Life after highschool.

[1990accordex-r]

As my high school journey is coming to an end... All I can seem to think about is what life is going to be like after high school. I've completed all applications for the local universities I would like to go to, and I feel that I am set in the Business field (More specifically Marketing... or advertising.) I felt I was a lazy shit that just went to school, went to the gym, worked on my car, and browse twitter & car forums... so I got a part-time job at a call center as a Customer service representative at Panago Pizza to start putting on my big boy pants.

I just feel some anxiety through the fact that it seems like whatever I choose now will effect the rest of my life... like what if I'm not down for the business field in 5 years? then what? Even though I feel Marketing and advertising is something I am passionate about, other than cars of course.. I feel some uncertainty as to that is exactly what I want to do the rest of my life!

So I ask you CB7tuner... I know most of you are older than me, and there are members here I know have been through a lot and have much more under their belt than I. So I ask,

What were you guys like when you were in your senior year? What route did you take post-secondary/high school? What inspired you to choose the profession/route/job you took?

[Accord problems]

i got a job do my chilled getting ready to be born . my advice go to college .

[ferenza]

Im at the 5 year mark out of high school. My list of what i wanted changed drastically

Senior year i started at 8:20am and finished school at 10:20am .I got a job at dollar tree and didnt like it so i went to trade school( emt) at night. While everybody was taking class photos and planning trips , i was reading my books and learning cpr. When i graduated , i already was making twice as an hour than i did working at the dollar store. I knew college wasnt for me so i decided to go for Auto technician at lincoln tech but i bounced out because i wanted a break from school because i was making nearly a 1000/weekly from being a emt.I grew tired of doing this so i went back to night school to become the auto tech. But then i realize that being a emt for the last 5 years consistent made me want to just keep my emt job even though it was just to be a job that kept me from becoming that kid that worked at walmart
If you love it, you will fall into it

[cuate01221]

I'm at the same point in my life. I graduate this year. I actually went to a trade school though and am already working in the autobody field as a painter. I have a set job right now for the rest of my life, but it isn't what I would like to do for the rest of my life. I actually want to become an appraiser and work for an independent appraisal company by the time I am 21. Then, by the time I am 30, I want to open up my own shop.

Just set goals man. Short and long term. Work hard to get what you want and what makes you happy! And sometimes doing something you don't like will actually help you get what you do like in the end. Good luck man! Class of 2013!!!!!

[BurtonRiderT6]

If you live in the US, I would say get into the business of foreclosure's. Pretty soon if the people in DC don't fix this shitty situation then there will be a lot of foreclosure's and short sales happening in CA, TX, VA, FL, and DC.

I wish you all the best of luck trying to find a job out of high school/college. It's looking very grim right now. If you haven't been following the political news lately perhaps you should get up to speed on whats going to happen in the next month or so. That will give you a better idea of what field you shold not be getting into. Unfortunately, I'm in the Defense Industry so everyone is wondering what's about to happen here.

I look at it like this, with no college papers, car mechanics will always be needed. While starting your own shop won't happen overnight it's possible.

[mozzandherb]

My advice would be to not stress over it too much. I had no idea what I was going to do after high school either. You have your whole life ahead of you, enjoy being young cause you're only young once. My other advice would be to follow what you enjoy doing, whether its for a job or going back to school. Maybe travel a little? I think travelling is the best experience you can have. Things usually fall into place..good luck!

[deevergote]

College is just high school with less babysitting. Don't stress it. In general, the world regards anyone under the age of 22 and in college as a kid still, so you still have at least another 4 years of being a kid. Use that time to act like an adult, and you'll be ahead of the game.

My only advice is to keep your momentum. Always be working toward a goal. Don't stop halfway there and say it's "good enough". Without the structure of childhood... of school and parents and such... you'll find that it's very easy to just stop improving. Once you stop, it's harder to get going again.
I'm learning this now at nearly 33 years old, as I I'm trying to restructure my life and brain to go back to grad school.

[GeoffM]

When I graduated high school:
Idk what I'm going to do with my life. I know I want to be a computer person and make lots of money.
I really only went to college because it was paid for. I started at community college.
I finished with an associates in software engineering and moved onto my bachelors. Finally got a job 3 years out of high school.

