So, yeah.
Here I am! Let me sum up the past six months: It was nuts, I graduated, now I'm looking for a job. No bites yet. And if I don't have a job by the beginning of September, I'm going to enlist in the Army.
Either way, my long term plans remain unchanged. My priority for cash is to build up three months of savings and then pay off the credit cards. Then the private loan from GTCC, and then my Federal Loans. Once all of that is out of the way, long term savings. In the next six years, I want to get some real world experience and do some independent research on aspects of Geography, so I'll have an idea of what I would like to tackle as a Thesis for a Master's degree. Ultimately, I'd like to be a Hydrologist, which pulls down north of 120k a year, but that's in the future.
If I get a job, great. That will mean more personal freedom and spare time to go about researching and talking to Professors about stuff, but it will also mean my budget will be tighter and it will take longer to pay off my debts. If I go into the Army, it's almost the exact opposite. My debts will get paid off somewhere in the neighborhood of within three years, but for the first six months or so my free time will be extremely limited, and when I do have free time my access to resources will be extremely limited. However, when I eventually get stationed somewhere and get into my "day job" routine, my free time should shoot up and I'll have access to more resources at that time. And, if I go into the military, I should be able to get them to assist me with getting a Master's degree and I might be able to swing my way into being an Officer. The downside is that I'll just be removed from what I consider my calling, Physical Geography, for a while. Not forever, but enough to cause me to pause.
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Personally? I've been a little "blegh" recently. It's the thought process that I'm, superficially, in the same position I was six years ago, with no external sign of progress. I'm still at my Dad's place in a spare bedroom (though I lived out on my own for four and a half years of it), I still work at Wilco part-time (though, everyone knows the score now and NO ONE talks to me like it's all I'm capable of doing), and I'm still waiting for better things to come my way (though in this case it's not about waiting for college, it's waiting for a career change).
It comes and it goes. I'm largely over my relationship with Rachel, but I'm still not out there dating. It seems like a front, to me. I know what I want, a long term relationship. It's just not who I am to go out and date for "fun". *shrug* I'm not going to turn down an opportunity, but I'm not actively looking, either. The other part of that is that I don't know where I'm going to be in three months, so how can I get into a relationship?
That's the other thing bothering me: Not knowing. I like to plan. I like to devise strategies. I like to look ahead. I have no clue what to plan for at this point, which feels to me a little like walking through deep cover woods with no compass. I'm going somewhere... but I don't know where and I don't know when or even if I'll get to where I want to go. It sucks!
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That's enough bitching. I'm not the most unfortunate person in the world. In the mean time, while I'm waiting, I do get time to play games and read books. That's a pleasant bonus. I'm also planning on making a camping trip next week to South Mountain. Solo. I want to actually camp, not run into town every three hours the way Scott camps. Still trying to decide if I want to make it a one day or two day trip.
Either way, my long term plans remain unchanged. My priority for cash is to build up three months of savings and then pay off the credit cards. Then the private loan from GTCC, and then my Federal Loans. Once all of that is out of the way, long term savings. In the next six years, I want to get some real world experience and do some independent research on aspects of Geography, so I'll have an idea of what I would like to tackle as a Thesis for a Master's degree. Ultimately, I'd like to be a Hydrologist, which pulls down north of 120k a year, but that's in the future.
If I get a job, great. That will mean more personal freedom and spare time to go about researching and talking to Professors about stuff, but it will also mean my budget will be tighter and it will take longer to pay off my debts. If I go into the Army, it's almost the exact opposite. My debts will get paid off somewhere in the neighborhood of within three years, but for the first six months or so my free time will be extremely limited, and when I do have free time my access to resources will be extremely limited. However, when I eventually get stationed somewhere and get into my "day job" routine, my free time should shoot up and I'll have access to more resources at that time. And, if I go into the military, I should be able to get them to assist me with getting a Master's degree and I might be able to swing my way into being an Officer. The downside is that I'll just be removed from what I consider my calling, Physical Geography, for a while. Not forever, but enough to cause me to pause.
----------------
Personally? I've been a little "blegh" recently. It's the thought process that I'm, superficially, in the same position I was six years ago, with no external sign of progress. I'm still at my Dad's place in a spare bedroom (though I lived out on my own for four and a half years of it), I still work at Wilco part-time (though, everyone knows the score now and NO ONE talks to me like it's all I'm capable of doing), and I'm still waiting for better things to come my way (though in this case it's not about waiting for college, it's waiting for a career change).
It comes and it goes. I'm largely over my relationship with Rachel, but I'm still not out there dating. It seems like a front, to me. I know what I want, a long term relationship. It's just not who I am to go out and date for "fun". *shrug* I'm not going to turn down an opportunity, but I'm not actively looking, either. The other part of that is that I don't know where I'm going to be in three months, so how can I get into a relationship?
That's the other thing bothering me: Not knowing. I like to plan. I like to devise strategies. I like to look ahead. I have no clue what to plan for at this point, which feels to me a little like walking through deep cover woods with no compass. I'm going somewhere... but I don't know where and I don't know when or even if I'll get to where I want to go. It sucks!
------------------
That's enough bitching. I'm not the most unfortunate person in the world. In the mean time, while I'm waiting, I do get time to play games and read books. That's a pleasant bonus. I'm also planning on making a camping trip next week to South Mountain. Solo. I want to actually camp, not run into town every three hours the way Scott camps. Still trying to decide if I want to make it a one day or two day trip.