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For the average joe it's working long hours to pay a mortgage, raise a family, never really knowing what free time is. For many of us in the millennial generation we find ourselves working well paid jobs that offer downtime. Some don't know what to do with that downtime and fall into a depressive slump.
College is different for everyone. I worked in college, so even with a full time load of classes, I almost always worked 20-30 hours per week. So I never really had the flexibility of just leaving a class to do whatever, I was usually leaving class to head to work or to a computer lab to work on a project! I did manage to squeeze in fun, joined a fraternity, etc but it was still a lot of work.
Fast forward 20+ years post graduation - I'm married with one kid, make a very good living as a engineering manager and my wife just started a full time job. For fun, we travel. My kid has had a passport since she was 10 months old. Our excitement comes from the experiences and memories of travel and hanging out as a family. There's *no* way I could have afford to do even 20% of the travel that we do on a yearly basis when I was in school. So this is totally better!
With regards to intellectual stimulation, take the advice of another poster, get a hobby. A hobby that makes you think and solve problems. You can do that solo or with a group. I personally like dabbling in embedded systems. It has the multifaceted benefit of being fun, keep my mind sharp and keeps me technical which can be hard to do in management. Just an example.
Also, note, I worked for the university that I eventually graduated from for a couple of years and trust me, just working for a university isn't not necessarily going to be much different from a typical corporate environment. In my case, the caliber and intelligence of my co-workers was significantly higher, on average, in corporate world vs the university. I was a faculty level professional staff member too.
Welcome to the real world! Your life is only as good as YOU make it!
Exactly, kind of a silly thread. I mean when you're 10 years old life is easier than when you're in college. A child has to be taken care of, and has no real responsibility.
Wait till the OP hits old age and has health issues, now you want to talk about unfair.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroWord
This thread reminds me of a friend I met in college.
She was an art major. Her parents were wealthy, so they paid for her college with cash. They even gave her a mustang. She was a popular girl and people lined up (literally, I swear I'm not exaggerating) to date her.
I was a science and engineering major. Quite poor background so I had to take out a lot of loans. Didn't have that much luck with dating.
Somehow, somewhere in there we became life long friends.
After we graduated, I went ahead and got a job with a software developing company. She started subbing at schools because she simply couldn't find a full time job with her art degree. A couple years later, I quit programming and got a job as a law enforcement officer. A couple years after that I quit that job, went back to grad school, got a masters in engineering, and started working in an engineering firm. She's still subbing earning $20k/year while I earn many more times that working in management.
Last time we went out to a bar and just enjoyed the night, she shared with me that she really misses the carefree environment of college. I'm the opposite. I love my life nowadays and I'd rather shoot myself in the head before I have to go back to school. She recently broke up with someone she's been dating seriously and living with for the last 5 years because (again, I swear I'm not exaggerating) she felt the relationship was holding her back and she wasn't going out and partying enough anymore. Again, I'm the opposite of this. My boyfriend and I hate going to clubs nowadays. When we have free time we just take road trips, travel to places, or work on various projects around the house.
This friend of mine is just one example. God knows I've seen plenty of other examples. So, it seems to me that the people who say they miss college are people who never have an ambition to excel in life while the people who can't even fathom the idea of going back to school are people who are on top of things in the real world.
I get what you're saying, but not really a good example. The friend you mentioned has her family's wealth to fall back on, so she's not living on the 20K a year she earns subbing.
And once her parents pass she will most likely not even have to sub.
Finishing college for me was the opposite. After 4 years plus two more graduate school, while working full time the entire time, only 40 hours a week of work and having the rest of the time to myself was a great relief.
Same here. I worked part-time retail during my time in college. I was a History major so all my time outside of class and work was spent researching and writing endless papers. I was excited beyond relief when I finally finished college. I loved what I took but I was just happy to finally have free time after four years of having none at all. I finally had a life!
Far different. I am in a job kinda sorta different than what I went to school for. I was a business management major and working both as a child care aide and a security guard at a sports venue. The only thing remotely close is that I do customer service in both roles. I work about 56 hours every two weeks. Can't find much better though because of the degree knocking me out for say most retail jobs.
Maybe I just miss the studying/intellectual challenge. I know most people are happy to put that behind them, but I actually enjoyed learning, writing papers, studying and acing exams, etc.
Heck I've been out for 30 years and I miss the intellectual challenge more than ever. Actually most of my career has had great challenges, but now it seems we get more and more micro managers who stomp any sense of intellectual thought out of everything and bury it beneath process.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroWord
So, it seems to me that the people who say they miss college are people who never have an ambition to excel in life while the people who can't even fathom the idea of going back to school are people who are on top of things in the real world.
