I think I'm about make a life changing decision.

[JoeZhang]

ANd that makes quitting the job in January in order to start school in September look like kind of a dumb move, no? Why lose out on 7 or 8 months worth of pay, if you're going to delay entry into school? And not to mention screwing over your friend/roommate.

Makes more sense to move home earlier if a part-time job is available (Since he's only working part-time now), the cost of living should be lower so he should be able to put some money aside for when he's studying. also allows him to get settled before the course started and he's not competing for part-time jobs at the same time as the newest influx of students.

 

[TheSeeker]

Moving back in with your parents when you're 30 might've sounded like a joke in 1998. Now? It's very common and in many cases the best possible move to make. Sounds to me like you're doing the right thing.

Hey! I moved back in with my Mom in 98 to go back to school!

your post is really thought-provoking. Life is short. we must make the best use of and do the things valuable. Thanks for what you've written above. come on. I believe you will do a good job.

Spambot is spammy.

 

[Mr Awe]

Aldo, there's certainly no fault, or at least not huge fault, in where you've ended up. Where you're at, this moment. The big fault would be if you stayed in this rut and not questioned your life and not make changes. So far, so good.

As for going back to school. Make sure you know what you want to do in college. Don't go for some random degree that may or may not help. Try to be smart about it. Do you have ideas? What is it that you'd like to do? Just don't go in blind figuring that a degree will fix your problems all by itself.

Mr Awe

 

[Colonel Green]

In this day and age, you have to have a college degree to get anywhere in life, unless you luck out and end up a rock star or something like that.

The wealthiest guy I know (in my age range, anyway) doesn't have a college degree, he makes six figures working as a steel fabricator. Not a penny of student debt, either.

 

[SmoothieX]

In this day and age, an undergraduate degree may not even secure someone a job. Anyone who has a job with competitive pay and benefits is lucky to be employed. Still, it would be beneficial to Aldo to take some classes and hone his skills.

I know a few firms we work with sometimes won't even sniff your resume unless you have a graduate degree.

Today's grad degree is what an undergrad degree meant in our parents' time.

 

[JoeZhang]

Really depends on the field and what you want to do - in some a degree is worthless, in others it simply allows you access to the competition but without it, you can't get that access.

 

[sidious618]

Moving back in with your parents when you're 30 might've sounded like a joke in 1998. Now? It's very common and in many cases the best possible move to make. Sounds to me like you're doing the right thing.

Hey! I moved back in with my Mom in 98 to go back to school!

I just said "sounded"; I didn't mean that it was!

 

[TheSeeker]

I know. I wasn't really offended.

 

[Scout101]

In this day and age, an undergraduate degree may not even secure someone a job. Anyone who has a job with competitive pay and benefits is lucky to be employed. Still, it would be beneficial to Aldo to take some classes and hone his skills.

I know a few firms we work with sometimes won't even sniff your resume unless you have a graduate degree.

Today's grad degree is what an undergrad degree meant in our parents' time.

And even THAT is now losing value, with 'experience' becoming the new must-have. How you GET experience without getting hired is trickier

Grad school is becoming pretty devalued, unless it's a pretty specific field of study. So many kids either picked useless undergrad degrees, didn't want to grow up, or couldn't find a job, so staying in school to get a grad degree is becoming more common. Of course, so many of them now that even that doesn't stand out like it should. Makes it an odd job market, with way over-trained people with no actual experience trying to apply for entry-level jobs.

 

[Spot's Meow]

In this day and age, an undergraduate degree may not even secure someone a job. Anyone who has a job with competitive pay and benefits is lucky to be employed. Still, it would be beneficial to Aldo to take some classes and hone his skills.

I know a few firms we work with sometimes won't even sniff your resume unless you have a graduate degree.

Today's grad degree is what an undergrad degree meant in our parents' time.

And even THAT is now losing value, with 'experience' becoming the new must-have. How you GET experience without getting hired is trickier

This is definitely the truth. I recently got my graduate degree and even that hasn't helped me in finding a job. The people hiring care much more about past experience than your degrees, which like you said, is a tricky situation since there is no way to gain that needed experience unless someone will hire you, which they are reluctant to do. I have a couple of internships under my belt and even that doesn't seem to help a whole lot.

Aldo, your retail experience will be a big asset to you, everyone loves some great customer service skills.

 

[Gryffindorian]

In this day and age, you have to have a college degree to get anywhere in life, unless you luck out and end up a rock star or something like that.

The wealthiest guy I know (in my age range, anyway) doesn't have a college degree, he makes six figures working as a steel fabricator. Not a penny of student debt, either.

