School sucks

Nice, you trained him well… I didn’t fare so well with a .22… I did better with a Revolver…

GG

.22 revolvers are a blast. ~ZP

We’re off topic, I’ll start a topic on shooting tomorrow.

HA!  in america school sucking and guns have become synonymous.  wait, thats sad.  :cry:

not sure I want to go out in the real world just yet

Good instincts, avoid the real world as long as possible

What?!? There’s a real world? When did that start? ~ZP

I am doing very well in fantasy land thank you very much.

I only dip my toe into the pool of the real world Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. …

what about making the real world a fantasy land.  that sounds nice, see ya in the asylum.

@balungaloaf:

what about making the real world a fantasy land.  that sounds nice, see ya in the asylum.

It’s just a program/simulation, dontcha know MATRIX boy?

To the original topic - consider your goals, and then develop the plan to address those goals.  NOT setting a goal is simply setting a bad goal.  Saying “be wealthy” or “be happy” as a goal - IS a goal. 
It is very difficult to attain these last two goals without an appropriate education. 
My advice - use the time to learn that you have as effectively as possible.  Be focused, and pack as much in in the little time you have to learn that you can. 
I worked in a factory to pay my way through university.  I do not regret a single second of the time i spent studying - if anything, i regret the time that i spent goofing off, moping about losing my flavor-of-the-week, because although i am working my ass off now, i am building an amazing house, i’ve got a great car, i’ve got the most amazing wife, and i’m taking 4 people that i love to Orlando soon.  I can take a day off whenever i need/want, and yet i expect to retire in my early-50’s as a multi-millionaire.  This is all despite living in a sociallist country.  Boo-ya.
Now if pumping gas is your idea of a great time, then drop out of school RIGHT NOW!!  Who knows - you could even aspire to be a waiter or a retail worker!

Well, lets not always assume that college = good life.  More and more people are going to college now and as the percentage of the population who graduates from college increases, the respect of a 4 year degree decreases.

If you want your college education to actually mean something, now a days, you almost have to get a masters degree in something.

sadly true.  why!?

Just my opinion, Balung, but I believe that the problem with the correllation between college graduation status and good job has declined because college acceptance standards and college grading standards have declined over the years.  I, to be honest here, place the start of this decline about the time of the Vietnam War.  Professors were pressured not to flunk students out because they did not want to feel guilty if that student was later drafted and sent to war and then died.  Honestly, if put in that situation, I would probably have the same worries.

From there it became sort of a “right” to go to college in the 1980s when the yuppies were invented.

Once that happened, the amount of available jobs in relation to the amount of available college graduates began to be exhausted allowing employers for lower positions to start requiring college degrees (which was great for the employer, they got a better trained cog for their machine, but the cog got the worse pay of a lower position) and it’s been downhill from there.

Now, realize, I do not like the slippery slope argument.  But, in this case, I think it fits the historical pattern as I know it.  Also note, I do not pretend to be an expert in the subject, I am voicing my own, informed, opinion based on observation, anecdotal evidence, life experience (both as an employer, as an employee, as a student and as an instructor) and the experiences of personal friends and family.

It is fully possible we just got unlucky and thus, that’s how it appears to us.  I doubt it.  But it is completely possible.

@cystic:

To the original topic - consider your goals, and then develop the plan to address those goals.  NOT setting a goal is simply setting a bad goal.  Saying “be wealthy” or “be happy” as a goal - IS a goal. 
It is very difficult to attain these last two goals without an appropriate education.

Lincoln has a great quote: “people are as happy as they let themselves be”. I’ve known plenty of college drop-outs who were perfectly happy being cops, mechanics, electricians, etc. Formal education just wasnt for them. Doesnt mean they’re any less happy because theyre driving a Honda instead of a Lexus. Maybe M36 is perfcetly happy being a grunt. Maybe serving his country is his idea of bliss. He’ll never get rich from it, but so what? Do what you love, even if its toting around an M16 in some shithole like Iraq.

because although i am working my a** off now, i am building an amazing house, i’ve got a great car, i’ve got the most amazing wife, and i’m taking 4 people that i love to Orlando soon.  I can take a day off whenever i need/want, and yet i expect to retire in my early-50’s as a multi-millionaire.

