Yep. Same here gradg-e-ated HS in '86.
Went to JC to save $ and play Lax then took a year off to work 3 jobs to finish my BA in Econ at a SUNY.
I paid cash for my degrees so no debt…but yes huge punch in the face upon arrival to the real world. Now, outsourcing to India, consolidation, over regulation, inept middle management has got me rethinking things…
Technically I’m the last of the X’ers… I didn’t fuck anything up, I’m just slightly less shafted as the millennials, and no where near as good as the Boomers.
It’s why we’re so bitter. We were the first “snowflake” generation, and life punched us in the mouth.
Me too, Chris. Me too. Once in awhile I go with envy, but I often come back to pride. 
I have always been interested in working in either the law enforcement field or the health field. I always loved the idea of becoming a physician or becoming a criminal investigator, I can’t see myself being happy if I wasn’t working in one of those fields. I know life can sometimes get in the way sometimes but overall I am currently trying my best to achieve my goals. right now I am a college sophomore I go to school full time, and currently looking for some internships and part time jobs in those two career fields. I recently found out that I can start volunteering at my local hospitals so I filled out an application earlier today. I applied for a couple internships with some federal law enforcement agencies but was told that they couldn’t hire me because I wasn’t a college junior. I will try again once I’m a college junior. I am currently a biology major. in two more years maybe three I will hopefully have my bachelors.
Well there ya go!
Put those pieces together and your dream job is “Dexter”.
I’ve never had a real “dream job” but I’ve done a lot of things that I really like. I like building stuff and general mechanical operations. I started tinkering with stuff as far back as I can remember, and have just always had an intuitive mechanical sense.
Most things that fall within my range of abilities don’t pay much, but they’re usually a good challenge and provide a sense of accomplishment.
Not exactly living the dream, but happy enough in general.
In 7th grade I wrote an essay saying, “I want to be a trader when I grow up” because that was my dream job.And I became one and did it for 17 years. Then I changed careers and again find myself in a dream job though I had no idea the industry existed 2 years ago.
Which makes me think a “dream job” isn’t necessarily a job at all but instead is a set of conditions that when met, leads to a high degree of satisfaction and fulfillment.
Well, thank you both, but you realize I get to be there for the best, too, right? And a fair portion of my time is spent in shared laughter over the absurdity of life.
But I do cry sometimes.
I agree, and didn’t bring that part up intentionally.[quote=“MoreMuscle, post:53, topic:224542”]
Short-term gratification vs long term + a level of financial literacy that is likely not there imo.
[/quote]
This is the problem.
If you feel underpaid then acquire the skills to be paid more. Too many people think their education ends, upon receiving a degree.
Honestly, I only know one. He didn’t attend college, but has a great job in finance and has risen through the ranks. Most of my friends from college were on food stamps and didn’t work.
[quote=“MoreMuscle, post:53, topic:224542”]
Where did you play at?[/quote]
Santa Barbara, you?
Sounds like you’re on the right track and working hard to pay it off. I assume you believe going after your masters was a bad decision? I agree. I would love to get a masters and go to law school, but I can’t afford it right now without debt, and that’s not something I’m willing to take on.
I don’t know, going to college at the risk of financially hampering yourself for 15 years doesn’t sound like the right thing.
What are you starting? I’ve got several that i’m working on. Some more elaborate than others.
Totally agree with this. I feel like I’m trying to learn new skills each day…but mostly to be successful on the entrepreneurial side…I don’t really care for working for someone else my entire life.
This is crazy to me. I played at Chowan University. It’s a small D2 in rural NC…and I would think I would know more people on food stamps, but I can only remember one at this point…who was a football player.
I would give anything to go back to playing lol. Coached for a couple years while in grad school, was nice to stay around the game but man, that was time-intensive.
You know, I agree…but when people tell you you have to go to college to be successful, you just do it I feel like…without even questioning it. Both of my parents were the first people in their family to go to college. They live a solid middle class life, don’t take on much debt, have the same house they’ve had since I was born…the usual stuff. But I’ll be damned if they told me about interest rates, or compound interest, or maybe this isn’t a good idea lol. Not sure why not. I can remember my mom saying “this is what people like us have to do” (in reference to getting my graduate degree) Fuck! If We don’t get an assistantship, we dont have to do it! Lol.
I’m a Registered Dietitian so most of my entrepreneurial pursuits are focused around that at this point. I have 5 or so clients right now I’ve been helping with everything from weight loss, to Irritable Bowel Syndrome, to Diabetes management. I also have relationships with a few gyms where we do 8 week weight loss classes. I handle everything on the nutrition side of those.
I also am the Sports Dietitian at Elon University out here which is a mid-major D1. I think there is a great opportunity to create a company of CSSD’s (certified specialists in sports dietetics) that can fill that niche at universities…I’m just not there yet.
My passion though is really to become a successful entrepreneur and then teach other Black people financial literacy and entrepreneurship. A job stops a bullet everytime…so that is the end game…I just am not sure how I’m gonna get there.
Well said Doc.
Great list IMO…
I’m on my third re-creation of myself and have been fortunate enough to reach this point each time. I’ve always enjoyed being part of a team where my boss and co-workers know they can count on my department and myself to carry our part of the load.
That’s a real number, but it includes high schoolers, college students and retirement-age Americans, leaving perhaps 20 million a better approximation. We rate the claim Mostly False.
I’ve sort of got my dream job. I’m self employed. I’m an artist who’s had a couple of group shows and is working my way up, and I do gardening and labouring and stuff. I love it. I love being active and I like being able to do my art and writing too.
Thanks for this. As I said, I didn’t know if the 90 million stat was accurate but I believed it to be true. I admit I am likely biased because I see many unemployed or unemployed-appearing people on a daily basis.
I worked in a pawn shop for a while. You want to see some sad looking motherfuckers? Get a job in a pawn shop. God it was depressing.
Or a job in the inner city of NY. Am I started by to sound like Jason Blaha? 
I got a job which paid you to cry at Chinese funerals at 14. Yes, I cried for a living.
how did you make yourself cry?
A better indication would be a graph of % working age adults in the last 50 years. If there is any significant difference now you know its not related to people being so well off they can retire early or choose not to work because they don’t need the money.
Pulled out clumps of nose hairs. Works every time…