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You thought this was about walter?

This thread is about school, your career, where do you see yourself in 5 years, meeting with your careers counselor, what do you want to be when you grow up?, inspiring rap songs, depressing punk songs, finding yourself, post high school anxiety, gap years, post college depression, what am I doing with my life?

tears evrytime, this video makes me think about life.

/

5 years from now i want to be able to create things. a job and college and money is cool and all, but i honestly just want to be able to.. do things. like music and art. i also wanna live somewhere that isn't so devoid of people and things to do.

"Future", there's a good joke. It used to be such an exciting word of post-university possibilities.

Now I'm trapped in a well paying job that I hate and don't do my best in, I can't stand the field I studied so hard for (yet it's very comfortable, easy to find jobs and high paying), I'm stuck in an irrevocably broken relationship and have a pretty shitty home life and live in a deathly, crushingly dull town in this backwater of a country. Every one of these things is something I can, in theory, change and i've got everything going for me to do so (i'm young, have a masters degree, have money, aren't tied down by children, etc) but fuck if I know how to do anything about it or even how to wake myself from this stupor of inaction. Instead I distract myself with travel and talking to people on the internet about clothes.

What do I want to do? I'd love to do something creative with my life (who wouldn't though right): be it music or art or designing fashion. But honestly I have no real talent at anything, no professional or academic history with this and no real work ethic to get good at it all. I did, however, just go out to town and buy a drawing pad and some pencils on advice of my therapist - perhaps if I start to draw again (I was really serious about it as a teenager and planned to become a graphic designer) I can learn to just enjoy a creative outlet as a hobby.

As much as I hate my job I know that jumping ship to another job in the same field will incur a not-insignificant chance of that being a job I hate too but for significantly less pay so what's the point really. Maybe there are IT jobs out there that would still light my fire but I don't remember how to be interested in the subject or how to look for these jobs. Also, 2 years of fiddling about in COBOL, excel and SAP have withered away my once proficient ability to actually write code and design software.

Sorry for the depressing words, here's Bobby & co

[youtube]?v=R4TM-ZU7W_Y[/youtube]

One thing syek, smart kids like I assume you were/are often get told "wow you're really good at that" rather than "wow you worked really hard at that". Apparently this leads to a thing where they're afraid of trying things they don't know they have a natural aptitude for. This is generally not a good approach to life so don't not do something because you're worried you don't have much "talent" in the field.

Talent is insanely overrated compared to luck and hard work.

Syek ditch your job and move to Cambridge you can find some hippie startup company where noone wears shoes and everyone turns up at 11. Probably take a bit of a pay cut and have to live in an even more boring city but you won't have that oppressive corporate environ.

The idea that once I have my degree and am doing actual engineering work I most likely won't make what I made last summer as an 18 year old with no skills and a highschool diploma until I'm in my 30s is fucking depressing and even though I'd feel like a failure if I didn't go back to school it's surprising how attractive the idea of keeping an ok paying job is when the alternative is making pennies until I get my p eng.

syeknom do this http://www.arts.ac.uk/csm/courses/short ... .en.223851

(smiling)))

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by March I want to be healthy enough (recovered from back and knee injuries I've been dealing with) to dance at my birthday party

by April I want to be living in Brooklyn

by this time next year I want to have visited Europe and Scandinavia

within the next few years I want to work as general manager at a restaurant where I enjoy the food, the culture, the work and my employees

within 5-8 years I'd like to do some form of marketing or simple design work for a growing fashion label

at ten to fifteen, among other businesses I plan to own a bar in a neighborhood I like where I can foster the kind of community I find at my favorite bars and restaurants

the whole time I will strive to maintain my health, attend as many dance events and battles as I can, brunch with friends, work on the relationships within my family, stay in therapy, and bring as many great people as I can to work for and with me

I wrote my college essay on being average. I have not had a particularly interesting life, and there's nothing really outstanding about me, and I just want to find something where I can help people while living comfortably. Nursing seemed like a good fit because I come from a long line of nurses going back to my great grandfather who drove an ambulance in the war.

By January I would like to be accepted to Northeastern. They're a little erratic regarding who gets in and who doesn't so I'm not sure if I'm going to get in; I've aced most of the APs my school has to offer and I'm taking 6 more this year but my school doesn't weight GPAs so my class ranking is pretty low. Before high school I skipped middle school and took community college courses instead, not sure if they're going to see that as a positive or a negative.