My wife’s father was a bit like this. Very prominent tax attorney here in the states. Worked very hard, even argued a few cases in front of the Supreme Court. Married a Circuit Court of Appeals judge. He was worth a couple million by the time he flew his Cessna into a mountain on a clear blue day. Maybe it was an accdient, but he was a fighter pilot in Korea and knew his way around planes. She thinks he killed himself. What she thinks happened is that he had this IDEA that money, status, and things would make him happy (this is a very powerful idea in America, and is what drives our economy, in fact). So when he got those things, and still wasn’t happy, it was like, what can I do now?

I’m not saying you’re like that my father-in-law, but basing happiness on a nice house, great car, and loads of cash, can ultimately leave you unfulfilled.

Now if pumping gas is your idea of a great time, then drop out of school RIGHT NOW!!  Who knows - you could even aspire to be a waiter or a retail worker!

This is elitist crap. My brother-in-law was never happier than when he was working as a checker at Albertsons, making like $30K a year. Very much a people person. Then he got a job that paid twice as much working as a prison guard. He now makes $90,000+ a year working as a Probationary Officer and hates every minute of it. I ask him why he doesn’t go back to checking, but he’d have to sell his house, and his car. He’s become emotionally invested in this idea that money will make him happy.

You don’t have to be a doctor or lawyer to be happy. Its all your attitude. Why do you think there’s so much suicide, divorse, and substance abuse among the rich and famous? Don’t they have everything you listed? Car, house, money, vacations?

Here’s a good article:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/forbes/P95294.asp

“Surveys have found virtually the same level of happiness between the very rich individuals on the Forbes 400 and the Maasai herdsman of East Africa. Lottery winners return to their previous level of happiness after five years. Increases in income just don’t seem to make people happier – and most negative life experiences likewise have only a small impact on long-term satisfaction.”

I don’t agree. I was able to retire by 41 and can allocate my time to ANYTHING without pressure of money. It wasn’t much pressure even when i was working, because at least i was doing what i was raised to do from an early age. I guess thats it really… doing what you want because it removes all the pressure. The problem becomes one of the inconvenience of marriage and even worse children. As a man you are bound by loyalty and duty to your own cause and theirs and this can be daunting task because often you must sacrifice your own passions in life.

So stay in school, stop complaining, don’t allow any woman to treat you as a dependent, keep your mind on your ambitions, and keep fighting for that clear day when your walking ‘downslope’ in life.

Its entirely possible to be happy at any number of duties. I had some wild idea about joining the CIA after high school, but deciding it would undoubtedly present an adventure, but continuing my education would allow me to focus on many new ideas which would present me with a better overall outlook of life. It has ( aside from a few liberal professors)

To be honest, IL, there are some people who settle and make their lives happy as failures.  Just people like you and I strive to achieve more out of life and, with luck, be able to retire early.  Though, to be honest, if I was 41 and able to retire, I’d still work.  Probably part time, but imagine how much better my retirement could be if I worked another 20 years? wink

That’s the difference between college graduates.  Some have the intelligence and drive to excel in life, others don’t.  College is just a way for you, as an individual, to figure that out.

Oh, and no, that’s not the ONLY way.  And no, just because you decide to be mediocre does not mean you cannot decide to excel later.  But college is a good place for you to figure that out, and transcripts are a good way for employers to figure out what choice you made.

You know, I have to add this…

A LARGER factor beyond a sheepskin is the nature of your spouse.

My Ex ran me into the poor house… literally.  She spent money on every new electronic gadget, and when i moved her out I had a U-Haul full of CRAFT supplies (beads, yarn, etc.)  While I was married to her I never had ANY money… just increasing mounds of debt.

One divorce and a second marriage later, this time to a good Southern Woman who loves to shop clearance racks instead of the full price merchandise, and there is NO debt (except the mortgage), and growing 401(k) and other savings accounts.

A sheepskin allows you to EARN more money…  your choice of spouse determines if you get to KEEP any of it…

I disagree.  A sheepskin only shows that someone attempted to train you and that you retained enough knowledge to pass the exams.  It’s the person beneath the sheepskin that allows you to earn money.

Of course, that does not apply to government positions.  In government positions it’s all who you know and what you did that determines your wages.  Veterans +$$$.  Each degree level +$$$.  Friends with the Governor? +$$$.  Etc.

