Fear

[Cainad (dec.)]

So here I am, in the college world. A million opportunities in the form of both education and people to network with. An incubator world full of booze and weed and hope and the feeling of being able to do anything, given enough time and effort.

The ship is beginning to rock, ever so slightly.

All the most rational predictions tell me I'm in a good field. Environmental science is gonna be an even bigger deal than it is now as the Green Movement comes to a head and as people aren't able to afford petroleum anymore.

Tuition went up this semester. The state is feeling the ache.

I don't know what to do. I'm gripping the railings on this ship, staring white-knuckled into the choppy waters. Nobody's really talking about it; at most there's a light clap on the shoulder and a muttered word of advice to stay on board, not to worry too much. The truth is we're all hoping the waters will calm down soon and we'll be able to get off comfortably when graduation day comes. Now, I don't know much about the world and maybe I'm just a scared little rat on board this collegiate ship... but the skies look dark, the wind is blowing, and the waves don't look like they're going to settle down any time soon.

I'm seeing the world from this little realm of safety, and I what I see looks unfriendly. Things aren't going well for a lot of people out there, and soon I will have to be one of those people. How long can I safely stay here? I can barely focus on my studies because I'm keeping one eye on the conditions outside the incubator, hoping dearly that I'll be able to jump ship at the right moment if I need to.

At this point I can barely think beyond financial security. I hear talk of accomplishing great things and doing anything I want given enough time and effort, but it all sounds like static. I've tuned my brain to hear only weather forecasts and advice on how to stay afloat in the event of disaster. Other than that, I putter along in the academics and engage in goofy shenanigans to keep my mind working on something besides paranoia.

The ship is rocking, and I'm looking desperately for the lifeboats. They put lifeboats on this thing, right?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The ship is rocking, and I'm looking desperately for the lifeboats. They put lifeboats on this thing, right?

Penciled out in the budget review.

Sorry, kid.

[Thurnez Isa]

All the most rational predictions tell me I'm in a good field. Environmental science is gonna be an even bigger deal than it is now as the Green Movement comes to a head and as people aren't able to afford petroleum anymore.

Make sure you get a mineralogy course as an elective as well as some Chemistry courses
Mining companies give out huge contracts for shutdown procedures... 3/4 year contracts some of them.
And I know at least the ones in Canada are begging for people. Everyone Friday one comes up here for recruiting.

[Phineas T. Poxwattle]

you gotta stay on course,
if anything,
because having a bachelor degree gives you a big leg up on everyone who doesn't have one, even if you majored in Basket Weaving.

True story, at my first post-college job, I was paid SHIT. I was making about half of what the average clinical study coordinator makes. When I pointed this out to my boss, she said, "Well the thing is, you just graduated from college. So honestly, you're kind of lucky to be working here to begin with. I think you'll have trouble finding a place which gives you more money."

I was pissed, but she was right.


They later hired someone else at my level. Someone who did not major in psych (very relevant!), but archaeology. The chick had her Masters degree in archaeology. Totally irrelevant to clinical research. But the chick got paid 10K more than me just for having her Masters, even though I was better trained, obviously smarter, and did my job better than her.


so get the degree. Don't worry about the what too much.

by the time you graduate, the world will have transformed again anyway


but I feel for ya. It's scary out here. So try to live it up while you're still on that crazy drinking boat.

[Cainad (dec.)]

Thanx guys.

I went and had a smoke after writing that. Lately tobacco makes me unusually tired after the buzz wears off for some reason, but at least it helped get my mind off the sense of DOOM™.

I'll get out of this school and put myself into some classes that I can give a shit about.

[Cain]

you gotta stay on course,
if anything,
because having a bachelor degree gives you a big leg up on everyone who doesn't have one, even if you majored in Basket Weaving.

Unless the rules changed in the four or so years between your graduation and mine.  Which they seem to have, at least over here.

Cainad, you will graduate on a high.  It will be the best time of your life.  Then you will go home, or wherever you have planned to go once that is over.  And you'll scratch around for jobs.  At first, because you know things are not brilliant, you will have low expectations, and will not be dismayed at a lack of replies or interest.  It will in fact be kinda fun.  Which low level jobs can you get turned down for?  Is shelf-stacking more hilarious than line production in a factory?

But eventually, the realization will set in.  There are no jobs.  The economy has been systematically looted.  Stimulus plans are the new economic bubble, the engine causing motion in the increasingly stalling machine.  No matter where you apply you will be turned down, because you either lack experience, or because you are overqualified, which means you may pose a threat to those already in work, as well as be a resentful and difficult employee.  Going back to studying will be hard or impossible, as the great Universities cut back on expenditure and raise tuition prices.  State Universities will be the first to suffer budget cuts.  And private higher education was always a joke, a rite of passage for those to rich to worry about qualifications in the first place.

Apathy will set in.  You'll lose energy.  You'll get unaccountably angry, but lack the justifiable targets to take it out on.  You'll soon find out the most important skill you learnt at University was how to lie, beg, cheat and steal in order to save money.  Oh, and prepare to be lambasted by complete strangers, for your lack of a decent work ethic and inability to apply yourself properly, no doubt because you are a spoiled child who thinks the world owes him a favour, and cannot even lower himself to do 'ordinary' work.

What happens next?  I haven't discovered yet.

[Phineas T. Poxwattle]

What happens next?  I haven't discovered yet.

DRUNK BY NOON
          \

[Cain]

I'd have to be able to afford alcohol first.

That said, this Glenmorangie is going to last a long, long time.

[East Coast Hustle]

make pruno.

[Cain]

When life gives you apples, oranges, fruit cocktail, ketchup, sugar, and possibly other ingredients, including bread, make Pruno!

Also, when life gives you shit, become a jenkem dealer.

[East Coast Hustle]

there are worse things than drinking homemade pruno.

for example, some people PAY to drink Pimscup.

[Reginald Ret]

Having a decent work-ethic (i blame my dad) only means that you refuse to apply for jobs for wich you are not qualified, hence having less job opportunities open to you.

It also makes you completely unsuited for any job where slacking is required to stay somewhat sane.