untilgradschool

The types of jobs that you take and decide to be good at say a lot about a person and their character. I’ve managed to find my way into a reputable company that does market analytics with their software and instead of being on the marketing side where my PR degree and writing skills could go to use, I settled for a position in the software support department. I took this job because I decided to quite my last employer due to personal differences (nothing but love in the end, anxiety just pulsated through every nook and cranny of the old place and it started affecting me in a bad way). I had hesitant feelings about taking a job that mostly consisted of checking for data integrity and learning lots about computer operations. I don’t particularly like technology and its inner workings too much except for work processors like the kind I’m typing in now.

But, the learning curve wasn’t as long as I or my boss had expected and I’ve started to learn my job pretty thoroughly. I like the feeling of learning a new skill and using it regularly on the job. Here I am doing all sorts of interesting things on computers but it’s still not what I’m passionate about. I’m making a living out of this job and that’s okay for now. But would I really want to do it forever? Absolutely not. Even being surrounded by so many intelligent creatures who are involved in this market research software, I notice that I could probably thrive in several different aspects of this industry. The corporate marketing and PR world can provide some lucrative careers for people who get in early and learn as much as they can.

But it’s not writing. I’ve always wanted to write for a living. I’ve told myself that I would do what needed to be done until I can truly say I am a full time writer. I don’t want to give up on that dream. I also don’t want to give up on my dreams of moving about the country and world. I’ve felt a lot of security in certain parts of my life in the past few years and it has made me soft in some areas. I don’t feel as bold, daring and risk taking as I used to be. That’s not okay.

I feel like if I kept myself busy sans grad school degree I could be satisfied for quite a while. Developing my skills and acquiring knowledge are both very important to me. Gemini James has a manic side about him that desperately clamors for opportunities for self-improvement. Watching the world go buy un-affected just isn’t an option. The road towards enlightenment is in fact a road that one must travel. Being carried you have no control over your destiny. How is an aggressive approach not acceptable? Being an upstart you say? I am my mother’s son and my father’s offspring. A secretary and a carpenter made this and I shall continue to break the mold.

To take classes or not to take classes? That is the question.

A couple weeks ago my boss had been talking about my colleague’s recent venture towards another master’s degree. He took full charge of making sure he could get reimbursed the full amount through the company’s policy despite the ambiguity of it all. I have only been on the company’s full time pay roll for a month, but including contract work I’ve been here since April. The policy states that class reimbursement doesn’t kick in until after a year and I expressed my feelings of disappointment to my boss. She said I should look into taking classes anyways and that she’d try to get some strings pulled for me to get the reimbursement despite my short time with the company.

The amount being offered for reimbursement isn’t too much. At most of the local private colleges it’s around a third or a half of the actual price a class would cost. That being said, I could potentially try to truck it over to UMass or some other cheaper school for classes. What would I take, exactly? I’ve always toyed with the idea of what sort of classes I would take in my own leisure. If I am not enrolled in a graduate program, then I could take virtually anything.

Then again, my company, as with most companies, will not pay for classes that have nothing at all to do with the employee’s job. So, that means no literature or philosophy classes for me. But, I could potentially squeeze a business writing class out of the ordeal.

There is also the matter of the scheduling. I feel pretty stretched getting out of work at night and coming home as fast as possible to eat, decompress and then get to writing until whenever I feel like sleeping. Going to class twice a week at least with homework would probably put a bit of a hold on my weekday writing. Then again, I’d be writing for classes and getting different types of practice in.

Either way, the longevity of my stay at my current employer will benefit me to some degree up until the point where I need to take a quantum leap into the unknown and profitable. The time I stay here I need to pursue as many fulfilling exercises of personal growth that present themselves as possible. If I can manage to get a bit more responsibility brought onto my shoulders and maybe get promoted once or twice, along with making blog and news writing clips and taking a class or two, I think my resume will shine above the rest for many of the positions I hope to hold a little later, or more like a year or two from now, in my career.