But in general, it’s who you are that determines your fate (in America) not what you have earned.  I don’t care if you graduated Harvard Magnum Cum Lade, if you can’t terminate a cable using the appropriate color codes, I don’t want you working on my network. :P

oddly enough i am agreeing w/ Imp Leader in this forum.
@Smacktard:

@cystic:

To the original topic - consider your goals, and then develop the plan to address those goals.  NOT setting a goal is simply setting a bad goal.  Saying “be wealthy” or “be happy” as a goal - IS a goal. 
It is very difficult to attain these last two goals without an appropriate education.

Lincoln has a great quote: “people are as happy as they let themselves be”. I’ve known plenty of college drop-outs who were perfectly happy being cops, mechanics, electricians, etc. Formal education just wasnt for them. Doesnt mean they’re any less happy because theyre driving a Honda instead of a Lexus. Maybe M36 is perfcetly happy being a grunt. Maybe serving his country is his idea of bliss. He’ll never get rich from it, but so what? Do what you love, even if its toting around an M16 in some shithole like Iraq.

note - i did say an “appropriate education”. 
And you are right - i need people to be garbage collectors.  However Cops, Mechanics, and Electricians are all educated people.  I was talking with some police officers who brought a guy into my ER about law enforcement as a career for my step-son who was interested at the time.  They were quite emphatic about getting post-secondary education in order to further round one out before applying to the force.  My friends in the trades - plumbing, electrical etc. are quite well educated in their profession - otherwise i wouldn’t let one near the sockets in my home.

because although i am working my a** off now, i am building an amazing house, i’ve got a great car, i’ve got the most amazing wife, and i’m taking 4 people that i love to Orlando soon.  I can take a day off whenever i need/want, and yet i expect to retire in my early-50’s as a multi-millionaire.

My wife’s father was a bit like this. Very prominent tax attorney here in the states. Worked very hard, even argued a few cases in front of the Supreme Court. Married a Circuit Court of Appeals judge. He was worth a couple million by the time he flew his Cessna into a mountain on a clear blue day. Maybe it was an accdient, but he was a fighter pilot in Korea and knew his way around planes. She thinks he killed himself. What she thinks happened is that he had this IDEA that money, status, and things would make him happy (this is a very powerful idea in America, and is what drives our economy, in fact). So when he got those things, and still wasn’t happy, it was like, what can I do now?well - fair enough.  It all depends on what you are accumulating the money for.  With me - it’s not about simple accumulation, but the freedom to do what i want, when and where i want.  I worry less about stalling, and a new house means fewer problems (once it’s built).  Suicide is not on the radar.

I’m not saying you’re like that my father-in-law, but basing happiness on a nice house, great car, and loads of cash, can ultimately leave you unfulfilled.

true.  Unless these are things that actually DO make you happy.

Now if pumping gas is your idea of a great time, then drop out of school RIGHT NOW!!  Who knows - you could even aspire to be a waiter or a retail worker!

This is elitist crap. My brother-in-law was never happier than when he was working as a checker at Albertsons, making like $30K a year. Very much a people person. Then he got a job that paid twice as much working as a prison guard. He now makes $90,000+ a year working as a Probationary Officer and hates every minute of it. I ask him why he doesn’t go back to checking, but he’d have to sell his house, and his car. He’s become emotionally invested in this idea that money will make him happy.

it’s not elitist crap.  If you disagree with it, then ok.  But i am not sure how you can.  You do not need to go to school to be a gas jockey, waiter, or retail worker.  My sister started working at The Gap, and now is the regional manager of a major women’s clothing chain with a great office in Vancouver blah blah blah.  Whether her degree in Sociology helped at all or not i don’t know.  But i don’t think it hurt.

You don’t have to be a doctor or lawyer to be happy. Its all your attitude. Why do you think there’s so much suicide, divorse, and substance abuse among the rich and famous? Don’t they have everything you listed? Car, house, money, vacations?

Here’s a good article:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/forbes/P95294.asp

“Surveys have found virtually the same level of happiness between the very rich individuals on the Forbes 400 and the Maasai herdsman of East Africa. Lottery winners return to their previous level of happiness after five years. Increases in income just don’t seem to make people happier – and most negative life experiences likewise have only a small impact on long-term satisfaction.”

this is all true.  I think this is because wealthy people don’t know what to do with their money, and the poor have learned to make the most of what they have.  Studies have shown that people’s happiness has more to do with their neighbour’s income than their own.  I think this is screwed up, but whatever.

So yeah - if you think you will be happy LONG TERM without an education, then drop out now.  Just keep in mind - it is tough to get back in.