Not hardly. Been there, done that, already excelled. Boredom comes after you've already succeeded. Now I'm looking for the challenges I had back then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eyeb
Seems most of the people I know who aren't happy with their life/job are also the ones that want to "do nothing". .
I would disagree. More likely they really want to do something, and consider most of their daily toil as "doing nothing."
Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroWord
My point is I don't know your background but may I take a guess that you're probably young and have not that much real life experience? I'm not that old. I'm 30. I've had many discussions with younger people. Almost all younger people seem to believe that they know everything and their opinion actually counts for something. My answer to them has always been go buy a car, a house, and take care of someone first before they can come back to me and tell me their opinion is just as valid as mine.
College is the best time of life, and I tell my kids that all the time. I was very glad to know this while I was in college and appreciated that even bad days were better than a lot of good days working.
I was lucky enough to be able to go to law school right after college, and while I loved being in law school, it wasn't as much fun as college. After graduating, I was in the real world, and the job world can really suck.
I'm pretty happy right now -- I'm in my forties, and couldn't recapture that college experience even if I went back to college now. Things change. I'm glad I have good memories of college. I do plenty of fun things and have some good hobbies that enable me to interact with other interesting people. I've had some jobs I've really liked, with people who became friends. It's different as you get older, and especially after you get married. (And most especially after you have kids.) But it's all good.
Be glad you had a good college experience. Focus now on finding other things you like. It sounds like you're old enough (although not at all "old") that even if you went back to college tomorrow, it wouldn't be the same, as most people would be quite a bit younger. Find some hobbies or some social groups. There's still plenty of fun to be had.
I recently read a quote online that seemed to resonate with me, as it probably does others who miss their college experience: "When transitioning from college to the working world, one goes from having no money and a lot of time to having money and little time."
I graduated in December 2007, the month in which the recession officially kicked off. The next two years were nothing short of tumultuous on the job front. I was laid off, had to quit two jobs for different reasons, and job opportunities were hard to come by.
Thankfully, I wound up finding a stable, well-paying job later on. I also now find myself married and living in a condo I was able to purchase last year.
Going back to the quote referenced above, my life outside college has gotten better ten-fold as far as money and home life are concerned.
However, the flexibility that college afforded is something most of us will never experience again. Being in an office 40+ hours a week, where you're forced to listen to and work with people you may not particularly like, starts to suck after a while. In college, once class ends, you get the hell out.
In college, you are also graded objectively for your work. If you study your ass off, you'll earn an A or B. You have graduation to look forward to. You always know which classes you have to take next.
The real world isn't as clear cut and tidy. You might get stuck in a dead end job or working with people/bosses who make your life miserable. You're not as in control of the situation. Whereas in college you can simply drop the class, it isn't as easy to quit a job cold turkey when you have bills to pay.
Not to mention I miss the intellectual stimulation of the college setting. Corporate America, by comparison, is so bland. Yes, it's great to get paid to work as opposed to forking over your own money to get a degree. But I have always been an A student/overachiever in school my whole life. It was a chief part of my identity through college; I have felt something of a void in this area since graduating.
That's why I am not sure what I can do to reintegrate myself into the college environment. I thought about getting a master's, but I don't really need one for my field. (My employer doesn't offer tuition reimbursement, and I don't expect to receive support in the way of grants or scholarships.) Besides, what happens once I complete the master's?
The only other options that come to mind are finding a job /volunteering at a university. But it'd be naive of me to think that I'll recapture my college years by doing any of these things. They're entirely different animals. When you work at a college, you're probably sitting at a cubicle just like you would at a business. You're not walking around campus and studying at the library.
I guess I have to appreciate my college years for what they were and move on. It's just sometimes hard to swallow the fact that I will never get to relive those years. And, believe it or not, I never lived on campus -- I went to a 2-year college and then transferred to a commuter school.
Have you found life after college to be less or more exciting than your college years? If you could, would you go back someday -- whether to pursue a master's or work there?
I can definitely relate to everything that you said. College was definitely the best era of my life (high school was the second best), and I definitely have a personality that is more suited for academics than for the real world. I think the real world is very hard on high achieving students like you and I.
so study/learn for new projects at job? ace the bottomline and get promoted?
why do you insist you cant do that while working?
Most jobs are not intellectually stimulating at all.
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My 2 cents
