Feeling Kinda Lost Lately....

[CSBolger]

Relevant to my situation.

I'm 19, but not being able to afford school this semester has been a massive reality check for me.

I wanted to get a BA in English or Communications and write for a magazine like Rolling Stone or something automotive-related. After looking into the amount of schooling it takes to be in a very unstable profession, I had to rethink it.

Now I'm starting at Kragen the next city over, and I plan to get my ASE "parts" certification there, then an ASE "light mechanic" one. After that I hope to transfer over to a dealership and work as a tech. Eventually opening up a 70s-90s Euro shop is the ultimate goal.

Thing is, I'm terrified of how I'm going to make it all happen. I don't come from money so I can't really hang around and sap money from my family, and I still love writing - I honestly don't know if I like working on cars or writing more. They're equal to me, but I get different things out of either one.

As long as I make enough to live comfortably, play around with cars, and support whoever it is I'm with at that point, I'll be fine. Any less and it will be a serious problem.

Good luck everyone - I know I need it, haha.

[HarryCWB]

That's great to see a discussion like this here in SW.

I'm a moderator of one of the strongest car forums here in Brazil, and there is a discussion just like this one going there. We are all about the same age, sharing the same lifestyle, interests and, as far as I can see, the worries, too, lol.

I'm 20 y.o., getting a major in Computing, and still not sure on what to work on.. Although the universities here in Brazil are a little different (there are no dorms, and there are many campi throughout the city), I can surely say the friends I made in college will be with me for the whole life. I still keep in touch with, hum, 8 people from high school. But college is different.

I identified myself with prodigee, I think I may be on the same situation. And it is really great to see we are not alone on that, and that it has even crossed country borders, lol.

[Kielan]

Relevant to my situation.

I'm 19, but not being able to afford school this semester has been a massive reality check for me.

I wanted to get a BA in English or Communications and write for a magazine like Rolling Stone or something automotive-related. After looking into the amount of schooling it takes to be in a very unstable profession, I had to rethink it.

Now I'm starting at Kragen the next city over, and I plan to get my ASE "parts" certification there, then an ASE "light mechanic" one. After that I hope to transfer over to a dealership and work as a tech. Eventually opening up a 70s-90s Euro shop is the ultimate goal.

Thing is, I'm terrified of how I'm going to make it all happen. I don't come from money so I can't really hang around and sap money from my family, and I still love writing - I honestly don't know if I like working on cars or writing more. They're equal to me, but I get different things out of either one.

As long as I make enough to live comfortably, play around with cars, and support whoever it is I'm with at that point, I'll be fine. Any less and it will be a serious problem.

Good luck everyone - I know I need it, haha.

You can do it bro, you know what you want to do, so go for it. Make sure you have the right certifications, the right location, and the your head is in the right place and you can do it. Get a job as a writer somewhere because you love it so much, get some funds from that, and then build toward opening the shop. I know it all seems daunting but if you spend a few hours really thinking about it, and planning it out, it will all come together. I know that plans fall apart and there are no fail proof plans but when you really do set your mind to something and you know you really want it, you can do it, and nothing will stand in your way until you get there.


EDIT: My best post so far was also my 900th. Go figure.

[RedE46Bimmer]

Holy crap Feburary 2010 and your already at 900 post lolz

[the dingo]

kind of a post whore if you ask me.

[Kielan]

Just a little bit.

[Wyo_A4]

Totally in the same boat.

I'm a sophomore at UW and had everything figured out when I started college. I wanted to do graphic design and advertising. But now after going through some of the classes and stuff I have completely lost interest in an art degree. It doesn't help that i'm also struggling to make it through a full load of classes anyways and might have to leave for a semester because of academic probation.

I'm sort of leaning towards going in the journalism/communications field but not really sure. 2 of my roommates and my girlfriend have everything perfectly figured out in their lives and that certainly doesn't help... I'm just not sure what i'm good at and what I would enjoy doing as a career.

[ray ban]

I'm just not sure what i'm good at and what I would enjoy doing as a career.

This

[Vegas13]

having no friends isnt so bad, only friend i have here now is my ol' lady
i associate with ppl at work, but i cant stand one of them.

im not from this area, so i have no friends. I actually heard that ppl in this town are talking baout my car tho, when i went to autozone.

that makes me smile. but honestly i **** everyone.

StanceWorks and DriftIndy are my only friends lol

[crxgames]

I'm kind of in the same boat. I'm 19 and love programming, cars, and photography. I'm majoring in computer science at the university of cincinnati, but I just have no drive with anything anymore. I'm better than 95% of the people in all of my CS related classes, all of the classes I can get through without paying attention since I already know 90% of the material, so I'm bored daily.

Due to my major, almost all of my classes consist of 100% men. I rarely meet many anyone (male/female) outside of like 5 of my CS buddies since I live at home and don't dorm. Due to that, I'm never invited to anything where I can actually meet people.

To top all of this off, I haven't had a good job in a year and a half. I was working at a startup making $30/hr doing web programming before it sold. It was awesome, but now I can't even find a single computer related job worth applying for.

Plus, I don't get along with my parents. My dad knows I **** him, so he's a complete jackass to me. And all of my friends from high school, except for 2 of them, just piss me off anymore. I only ever talk to one girl (not my car =p) that's a pretty good friend.

Life is pretty depressing at times. It seems like all I ever really get joy out of anymore is working on my s13/xb and driving.