I had a falling out with a really close friend recently and in the next few months I want to really try to improve my relationship with her.

In five years I want to be studying nursing in Boston but besides that I want to do what feels right because I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qbk-xo6Zqs[/youtube]

Guess I'm an optimist after reading all of these... I hope to be living in California doing software engineering for a living, making a fair amount of money to start and eventually hope to start my own.. At the very least I wanna move someplace bigger than/not my hometown. We'll see how things go over the next year or two.

Which city?

You have some very admirable goals, Schia - I hope it all works out for you. The place where design and computing meet is a really richly rewarding area.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Germ: that looks great - really want to do something like that. If/when my relationship finally falls apart I'll probably move to london at some point.

Talent is certainly bullshit but so is my work ethic for things I'm not amped up on. It's a case of trying different things and seeing if I can get some form of motivation or zest back into my life I guess.

Syeknom, I relate to what you're going through on a basic level. It seems like we've had similar inclinations growing up, just based on what you've posted about your youth. I don't really have anything else to say but except that there are intelligent, creatively minded (if not creatively able) people everywhere. Maybe we can't do what we want absolutely but we can seek some solace in a tolerable job that allows us some degree of freedom? I also believe that a lot of this anxiety and discontent would be ameliorated by a good romantic relationship. For some reason, I think it leads to complacency in the sense of everything that sucks not really sucking as much anymore since 'lol my gf'.

When I was in high school the future was all about music. I wanted nothing more and was supported by friends, family and by the teachers I had at the time. It was enthralling getting rewarded for putting yourself out there, and I was convinced it was my true self being mediated through the music and singing, but being an introvert it was also incredibly terrifying at the same time. The way I thought about it, it was the very core of my self being turned down if people didn't think what I was doing was any good. Ultimately I got scared of the possibility of rejection and I gave it up, I've sold all my electrical guitars and equipment and all that remains is a couple of acoustics in the corner of my room collecting dust. I've settled with the thought of not writing and performing, and the aspirations in that area has cooled down.

At the beginning of my undergrad study I started handsewing ties and bowties and wanted to build a business doing that. I never felt confident in the quality of what I made and I left it after spending a couple of years on it. Now I'm studying for my masters degree in management in the creative industries, but isn't devoting any time to it and I'm not sure if it's something I want to do. Instead I'm spending all my time doing leatherwork and for the first time I believe 100% in the stuff I'm putting out there.

The dreams of the future has dulled down as I've gotten older, maybe by getting more realistic and realizing working for money means fuck-all if you're not happy. Having your own business and making your own decisions does. In two years time I'll have my master's degree and I dream of opening a small shop in Copenhagen just earning enough money to keep doing what I'm doing. Small shop, limited work hours and having the time to enjoy other things in life than working for paychecks at a company where I don't feel at home. That's the dream.

Graduating in May. I want to travel for ~six months to get my mind right, then hopefully find a job working for a non profit somewhere that's not Iowa, to see if I like it.

If not, I hope to be working for ben in 3-6 years.

GAPLIFE

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If ever there was a thread that drove home how much older I am than everybody here it's this one. Hang in there young bucks. If it's any help I was a directionless mess after college for a good year. I eventually wised up and realized getting paid in half cash and half marijuana is probably not going to turn out well in the long run. Meeting my wife was a huge part of that. It made me want to live for something. My life has since turned out really well for me. I went back to school and got an internship. I lucked out and had an amazing mentor and I've been in my career for a good 12 years now. I don't love it anymore. I downright hate it sometimes but I came to accept a long time ago that it doesn't define me. It's just a job. And that's ok with me because everyone needs to make money. Some people will luck out and do something they love. Most people won't. That might seem heavy when you're young but it's really not if you have other stuff outside of your career that fulfills you.

Enough of the past. Most of my immediate future will be watching my kids grow up. It's the most amazing and frustrating thing you can imagine. The highs are really high and the lows are really low and there's a good amount of boredom mixed in but it's totally worth it. Every cliche you hear about raising children is true.