Sometimes I feel like I need to find a muse. I have lots of inspiration all around me in the people and places I’ve seen, but I need a muse that I’ve heard so many writers have. This will keep me motivated when I get out from a long day at work and am scratching and clawing for some sort of inspiration to write about. Regarding writing an actual book, it’s been too many late nights and early mornings where I’ve sat in front of my screen hoping for the plot, characters and just words in general to come. All I get is …

I feel as if I saw a lot in Chicago that I don’t see much at home. The city is just expansive and goes on for what seems forever. Lots and lots of diversity pulses throughout the streets and it is exciting and encouraging to know that opportunity has found its way into so many people’s lives. Not to say that poverty isn’t an issue, as there are a good amount of homeless people living on the streets of Chicago. This is a sad fact of big city life which is something that everyone no matter where they are needs to combat. Max even showed me some of the local street people whom he had developed a rapport with and helped them out when he could. Max felt at home away from home. I want that new excitement in my life again.

In my last hours in Prague I found myself continually joking around with Max about how I was just going to “work from home” in Chicago until my company fired me and ordered me to send my laptop back, in which time I would be able to find my own place to live and a job to sustain myself. Obviously not a well thought out or realistic plan, but the more I said it aloud the more melancholy yet determined I got. I thought, “could I do it?” So many voices have told me that there isn’t anything “out there” that isn’t right here at home. If I can’t make it here than how can I really make it anywhere else?

When I got home my mother text messaged me and told me I should move there. She said it would be nice to have someone to go visit out there. Then after a little while on the phone with my girlfriend she told me, in a truly touching way that she thought I should give Chicago a shot too. I didn’t even bring the idea up to her. She said she could hear it in my voice how excited I got just talking about the place and the feeling I got when I was there. She said she really thought I needed to start actively looking for jobs out there any applying.

I figure that I would need some time indeed to get my money situation in order enough to make a major move half way across the country. If I had a job waiting for me, that would make things significantly easier on me. But nothing is guaranteed. Caitlin thinks that in the time it would take me to apply and really sort out jobs I want and hear back from them I could save up some money and possibly even get an offer to be flown out for an interview. Who knows? Maybe I could even get a relocation allowance. Caitlin told me that a test like true distance and pursing our dreams could help us find out if “out there” is really what we want or if it is each other we want. We could even have both someday if we’re lucky.

I am fairly certain that after some time spent at my current job getting experience and possibly being promoted or learning a acquiring a lot more skills, I will feel truly compelled to make my move. A co-worker is leaving for Colorado at the end of the month on a whim to become excellent at snowboarding and just live the life of a young person for a little while. She really got me thinking when I found out she was doing that.

Grad school there? Grad School here? Grad School then? Grad School when? I’ve got to figure out something to do until Grad School!

Last Friday morning I left for Chicago to stay with my friend Maxime who I had met during my study abroad in Prague, Czech Republic in 2005. It is weird for me to think that it was three years ago that we met and had the time of our lives in a strange country. I have a hard time remembering things that happened last week yet the 5 months that I spent in Prague are still as clear and sharp as this very moment that I am typing this entry.

The plan on going to Chicago was to not really have a plan and let the winds of chance and curiosity takes me wherever they pleased. Max had to work the first day so I decided to walk until I got hungry which usually doesn’t take too long. In this case I wound up walking at a good clip stopping just to visit a museum of “freedom” and to ogle over the former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski get into a car accident right in front of my own two eyes.

The first day was beautiful as far as weather goes. Max had offered to take my bags to the offices so I only had my backpack with camera and laptop for electronic necessities. I spent the first hour or two getting my bearings straight and mapping out the city blocks within my own mind. Once I knew where I was and how to get back to Max’s office I ventured off a bit down Michigan Avenue where all of the shops and sights were. I didn’t notice too much on my first day of walking and I felt like I had missed something. I finally went back to Max’s office to meet up for some lunch and plan out the rest of the weekend.

Later on that night Max took me out to meet his ex-girlfriend for a traditional Chicago deep-dish pizza. It was delicious and she was charming. I can totally see why he moved out there for her. After that we went out and partied a bit at some bars. Nothing was so remarkable about the way the bars were set up, but they were definitely crammed with some beautiful people. We didn’t have to pay for drinks either night that we were there because Max, of course, befriended bartenders and employees (and in one case a bar owner!).

I felt like a young person in Prague again. I was in a strange city that I knew very little about and so much of the experience kept unfolding before my eyes. As I was drunk and wandering the city both the first night and the second night I felt excited yet not menaced by my surroundings. The days after I had been out at night felt that much better. I think the initial feeling of being under whelmed when I got there was just because I hadn’t adjusted to the rhythm of the city yet. The same thing happened to me in Prague.

