(no subject)
I'm going to ask you all who care to read my LJ for advice, if you have any to offer.
This is something I never do, so consider it to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But there's some things rolling around in my head that I'd like to see a few opinions on. For all you A-Kon boardies on my friends list, if you know of another boardie with an LJ that I am also somewhat familiar with who doesn't mind sharing advice, feel free to ask them to dispense what wisdom they have.
Anyways, I guess, I should present the issues before me, so you'll know what to advise me on.
1) As you may or may not know, I'm a chemistry major who's currently on academic probation because I bombed my last semester of classes. I'm seriously planning on switching majors, to either history or English. I'm good with both of them. I know I want to teach for at least a few years. What it boils down to is this:
-Should I just get teaching certification and major in one of the two subjects, or should I just go ahead and major in education? The thing is, I could spend my whole working life teaching and be happy, but I'm not sure if I'll want to, and I therefore need to know if majoring in education with an emphasis in _________ is going to affect me negatively as opposed to just majoring in ________.
-Which one should I pick? Or should I just bite the bullet, and extend my stay in undergrad studies long enough to double-major? I know that I would like to be a writer or journalist at some point, even if it's only a freelance article here or there.
2) As you may or may not know, I work in a grocery store. I make $6.50 an hour, and I'm not up for a raise until the end of August. Unfortunately, they raised tuition at my school by some 5% (and it was rather high to begin with), and my mother has graciously informed me that she will no longer be providing transportation to school and work come the end of August. If I get a car, my dad would have to pay for it, and I have no idea how likely that is. Even if he did, I wouldn't be able to afford maintenance, insurance, and gas after it was purchased, because school takes ALL of my money. When I get a raise, it'll only be to $7 an hour, which still wouldn't be enough to cover a car.
-Should I risk getting a second job for at least the duration of the summer? The problem lies not only in transportation (I'd have to take the city bus, which is time-consuming at its best, and a nightmare at its worst), but also in the unpredictability of my schedule at my current job. If I were to get a second job, I'd either be working so few hours that it would hardly be worth it, and I'd also run the very real risk of running late to my current job, which would result in my getting fired.
-Once school starts, I'm contemplating running a Monday-Wednesday-Friday school schedule. That would give me ample time to complete school assignments. But I also need more money, and I'm wondering if I should add at least one working day in addition to my weekends. Of course, the negative is that I'm skating on serious thin ice as it is, and I don't want to jeopardize my academic standing, because if I don't finish school now, I know that I never will. Of course, if I added both Tuesday and Thursday to my working schedule, I'd be able to have money for a car, or at least for gas (I could probably wheedle one of my parents into covering insurance, and I'd just have to hope and pray that the car doesn't break).
3) Except for work and school, I have what is known as "a nonexistent social life". As in, I don't see the people I work with outside of work, and I don't hang out with anyone on campus, unless I happened to know them from high school. Don't get me wrong: the current arrangement of things suits me just fine, for the time being. I've always spent my life having only a few close friends. The thing is.....well....sometimes you want someone there who's more than a friend. Someone with whom you share a relationship that isn't strictly platonic. I think you know what I'm getting at.
-Basically, I'm wondering if adding a romantic relationship to my life would be a good thing. I'd have sufficient time for it; not all my life is work and school. However, I've gone this long without one, and I wonder if I'm not doomed to a life of solitude. If I attempt to establish such a relationship with someone, is it going to be worth my time and effort, or not? Because if it's something that can wait, then I'm not going to bother with it as I have other things I could devote my time to.
Yeah, I know I've got several whacked-out problems. Those are just the ones that are more weighty, and have larger long-term consequences. You don't have to answer all of them, just as long as you answer one of them.
And even if nobody answers any of them, I'll live with that. I'd rather have no advice than bad advice. Of course, I want you to help me out, but I'm not going to get all pissy and treat your silence as a big "Fuck You, You Fucking Fuck".