I just want to get to the point where they're more self sufficient. Once they're in school and I have a little ore time on my hands I want to get back into songwriting and just playing music in general. That was all I did before I had kids. I have albums worth of stuff laying around waiting to be finished. Also looking forward to traveling with my family. I love road trips.

man, this is such an interesting topic.

3 years ago, i couldn't have even imagined i'd be where i am now, let alone 5. 3 years ago, i thought i'd be getting married to my ex, working in the financial world, and basically living a life between singapore and the us as some sort of weird trophy husband.

instead i work in data analysis and marketing, have left my ex-girlfriend of six years, and have a new one, who is very different in many ways, but also similar in several crucial others. i'm stuck in a company that i hate, but in an industry that i enjoy greatly. my colleagues are stuck, just like me and we have bonded together because misery loves company. it has only been a little over the year and i am the most senior strategist in the company, due to high turnover.

luckily, i just had a four-hour interview for a high-profile market research role for a company that seems super-cool and is the leader in their industry. it would be interesting having the chance to get my work published in major trade pubs and mainstream newspapers if i get the role. unfortunately, the other candidates in the running are data science phd grads and according to one of my interviewers, a professor of statistics. so it seems like it is going to be an uphill battle getting this job. i do have the unique perspective of coming at this from within the industry, so i have a greater knowledge of the landscape as a whole that the other candidates do not. i really hope i get this.

outside of my career troubles, the future seems pretty nice. a lot of dreams i had in college seem a little naive now. nowadays, a lot of my dreams for the future revolve around just being happy and positive, and making sure my friends and family are happy too. a lot more nebulous than my old goals of making my first million by 30 or whatever dumb idea i had only a few years ago.

do have a loose goal of getting my skydiving license though. no real deadline on it. and travelling more. that one is a little more immediate.

also that sounds awful, syeknom. i hope things get better

lose enough weight to fit flatteringly into 19cms, detroits and balmah bikers

you appear to be at a healthy weight, what's your height, weight, and BF% if you know

it would be nice to live in a place that is less cold

I will have started in gym at the start of the new year.
I will be fit by March if not April, so I can start wearing medium sized shirts and 30 waist pants, instead of wearing XS and 28 waist.

I will have found out what I want to study before summer 2014 and I will start studying it after the summer of that year.
I will have moved from Aalborg and will have said thanks for a great year, to the people who has made my time in Aalborg enjoyable.

I will move to Copenhagen and study whatever my future study might be.
Space doesn't mean much to me at the moment. I just want to be in the big city where things happend often (concerts, sample sales, outdoor activies/events), and not once every month.

Most educations in Denmark, provides the oppertunity to study abroad on either your 2nd, 3rd or all of your study years. I really like the idea of studying somewhere else than Denmark, at this every moment.

A year from now I will have done atleast a fourth of my bucket list, which I am currently building up from my everday wants/dreams/hopes.

Arrange a meet up in Denmark/scandinavia or attend one.

1-2 years: Have the body I want. Making my return to the gym when I go home for break.

4 years: Earn my chemical engineering degree and either (a) have a job offer or (b) go to grad school.

Post-education:
-Move into a small place of my own and build furniture/decor for it
-Achieve wardrobe nirvana and lose that feeling of desire for more garms

Saturday night musing while I take a break from finishing work:

academic/career goals:
6 months - Get to the point where I both practice programming/drawing daily (producing meaningful things in general instead of simply consuming)
1 year - Finish my first year in my new program, become more involved at school (instead of wasting time on the internet), expand my current businesses (lol this is so weird to say but w/e)
2 years - *Hopefully* get accepted to study abroad at the Bauhaus (a personal dream of mine, s/o to Gropius) for a semester, hopefully score a position as a research assistant
3 years - Go to grad school (this has always been a goal of mine)
5 years - Find a job that is both challenging and stimulating (hopefully somewhere warm or with some history)

Personal goals:
- Get healthy (i.e. continue w/ therapy to hopefully get off my anxiety meds)
- Show my love/appreciation for everything, being happy and positive in general
- Do more for others
- Make new friends, find more mentors :-)
- Own more junya

Struggled last 2-3 years to get accepted into a US MD school due to just average MCAT/GPA. Finally got accepted into a school in Chicago