This isn’t too big of an aside from the normal topics I write about, but Buy Worcester Now is one of the most exciting opportunities that I have ever read about. I’ve gone in and out of my phases in life which have brought me half way around the world and back. But every time I get away for a little bit I find myself appreciating where I am from even more. I truly have found a love for Worcester deep in my heart and the older I have gotten compared to the days where I couldn’t get out fast enough, I feel as if my stake in Worcester’s betterment has risen tremendously.

I am a product of Worcester. Wherever I go I don’t tell people I am from Boston. I say I live in Boston, or right outside of it, but I always say that I am proudly from Worcester. It has taken some maturity for me to figure out why I love Worcester, but aside from my family being there, I think my tendency to root for the underdog keeps me interested in Worcester. So much concentrated wealth exists in and around Boston and the rat race makes me feel like a true rodent.

As I continue to work my ass off day to day, I have found myself in a good job making a good salary doing something I don’t love so much, but am still interested in. The people I work with are becoming friends and it is a good feeling.

But there is something missing. I am showing signs of my hard work. I have a new car, I am traveling sometimes and I get to do fun things with the people I love. But I feel I need a new challenge and something to covet. I want an education bad, but knowing myself I will get my masters and probably my Ph.D. no matter what, hell or high water.

A long time ago I said that I would sacrifice the ideal of owning my own home so that I could work jobs for less money and live more simply. But I’m coming to realize that no matter how hard I put the brakes on I can’t seem to slow down the pace of my lifestyle. I don’t care to be rich, but I hope to pursue the things I truly care about someday without the worry of having to make a great paycheck every week. I want to have my bases covered.

I know the best way to work towards that goal is to accumulate some personal equity. I am saving towards my 401k retirement plan every week. I know the next notch should be a home. Paying rent is garbage, especially in my situation. I’m trying to work out a situation where I can work close to where I live most of the time. I’d like to buy my first home in Worcester and even though I work in Watertown, making that sacrifice is something I’m looking to make.

http://buyworcesternow.com is where I hope to start. There are some good affordable homes on here. I’ll have to start small, but who knows where it could get me? This is just another step I want to make. Can I get a boost?!?!

I’d love to get in touch with people who are also serious about getting back to school. I feel like I only have contact with people who want to eventually go to grad school someday, for something. Or, I find myself talking shop with folks who have taken their standardized tests and basically are already accepted in the program of their choice already. I’d really appreciate a comrade in arms in this voyage.

I have great mentors. I can’t say enough how much I appreciate all of the advice I get from my friends and family who have accomplished things that I aspire to. Sometimes I just feel like I’m in on this by myself and a little bit of competitive energy always helps.

Or not. Sometimes the things I do well at are done on a solo level. I’ll do what I have to do in the long run. If I have people behind me, that’s great. If not, the motivation for what lies ahead is only more fuel for my fire.

Every time the price tag of education induces despair, someone always seems to enlighten my perspective and give a new burst of enthusiasm to my aspirations. Recently speaking to a friend of mine who is on the cusp of finishing him Ph.D. in a social science field, he strongly encouraged me to keep at what I’m doing for as long as I need to so that I can eventually get hired by a college, thus alleviating my loan burden for graduate school. Boston has so many colleges I find it hard to believe that there are not enough positions for people of my skill level.

What could I offer to a college’s administrative offices? Clearly with my measly bachelor’s degree I cannot teach. Does this leave me to copying professor’s papers? Shall I only answer phones? Looking at marketing jobs, one can only imagine why a college or university would seek outside candidates for professional jobs even though they produce degrees within that field? Could I possibly be better than one of their very own graduates? Who knows? I just want to get in good with the people handing out jobs and handing out degrees. I’ll take one of both. Who knows if I’ll stick around long afterward, but I’ll sure serve my purpose.

I need to know who’s picking up the tab. Or at the very least, what is my rate of reimbursement? I’m talking about higher education, not a business dinner. An impulse buy would easily merit enrollment and months of study. After the classes are finished and the loans are not in deferment, it’s a little too late to apply a cost-benefit analysis. Living life on a “what if” basis can be costly in and of itself, but as I’ve reviewed in previous posts, where does the true benefit lie? The ultimate goal is to eventually maneuver one’s way out of the corporate landscape where the next step to higher ground is probably at least an annual review away.