[chev_chelios]

i know this thread is older but i need to say that you don't have to dread on what you want to become as long as you have long term goals in mind. seems like the younger people today have way more stress and **** and all i can say is you don't want to live like that because it doesn't get easier. save money, live life, and be happy. more people than you think change careers in a life and once you get your degree, you can always go back and get another one.

i'm changing careers, going to college for the first time, and i'm older than you. i'm even planning on working for the next 7 months straight on the road (if this job works out) just to save two years of rent so i can get my associates and only have to work a part time job.

do what you need to and don't base your life on what others think it should be. it takes planning and sacrifice to get where you want and it seems like at least you are on the right track. instead of finishing my car, i parted it and am getting it ready to sell it so i can get rid of my last payment. i'm even getting rid of all my furniture so i don't have to move it when i head some 1000 miles away to hit up this school i'm looking at. it sucks doing this, but at least i'm lucky enough to not have married the last girlfriend or have kids period.

get where you want with the least amount of obstacles.

[Ezze90]

Don't transfer. just stick with where you are now until you figure something out. my first semester at college, (fall of '09), I was at a tech school and had my mind dead set on becoming an auto tech with dan (wheelfetish). then i decided it wasn't for me and went to a college closer to home so i just commute. after this semester of being undecided and did my gen eds. i just finally went into psychology. you just gotta try new things, see if you can get into intro courses. ask your advisor what can you do and stuff like that. rome wasn't built in a day. i'm assuming you just finished your freshman year or sophmore year, but you just gotta put yourself out there. i know it doesn't sound like much advice but thats really how it works. idk how much this helped, if even at all.

[RedE46Bimmer]

I forgot I made this thread haha

Yeah so it turns out my boss came up to me the other day and to make a semi-long convorsation short, he told me there were a couple LPM(Loss Prevention Manager) jobs are opening up in the company soon and that he thinks I have what it takes to be one. So I could be making $35-$40K a year without a college degree. I know not going to college may seem like a bad coice....but I **** it so much. Between the laziness and ADD it's unbearable haha. So I'm probably going to get put on a LPM training course and see where it takes me.As of right now I LOVE my job. It's so fun and there really isn't much boredom with it chasing down shoplifters and stuff. So I could definately see myself doing it.

Thanks for the helpful replies btw guys, they help more than you think probably.

[BreakMyWallet]

in was like that last year. i got injured before baseball season and needed surgery. im at the point where im just getting school done so i can try and get drafted for baseball. i seriously bust my ass working out every single day, so im hoping it pays off. i had a decent season this year and have 1 more next year at a CC. ill take a scholarship, but fuck im so over school.

but if i didnt have baseball, i would definitely stick school out. everyone hates that shit dude, but its worth more than almost any job can provide. put in your work, bust your ass for a few years and move onwith your life.

think of it this way, when youre 35/40 years old, are you going to look back and be like "damn, i wish i wouldve stayed in school." or are you going to look back and say "damn, i wish i would have taken that LPM job."

my .02

[OSSHWA]

I feel ya man.

I'm 23, I have no college degree and very minimal college time to my name in general, and the icing on the fail cake is the fact that I still reside in the little black hole of a town that I grew up in. I'm not even gonna get into why I never finished college.....but lets just say it involved parents moving 2 states away and me staying in VA for a girl that wound cheating on me.

It's not all bad.....I do live with 2 of my 3 best friends, and my other best friend is a half hour drive away and I still see quite regularly as well. I also happen to have a very good job with amazing benefits/401k that more than supports me financially speaking for now. However, I feel that without a degree of some sort I will eventually hit a ceiling at that job.....but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now I have no children and plenty of spending money.....and I intend on keeping it that way.

However, it's super depressing seeing alot of my old high school buddies graduating from top notch schools with kick ass degrees. I mean i'm certainly happy for them....and even though i'm not doing "bad" for myself by any means....I still feel like a bum compared to them. It's like they went, lived the college experience (which I never had the luxury/experience of doing) and are now off to finding big dollar jobs.....well....economy permitting of course.

But ya know....it's not even that. The thing that REALLY gets to me is that i've let myself fall into such a routine slouch. I make enough money to easily fund myself going back to school. And I don't go out nearly enough, yet I constantly complain about how there are no single girls in this town. Fact is, there really aren't (small town = everyone is either married, has shit tons of kids or moved away to bigger/better things).....but I do live close enough to heavily populated towns w/ plenty of bars. Problem is, one of my best friends is pussy whipped by his girlfriend and the other is even LESS motivated than me to get out and live life, so he makes for a terrible wingman at the bar scene.

Overall, I just really need to shift gears and do something with my life. Not just college/career wise......just living in general. All I do is work, play Call of Duty and sleep. I am happy to report however that this past weekend I actually hit two bars, caught up with some old friends (including a VERY cute girl I went to highschool with who now insists on hanging out) and also hit up a cookout and did some fishing. Sure beats my normal weekend of gluing my eyes to a video game for hours on end.

But it's just so much easier to stay in the rut than it is to break into bigger and better things. I can't continue blame my friends for holding me back anymore.....I really just need to take it upon myself to better my life and make myself happier.

Anywho, i'm done venting

***Oh, and like a few people already mentioned on here........the car scene is definitely a way to make new friends/meet new faces. As a matter of fact I recently became the feature coordinator/writer for WOT Magazine (www.wotmagazine.com), which is an up and coming online publication/e-mag. Pretty cool and i'm stoked because I can always use that on my resume in the future. And now that i'm involved in the stance scene, I hope to meet some new people this summer @ some local shows/meets