Academically I want to be in the top of my class passing classes with honors so that I never again feel the regret of not studying hard enough and being limited in where I can go and what I am allowed to do

Personally, make new/more friends in Chicago, allow myself more liberties, have the courage to be less frugal and allow myself to do/buy what I want as opposed to what I need, organize my life, sleep earlier

Realistically right now it looks like I have a job doing product management at a small but well funded start-up after my graduation next year, so I'm incredibly thankful for that. I hope to gain some experience there, then move out to San Francisco and work a similar job. End goals are a postgrad degree, either an MBA or MArch depending on career goals/aspirations at the time (essentially if I'm burnt out or not). I would love to get to a point where I can do product management work internationally, preferably in Berlin.

Product management toes a good line for me as far as enjoyability/feasibility/compensation. The work isn't my passion per se, but I do feel challenged at work every day, which is important to me.

On the short term, I'm incredibly excited for my last year of school, the classes I'm slated to take first semester are a the first half of a full year honors english thesis, an intro to pottery class, and a electronic music production class. I'll be creating so many awesome things! Also, my best friend will be back from India and I'll be living with him again, which will be so great. If the GF and I continue the way we currently are, it seems like the making for a perfect year...

Man, this thread hits right in the feels.

I never really had much for talents growing up except for perhaps being pretty good at playing WoW and not doing homework in high school. For whatever reason though, my playing with Legos as a child and building houses in the Sims for months on end led me to pursue architecture in high school. After four years of being part of a tight knit community of people looking for the same thing, I decided my senior year that I wanted nothing to do with it anymore. I didn't really have anything else to do, nor did I know what else I could do. I didn't even know what the hell an engineer did.

Decided to go for business at a state school and hated it. I didn't necessarily mind the major but I really didn't enjoy the school, but I managed to get good grades. I left after a year, decided I wanted to go to art school for photography, which was a hobby that I managed to pick up and still try and partake in today. Got into a pretty good school and got offered a ton of money, but realized I still could afford a couple Porsche 911s for the money I'd pay so I decided to bail out. Went to community college to finish up that business associates and made some good relationships with a few of the department heads. One of them pushed me towards my current school where I started a few months ago, and I decided to apply. Got in for management and then realized that it was a useless degree and that I wanted something that actually had some specific skills that have some sort of application to them. Before I started, I looked into the majors a bit more and settled on "Global Supply Chain Management" which is basically a fancy name for supply chain management. Realizing that it actually had some sort of applied skills that I actually found interesting, as well as being in demand, I settled on it.

So now I'm a few months into that. I've battled some depressed feelings over the past few years in relation to my future, at times almost wanting to drop off the face of the earth and live in the woods because I spent too much time on the internet reading about how worthless you are unless you are an engineer or a programmer. I realized that sitting around in a cubicle isn't for me, and I hope to work in a field that allows me a bit of travelling or at least not working in a traditional office setting. SCM is great because it often involves working in manufacturing settings. I have found that I would much rather spend time in a manufacturing setting with the type of people that end up there than some soulless office that I loathe.

Ultimately I'd like to apply my SCM education and get into the fashion industry. I'm not too sure how to get into that, but I expect it would be after college and I would need to move to New York. I also have been making a conscious effort to just attempt to live more happily. I read more, I take more photographs, I have been planning out a photobook and a trip this summer that will hopefully give me a new project to work on, I have an amazing girlfriend that I don't tell her how much I appreciate her as much as I should, and I often find happiness in the littlest details. A clean room can bring some sort of happiness. A perfectly fitting shirt is something I can find happiness in. The feelings I get when imagine how rad my fits are gonna be this summer rocking my new qlo linen pants make me happy. Daydreams about a nice little apartment with minimal decoration and a few plants that I hope to learn how to not kill makes me happy.

So yeah, I try to stay optimistic about my future despite how hard it can be. I at least have some sort of goals, and I figure that if I keep creating things then I will be happy. I seem to get most depressed when I go into periods where I do not produce anything. Whether it is my photography, or cooking a pizza or something, or even come up with an analysis of a book that I haven't thought of before, I feel as if we as humans have to produce something for us to feel fulfilled. If I end up wanting to kill myself after 5 years in my career, I plan on hitting up trade school and become a welder or opening up a nice little pizza shop.