So be a pal. Help me out.
This is something I never do, so consider it to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But there's some things rolling around in my head that I'd like to see a few opinions on. For all you A-Kon boardies on my friends list, if you know of another boardie with an LJ that I am also somewhat familiar with who doesn't mind sharing advice, feel free to ask them to dispense what wisdom they have.
Anyways, I guess, I should present the issues before me, so you'll know what to advise me on.
1) As you may or may not know, I'm a chemistry major who's currently on academic probation because I bombed my last semester of classes. I'm seriously planning on switching majors, to either history or English. I'm good with both of them. I know I want to teach for at least a few years. What it boils down to is this:
-Should I just get teaching certification and major in one of the two subjects, or should I just go ahead and major in education? The thing is, I could spend my whole working life teaching and be happy, but I'm not sure if I'll want to, and I therefore need to know if majoring in education with an emphasis in _________ is going to affect me negatively as opposed to just majoring in ________.
-Which one should I pick? Or should I just bite the bullet, and extend my stay in undergrad studies long enough to double-major? I know that I would like to be a writer or journalist at some point, even if it's only a freelance article here or there.
2) As you may or may not know, I work in a grocery store. I make $6.50 an hour, and I'm not up for a raise until the end of August. Unfortunately, they raised tuition at my school by some 5% (and it was rather high to begin with), and my mother has graciously informed me that she will no longer be providing transportation to school and work come the end of August. If I get a car, my dad would have to pay for it, and I have no idea how likely that is. Even if he did, I wouldn't be able to afford maintenance, insurance, and gas after it was purchased, because school takes ALL of my money. When I get a raise, it'll only be to $7 an hour, which still wouldn't be enough to cover a car.
-Should I risk getting a second job for at least the duration of the summer? The problem lies not only in transportation (I'd have to take the city bus, which is time-consuming at its best, and a nightmare at its worst), but also in the unpredictability of my schedule at my current job. If I were to get a second job, I'd either be working so few hours that it would hardly be worth it, and I'd also run the very real risk of running late to my current job, which would result in my getting fired.
-Once school starts, I'm contemplating running a Monday-Wednesday-Friday school schedule. That would give me ample time to complete school assignments. But I also need more money, and I'm wondering if I should add at least one working day in addition to my weekends. Of course, the negative is that I'm skating on serious thin ice as it is, and I don't want to jeopardize my academic standing, because if I don't finish school now, I know that I never will. Of course, if I added both Tuesday and Thursday to my working schedule, I'd be able to have money for a car, or at least for gas (I could probably wheedle one of my parents into covering insurance, and I'd just have to hope and pray that the car doesn't break).
3) Except for work and school, I have what is known as "a nonexistent social life". As in, I don't see the people I work with outside of work, and I don't hang out with anyone on campus, unless I happened to know them from high school. Don't get me wrong: the current arrangement of things suits me just fine, for the time being. I've always spent my life having only a few close friends. The thing is.....well....sometimes you want someone there who's more than a friend. Someone with whom you share a relationship that isn't strictly platonic. I think you know what I'm getting at.
-Basically, I'm wondering if adding a romantic relationship to my life would be a good thing. I'd have sufficient time for it; not all my life is work and school. However, I've gone this long without one, and I wonder if I'm not doomed to a life of solitude. If I attempt to establish such a relationship with someone, is it going to be worth my time and effort, or not? Because if it's something that can wait, then I'm not going to bother with it as I have other things I could devote my time to.
Yeah, I know I've got several whacked-out problems. Those are just the ones that are more weighty, and have larger long-term consequences. You don't have to answer all of them, just as long as you answer one of them.
And even if nobody answers any of them, I'll live with that. I'd rather have no advice than bad advice. Of course, I want you to help me out, but I'm not going to get all pissy and treat your silence as a big "Fuck You, You Fucking Fuck".
So be a pal. Help me out.