Oh, I know this from personal experience as well. I work for a public utility company in the SF Bay Area, and some of the technical jobs (with very good salary rates) require only a minimum of 12th-grade education. Most of the trade/apprenticeship positions in the company, however, require special certificates, which can be acquired from community colleges or universities. My employer has a tuition reimbursement program that has tremendously helped many people get their bachelor's and master's degrees.

 

[Aldo]

I really want to be a teacher, and that's what I'm going to initially be looking into. It's something I've wanted to do for the last ten years. I just got sidetracked into thinking I could actually turn my retail experience into a retail career.

Unfortanately with retail, it's not always what you know but who you know.

 

[Mr Awe]

Anywho doubts the value of a college degree should check out this interactive New York Times graph that is found here.

You can click on different factors that influence the unemployment rate. For example, you can compare the unemployment rate of those with only a HS degree (9.1%) to those with a college degree (4.5%). You can break it down by combinations of race and gender as well. Very cool.

 

[SmoothieX]

I know a few firms we work with sometimes won't even sniff your resume unless you have a graduate degree.

Today's grad degree is what an undergrad degree meant in our parents' time.

And even THAT is now losing value, with 'experience' becoming the new must-have. How you GET experience without getting hired is trickier

This is definitely the truth. I recently got my graduate degree and even that hasn't helped me in finding a job. The people hiring care much more about past experience than your degrees, which like you said, is a tricky situation since there is no way to gain that needed experience unless someone will hire you, which they are reluctant to do. I have a couple of internships under my belt and even that doesn't seem to help a whole lot.

Aldo, your retail experience will be a big asset to you, everyone loves some great customer service skills.

I got my masters at night while working full time during the day. It seemed to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

 

[Spot's Meow]

And even THAT is now losing value, with 'experience' becoming the new must-have. How you GET experience without getting hired is trickier

This is definitely the truth. I recently got my graduate degree and even that hasn't helped me in finding a job. The people hiring care much more about past experience than your degrees, which like you said, is a tricky situation since there is no way to gain that needed experience unless someone will hire you, which they are reluctant to do. I have a couple of internships under my belt and even that doesn't seem to help a whole lot.

Aldo, your retail experience will be a big asset to you, everyone loves some great customer service skills.

I got my masters at night while working full time during the day. It seemed to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

I did that as well, the internships I mentioned were full time and completed while doing my Master's, but just two years of experience in the field isn't enough for many hiring! Quite frustrating.

Aldo, I'm surprised that you would think we would tell you this was a bad idea! It really is an awesome idea compared to working a stagnant retail job for several more years.

 

[Aldo]

I guess I'm just used to being your guys' whipping boy since I post all those threads about girls I am crushing on

 

[doubleohfive]

Well you do go on a lot about girls you are interested in and at times it can come across as creepy.

But you didn't say you were going back to school to be a creep and hit on co-eds. You're going back to further your education. That's commendable, which is why people are offering advice.

 

[Aldo]

I just took a step back and looked at my life, and realized I was not happy with where I was. Not only with my level of employment, but of where I lived and who i surrounded myself with. Had I stayed on this path nothing good would have come from it.

I'm sitting here and I just thank god that I have such supportive parents that I do. Without them I really would be stuck right now and I'm just so glad they are allowing me this opportunity.

But none of it will mean anything unless I give it my all when I go back to school. That's what's kind of scaring me, I know I'm going to have to take this chance and really apply myself at school. I used to be the kind of person who did the bare minimum at school and managed to get by. I can't do that anymore.

 

[Gary7]

^ Sometimes we have to push ourselves into the uncomfortable, as a means of motivation that helps us leap forward. You are indeed lucky to have such supportive parents. Many parents will draw the line, and allowing a son or daughter back into the home after having already left some years ago will be resisted. Of course, any parent worth a damned will help their children... But I can understand if there is fear of the son or daughter becoming a freeloader. It sounds like you'd definitely not be that way, eager to use the help to get going in the direction that will eventually make it possible to be on your own again.

Anyway, you've already gotten a lot of great advice... I'm just stepping up to nod in agreement that moving back home looks to be a good decision for you.

 

[Aldo]

So anyways, since this thread is now just starting to turn into people offering up their support on how they think this is a good plan for me (which I thank you all for your kind words). I thought I'd put it to good use:

I'm kind of worried about how I'm going to tell my roommate. Just four months ago I moved in with him because I needed a place to live and he needed a roommate (all of his paycheck was going towards his bills*). I feel that by moving out I'll be putting him back into the same situation he was in before I moved in.


*I found out later (after moving in) that about a third of his paycheck was going towards cigarrettes and pot.