Now: Almost 2 years into my bachelors in Information technology. Dumped the minimum wage job, got a job at autozone.
Got one internship that paid me well but was temporary. Just got another one that pays very well and will keep me till I graduate. About to quit autozone.

Looking back:
I would've gotten an internship a lot sooner.
I'm glad I went to that minimum wage job, only because I met my GF there.
Find out what adderall is and give it a try. If I would've known when I started college I would've been an engineer.
Absolutely, positvely go to college. Only one of my friends has gone to college. He now has a house.
Every single one of my other friends (myself included) all live at home with their parents.
Only 2 of them have jobs, and they're hard as shit manual labor jobs.

Think of it like this: $8 an hour for breaking down tires, taking orders and making food, or stocking shelfs and being treated like shit in a retail store...
OR
Sit at a desk all day, struggle to stay awake, and make close to $20 an hour, only limited to the fact that your still in school.

Now, which sounds better?

[GeoffM]

College is just high school with less babysitting. Don't stress it. In general, the world regards anyone under the age of 22 and in college as a kid still, so you still have at least another 4 years of being a kid. Use that time to act like an adult, and you'll be ahead of the game.

My only advice is to keep your momentum. Always be working toward a goal. Don't stop halfway there and say it's "good enough". Without the structure of childhood... of school and parents and such... you'll find that it's very easy to just stop improving. Once you stop, it's harder to get going again.
I'm learning this now at nearly 33 years old, as I I'm trying to restructure my life and brain to go back to grad school.

This is absolutely 100% true.

I bolded the parts you should pay extra special attention to.

[Ralphie]

Well im 30 in 2 months.

The journey from my high school days has been quite a ride.

I barely graduated high school lol. I partied pretty fucking hard and did a lot of shit im not so proud of lol.

I went to school and became a state certified EMT. I wasn't sure I wanted to continue that path, and I didn't like the instructors at the school and thus didn't want to finish the ALS training there.

Then I woke up one day and decided to join the military. I watched these guys on tv rolling through the desert in Iraq and I expected older men, but these guys were my age and I said to myself, "Wtf am I doing here? Nothing. These guys leave everything behind and try to make a difference" So I joined. Oct 1 2003 at the age of 20.

Spent 8 years in, visited South Korea for a year. Never deployed to a combat zone, met hundreds of awesome people and a handful of shit bags. Learned my limits and a lot of good stuff along the way.

The biggest mistake I made in the military was NOT getting a degree. While on Active, it's 100% free. I kept saying Id do it, went to sign up once or twice, but never followed through. BIG mistake.

When I came out I decided to pursue Xray Technology. The guys that get paid to radiate people. 2 years of schooling and I graduated in 2010 with a certificate in Radiologic Technology. I then hit a brick wall. Due to the crappy economy and the closing of 3 major hospitals in NYC, there were literally NO jobs to be had for x-ray. The few jobs that existed, were not worth my time.

I got into the Federal govt and had a good job. Then left that job for a better private sector CT scan position. They let me go in the middle of purchasing my new home due to them not thinking I was a good "fit". Something the Feds could never do.

So as of Feb 2012 I was again jobless. I worked some Per Diem x-ray jobs and then in Sept I got a break. Another Fed Agency took me on and that is where I am now.

I will be coming up on a year in a few months and will become a permanent employee and I also work weekends at a major hospital in NYC shooting x-rays and the pay is outstanding.

I plan on staying FT in the federal system and im just hoping that the budget cuts don't do too much damage as im already planned on being furloughed in a few weeks.(that means days off with NO pay)

So what have I learned from my experiences and what advice do I have?


Don't worry about where you will be in x amount of years. Do you remember learning how to plan short term/long term goals?!!?

DO THAT. Plan for the short term now and what you need to do to pay your bills etc..

BUT PLEASE PLEASE plan for retirement. I just set up a ROTH account besides my federal savings with agency matching...

Shit is not good today and god knows how it will be in 30 years, so start putting away money NOW for your retirement.

Going to college is good, and getting a good job is even better. I would usually suggest the Fed govt because the security is bar none, but shit is even touching us now, so really you just need to keep the momentum, like Deev said.