Entrepreneurship. What does it take to become a business owner? For many, I’d assume that working for one’s self is a wide spread dream. Taking orders from within and doing whatever it takes on your own terms to earn and maintain clients and revenue seems like an amazing way to eek out a living. Although there is a notorious amount of hard work that goes into running a business, it clearly develops character in the business owner. Additionally the path of the business is lead in the direction that the owner has decided worthy. Having everyone paddle like mad just to stay afloat is disconcerting and clearly not the way to develop self worth and independence.

Working for a start up could even be better. The excitement and opportunity to develop your skills free of any corporate firewalls that discourage such behavior. Start ups also require a good amount of hours being put in. But, as mentioned before the sheer excitement of working towards building a business that isn’t quite yet defined as an entity seems ideal for the creative person with a good work ethic.

Where does the graduate degree come into play? Sometimes in a company or organizations brochure to potential employees they’ll have an actually pay scale comparing those with a bachelors degree to those possessing a masters degree. That’s somewhat intimidating for anyone with the lesser of the two educations. It might lead one to think that there is no place for a person who doesn’t have the highly valued Masters in Something.

Other times the person with just the undergraduate degree can seem more pliable. After all, they’re looking for a paycheck plus experience. After dishing out tens of thousands of dollars, you’re bound to develop a complex of what people may or may not owe you. The bachelor degree holding candidate who has a passion for the work might make a much better co-worker and person to be groomed into a leadership role. 

No matter what degree of education a person may hold, they must stay flexible. If you’re short on dough and simply cannot afford to venture into an immediate capital drain that is graduate school, then what will you do in the meantime until you are prepared? Clearly if you are serious about your career, you’ll stay busy with whatever your decided craft may be. Be productive and keep your eyes on the prize.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/08/01/new_report_is_expected_to_show_more_job_losses/

In a nation of hundreds of millions, is 51 thousand a huge amount? After all, it’s just a number. But think of your friend who’s a young father or mother, working long hours to support their family. They do all the right things and suddenly without clear warning their job is gone from beneath them. Fear, shock, anger, sadness, etc… Suddenly the despair of trying to make ends meet is forced upon these people. I’m sure that everyone knows at least one person that this has happened to. Maybe it’s even happened to you.

What are the preventative measures? People throughout the pecking order of companies are laid off during hard times. What separates the fired from the fixtures? Probably connections and skills separate the partitioned. When someone differentiates themselves as being indispensable, as opposed to being green or too old to train, they’ve got the “in.” I’ve never lived through a recession such as the one we’re seing now, but I’m guessing that the outcome is a lot of purged organizations with the lean ones becoming the most profitable at the end of the tunnel. Does that sound too pre-management of me? Forgive me, dear.

But, 51,000 individuals who are thrown out on their asses left to fend for themselves without earned income? The thought makes me shudder in fear of it happen for myself and in sympathy for them. I’m young and I have much less to lose. Nobody is relying on me for their food every day.

Where did the jobs go? How do we get them back? Is the real estate market completely to blame? Possibly many of the jobs lost were construction jobs in new developments. Where can these people be employed assuming that the housing boom is over and done with? Renewables? More sustainable development jobs and training are needed. Maybe that’s what I need to integrate into my future education plans.

I want to stay valuable. I want to stay relevant. Public jobs can suck and they don’t pay too well. Straight up MBA jobs are though because you could manage virtually any industry. I want to be specialized. Social and green business needs to be done. There are problems that need to be remedied and trained professionals will make a huge part in that. I don’t quite know the answer or direct path yet, but the path to a good job should include good training.

The entire country will need to work together on this problem. A new deal is needed. Who is dealing the cards? People who can look objectively at where we’ve intrinsically relied upon growth and examine whether those aspects of growth are sustainable. Taking what we know about climate change, energy supply issues and the myriad of other scientific advances we’ve made, there should be millions of jobs to be made. Not just graduate degree jobs; I’m talking life-time trades, bachelor degree jobs, and graduate school careers. Everyone can benefit from this. I want to get in line and help the building of the next bubble. No denying my motives, for sure.