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, had conquered the whole of Greece and Asia Minor by the time he was 23. By comparison, I've gotten a college degree in Journalism and have spent all of four months doing what I've went to school for before getting laid off. I view this as a failure on my part, but should I? Should I have stopped working at Walmart and taken out even more in student loans than I had so I could afford to take the unpaid internships while in college that are apparently so necessary for the field of work I've chosen? But I digress: What do you guys, who've known me since I've been on this forum, think of all of this? Am I simply panicking and being overly dramatic, or are my concerns legitimate, with things being as they are? If you were in my shoes, what would be your next move? Should I assume that pursuing a writing/journalism degree was a fool's errand, and make plans to try and return to school for something else? Or should I double down and try to get a Master's? Should I even join the military at all? Or should I be aiming at different journalism positions? The biggest problems I'm noticing with a lot of journalism positions, such as ones at newspapers, is that they want people who are also skilled with InDesign/Photoshop/other programs that I've never heard of or have little to no exposure to. I know how to write and I mostly know MS Office, and that constitutes the near-entirety of my software experience, so I fear that may eliminate me from consideration from many positions in this field. It's entirely possible that I'm entirely qualified for most journalism/writing positions out there and that I'm just scared, so if you have any words of encouragement, or advice, or any job positions that you're aware of, I'd certainly appreciate whatever feedback or assistance you can provide me. |
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| New Harumf | Dec 1 2012, 09:48 AM Post #342 |
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Bloodthirsty Unicorn
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If you do go to Colorado, start a journal titled something like "High Country Noob" and start writing about your experiences, especially if they are unusual or a little wacky. After you have about four or five entries I will provide you with an introduction to the editor and chief of the Mountain Gazette. If he likes your stuff you may get published. They are always looking for material. |
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| Rhadamanthus | Dec 1 2012, 10:07 AM Post #343 |
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Legitimist
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If Alexander is your benchmark, you will fall short. Accept that, and then choose a different benchmark. |
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| Aelius | Dec 1 2012, 11:05 AM Post #344 |
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Norman Warlord
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Everyone who's familiar with Alexander has told me that he's not a great comparison. I suspect it isn't, and I'm not looking to conquer things necessarily, but I still think I should have accomplished more than I have by now. Even Julius Caesar, when comparing himself to Alexander, felt he came up short, and at the time, he was in his early 30s and was Quaestor of Spain. :P Edited by Aelius, Dec 1 2012, 01:43 PM.
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| Rhadamanthus | Dec 1 2012, 12:49 PM Post #345 |
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Legitimist
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Exactly! Alexander was on a whole different level. Don't get me wrong - I understand how you feel, and I feel much the same way about myself, except that I'm a few years older so not having done much more makes me even more depressed. I feel like I'm in a cage but I can't see the bars. |
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| Telosan | Dec 1 2012, 02:25 PM Post #346 |
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The Foremost Intellectual Badass
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^ This is perfect, I think. Perhaps send the entries to NH so he can add his own comments and review before passing it along to the gazette's editor. I don't know if newspapers in Colorado have websites, but if your journal thing is accepted as a regular entry, you'll probably get a little online component to maintain; essentially like your own official blog that you actually get paid for. You just have to pick a topic. But this is generally how a journalist will get their jobs; make a portfolio of your work and send it in to multiple newspapers and magazines. My cousin, graduating at the end of the month with her journalism degree, has several pieces published in both her local and the coastal region papers, in addition to a few articles on a website I can't remember. She intends, and may already have, to apply for a full time job at the regional paper as well as the magazine Wired and the internet magazine Cracked. Just calm down a bit and look; there are plenty of opportunities. By the way, I would suggest any published articles of yours to be added to your portfolio. Just because you don't work for that other writing job anymore doesn't mean you can't claim credit for your work. |
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| NRE | Dec 1 2012, 03:24 PM Post #347 |
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Map Tsar and Southern Gentleman
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I think there are many of us who feel that way RD and Aelius you are certainly not alone either. Of course I'd love to say it is the times we live in, but I think that this is an age old problem that has repeated itself more times than can be counted. If I may though, I have always felt that if military service was not your first choice coming out of high school then it more times than not, will not be the best fit. Of course, I know you've written on this subject before and I, being to lazy to go back and read those post, could be mistaken about that when it comes to you. When it comes to comparisons, I find myself comparing my own circumstances and where I want to go, to my parents. With only a high school education under either of their belts, they built a comfortable middle-class lifestyle form themselves, affording for them and their family more than their parents could have ever afford for them when they were children. However, as I now look at my own prospects I find that even if I were to find employment as an educator, using my college education, I will never amount to the kind of lifestyle my parents afford themselves with high school educations. Now yes there is the generation gap but still I feel that because of my education I should at least be at par with my parents and no so sadly short. As it is, I find myself in much the same shoes as you Aelius. I've questioned my choice in education and where it is I should take myself in life from here forward. There was a time when I greatly worried over the vastly approaching 30 years of age, fearing that it was a death sentence to my life if I was no where further in my life than I am now. While I still hope to be in a profession by then, so long as I'm on that track by then I'll be pleasantly please with my life. What I believe I'm going to do for myself is go back to school and get certified to work in the pharmaceutical field. Its a two year degree from the local community college and given the local hospital's a "learning hospital" there's a better chance of employment. I haven't looked into it completely yet as I still need to find a job doing something first, but this is where I believe the compass of my own life is pointing towards. |
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| Tristan da Cunha | Dec 1 2012, 04:18 PM Post #348 |
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Science and Industry
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Only Napoleon when comparing himself to Alexander was satisfied. |
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| meh | Dec 3 2012, 03:05 PM Post #349 |
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1st Lieutenant
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Hey TO, what would be the best branch to go into if someone was looking to do work in intelligence? And what would be the best way to go about that. |
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| Menhad | Dec 4 2012, 09:00 AM Post #350 |
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ET2(IDW)
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Well the Navy has Cryptologic technician rates. With your background with Arabic, I would think the navy would want you as a CTI (cryptologic technician interpretive). |
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11:33 AM Jul 13