You might end up retiring in 30+ years and worked 3 or 4 different career jobs. It is so crazy these days. Unless you come out into a career like engneering or architecture etc...

It's just really really hard. And they will tell you in college, it's not uncommon for most people to switch majors or careers 2 or 3 times in a life time.

Idk man, that's about all I got.

Keep pushing, save money(even if you can only put a dollar away now, its something) and don't limit yourself. Keep on pursuing higher education or moving up in your current job.

If your not going to school you better be trying to move up into management.

Good luck lil bra.

[toycar]

My advice;


-Be selfish

-Enjoy life

-Find positive things in everything

-Try not to view the glass half empty

-Be productive.

-Stack the odds in your favor by doing good once in a while.

-Save money. Even if its just a little. It'll add up.

-Learn about you. Fuck everyone else. Figure out what makes YOU happy, and do more of that.

-In 10 years, maybe 5 people from highschool will still talk to you. Thats ok. Just a heads up, focus on moving on, because everyone else is doing exactly that.











Eventually, someone or something will strike desire in your heart and start pulling you in one direction or another. The only advice I can really say is to be honest with yourself and your desires. You only get one shot at this. Only one time will it ever be 2-28-2013, so do you want today to be a good day or a bad day?


Capture the moment, and embrace in the good times man!!!

[ssondubs]

Have fun and wear a condom.

[wed3k]

im not going to say not goto college but give it a really good shot. it may not be for everyone but depending on the field, youre really going to need it.

luckily my field doesn't give two shits about an education but at least take some proper english and math. this country don't need more uneducated people.

do what you like....thats my best advice. i love my job and at 20+ dollars/hour i can't complain. i first worked in a metal shop in high school and immediately fell in love.

[h22sparkle]

My best bet to you is to go to college and if you really want to be set is to join the military there is always a good paying job and benefits in the military.

They cover just about everything if you follow their orders and then when you serve out your time and you go to look for other jobs they will require that and that will be a plus on your resume to get into other government jobs that pay well. I myself got my criminal justice degree.

I cant really say what im doing on here but lets just say it paid off in the end from every other dead end job I had in the past with no way to actually elevate. It was kind of like walking up on a esalator thats going down theres no progress. Try to make a way for yourself and dont follow friends just be you know what you want to do and most of all love what you do and you should be straight. You think lifes crazy now wait till you have kids lol.

[MikeW]

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Nevermind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall, in a way you can’t grasp now, how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.
You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind. The kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts.
But don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive; forget the insults.
If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know, at 22, what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. What ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance. Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines! They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths:
Prices will rise.
Politicians will philander.
You too will get old. And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My 10 year reunion is this summer. And I'm bummed. Lol. While I was in high school I never gave life, after high school, a thought. I was just focused on graduating, getting a job and making money. I didnt go to college because I didnt know what to go for. And while I still dont know what Id go for, I wish I would have.

I talk to more than "5 friends" but we have all moved on. But that's life. That's what you do because thats what you're supposed to do. You graduate, go to school, get a job, meet a girl, get married and have kids.

My only issue, with myself, is that I havent done any of that, lol. Sure I have a job and I dont live with my parents but I havent gone to school, I dont have a wife or kids, or a well-paying job, etc. And it wasnt until a few years ago that I quit worrying about those things. I used to fear my high school reunion. IDK why though. I guess because I was worried that everyone else has done better than I have. True or not, that's not what Im about. I may not have gone to college or gotten married or had kids, but I've had an exciting 10 years. I've traveled the country, both by land and air. I've been to a foreign country. I've been spontaneous. I've had love, heartache. I've partied, cheated, and lied. I've been cheated on and lied to. I've met, and lost, many great people.

Am I where, or who, I thought I'd be 10 years ago? No. Do I regret some of the choices I made or didnt make? Hell yes. But that's what life is about; making good choices and bad choices and learning from both.

Focus on what you what you want. If you want to go to school, go to school. Like Ralphie said, make sure you set money back for your old age. Nothing's worse than reaching 30 and realizing that you have $0 set back for your old age. But don't stress. Sometimes life sucks and seems like it'll never end but if you find something you can turn to in your down times, it will help life you up. Stay positive.