Posted on 10/26/2007 2:09:03 PM PDT by Zakeet
Think you've got problems? Let Ken Ilgunas offer you some perspective. Ken's got problems, and the Buffalo News has generously offered him space to tell the world about them:
I am 24, live with my parents, can't find work and am floundering in a sea of debt five figures high. I think of myself as ambitious, independent and hardworking. Now I'm dependent, unemployed and sleeping under the same Super Mario ceiling fan that I did when I was 7.How did this happen? I did what every upstanding citizen is supposed to do. I went to college. . . .Upon graduating, I was helplessly launched headfirst into the "real world," equipped with a degree in history and $32,000 in student loans. Before ricocheting back home, I would learn two important lessons: 1) There are no well-paying--let alone paying--jobs for history majors. 2) The real world is really tough.
At one point, Ken was so "desperate" that he even considered working for a bank or an insurance company!
"I had hit an all-time low. Could I surrender my soul for health coverage and a steady income? Could I sacrifice my ideals by falling into line?"
Our hero stood firm.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
God bless you my child. You are indeed a great American.
Just jumping in here on the point of obtaining history degrees.
I had a friend who had always wanted to be in the military, a career officer. He took an ROTC scholarship and majored in history. He’s now a two-star general and has written several books about contemporary military topics.
Turned out he was very wise in what in had studied and how he had applied it to his life’s work.
I had to move back home with my folks for about 6 months. I paid rent and paid for my own food. Was the best lesson I had really. I don’t think moving back in is always a bad thing—but it definitely needs stipulations (ex: working full time, paying rent, looking for a ‘real’ job, etc)
My friend’s daughter describes herself as a “poet” because she has written a few unrhymed lines that got published in the campus poetry rag.
Her brother is majoring in “philosophy.”
Okay.
This guy’s arrogancy knows no bounds. When I had student loans to pay off, I was working one full-time job and two part-time jobs.
True, I’m in a similar situation as you at an earlier stage in the career. I’m currently getting ready to go back and finish though and then get my MBA so I can make VP+ by 30-32 instead of 36-38 without a degree. I’ll be taking night and online classes part time to finish.
Indeed. My AP US History teacher in high school was politically conservative nationally (and more liberal locally) and was the reason I became interested in History instead of hating it.
” Why do I suddenly see a vision of George Costanza! “ #63
Haha...Good one.
’ But wait, maybe i can write a book about the History of Super Mario ! i need some soup....
Like I said in my other response to you, it depends on the person. The best thing I ever did after dropping out of college was moving back in with my parents, working 50 hours a week and paying rent to them and buying my own food, gas and insurance. The things they said then I listened! They made sense. Our conversations were about business & career development and not soccer games. At 18 I thought I was too smart. I hadn’t listened 3 years earlier. I actually learned a lot of important aspects of life and the work force at 21 living with my folks. Now at the age of 26, having lived on my own for 5 years, I oversee nearly 1300 people without a college degree. If I hadn’t moved in with my folks for 6 months I don’t think I’d be in my current position.
“There are no well-paying—let alone paying—jobs for history majors”
DUH! Ya Think???
(That’s why I took it as a MINOR)
Perspective time. Couldn't have said it better. BTT.
I majored in History on an ROTC Scholarship...had a job the day I graduated. Spent about 10 years as a Military Police Officer and got into the Insurance Defense industry as a private investigator.
Now I bill lawyers by the hour ;-)
You should hear lawyers complain about insurance premiums! Sheesh, ya think they might make the connection....?
You can imagine what it was like trying to fly under the liberal radar to get my BA. I wasn’t very good at first (got kicked out of school for 2 semesters for something I wrote) eventually I turned it into a James Bond type game: If I could make them think I was one of them, I would get my degree, *proving* that we conservatives can out-think them.
I’m not proud of some of that undercover work (my minor was in the sociology department) but they never suspected that I wasn’t a lib-tard. Some profs are abysmally stupid and educated *far* beyond their intelligence.
I wish I could have taken a class from FReeper LS. A conservative Historian... Who would have thought there was such a thing?
(I’m not pinging LS despite mentioning him. It seems a bit too “brown-nosy” for me.)
” Now I bill lawyers by the hour ;-) “
Too funny....tonight’s FReepers have posted some really good stuff...with due respects to Hem’ge..we all fell the pain.
Nice post...I agree that the military is a good career choice whether before college or after ..i did the college first then the mil and i love the crusty Artillery sergeants who were our DI’s..They would not run if a cannon shell was chasing them and for that i thank them forever. It was the best preparation i could have had for life...and it got me thru ‘Nam and into the ‘real world’...
I think it was Mark Twain who said something like “When I was 18, my father was so stupid I could hardly stand to keep the old guy around, but as I got older he really started to smarten up..” lol
ROFLMAO!!!
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