[quote]Aleksandr wrote:
That sucks, but I think this guy said he’s 26, he’s only been out of school for a few years, and I doubt he only noticed recently that he isn’t passionate about it.[/quote]
There’s nothing wrong with noticing you’re not passionate about something – or someone – you thought you were. Happens millions of times a day. It will happen to you several times over the course of your life. And he’s doing something about it.
[quote]Aleksandr wrote:
You should know that both of my parents have a net worth of less than 10k (they are divorced). That’s an obstacle, sure, but it doesn’t make it impossible to advance in life. A friend of mine immigrated to Canada from Bulgaria, and his parents were unable to find meaningful work. The mother worked as a maid, and the father was a cab driver. They worked really hard, saved up some money, and opened a restaurant. It has been open for years, and I do believe it’s the most successful restaurant in the city. Needless to say, they are quite well-off now.
Who took their jobs as maids and cab drivers? Either someone trying to save up some money, or someone lacking in talent and ambition that will never strive for more.[/quote]
Yes, there are many stories like that. But, first, they are becoming more and more rare in the US, because of a) skyrocketing tuition costs, and b) an increasing consolidation in several industries that is making starting or owning a small business harder and harder in many areas.
Second, not everybody wants to own a restaurant. You need to realize that not everybody wants to have a job that is available or own a company for which there is space in the market for. My whole point is that there are factors here you cannot control: first, you cannot control what you are passionate about. Second, you cannot control the society around you and force it to give you a chance.
Sure, there will always be success stories. There will always be people that work hard, are patient and are rewarded for it. But it is not a sure outcome. It is not deterministic. You cannot fool yourself into thinking that given enough hard work, determination and patience you WILL get the job of your dreams. You can tell yourself you MIGHT, you can tell yourself it’s your BEST CHANCE, or that it’s the RIGHT THING TO DO… but not that you WILL.
[quote]Aleksandr wrote:
That’s not necessarily true, but an attitude like that makes success impossible.[/quote]
What attitude? Realizing that you might have to wait 5 years and/or get back to college before you even get called for an interview? Why does that make success impossible? I personally know half a dozen people that spent the last 5 years very determined to find new jobs, outside the IT industry, trying every day, with the best attitude, and although they are still trying, none of them succeeded, in spite of being very driven, very passionate people.
[quote]Aleksandr wrote:
Everyone has problems they need to overcome, and trying to come up with a plan is much more productive than complaining about how hard it is.[/quote]
Absolutely. I’m not arguing with that. My point is that one needs to be realistic, and understand that in spite of all possible efforts, you might never succeed.
[quote]Aleksandr wrote:
Like I said, I am an immigrant, and many of my friends have been immigrants. I don’t have to try being in someone else’s position, I’m FROM that position. [/quote]
No you’re not. You’re not 38 and sick and tired about the industry you spent your whole professional life in. You’re not living in a country where it costs $100k a year to keep yourself in a decent college (tuition, living costs, etc.).
You give your host country too little credit, and you’re looking at life from too early of an age to really understand what I’m talking about.
And why do you feel that being an immigrant puts you at a disadvantage? In many cases, at least over here in the Bay Area, being an immigrant puts you at an ADVANTAGE. For two reasons: first, you might have the benefit of coming here with a decent education that didn’t cost you thousands of dollars a year. Second, you have the benefit of being part of a community that will support and protect you. For example, all Asian and Mexican immigrants I know can get, at any time, a job within their own community with a simple 5-second call. That’s just the kind of culture they have – one that just doesn’t exist outside those communities.
Not that there is anything wrong with either of those things – but these days, being an immigrant is far from putting you in a disadvantaged position, especially in comparison to Americans who had the bad luck of growing up in the wrong neighborhood.
It gets up to a point where it’s actually silly: among my students, I routinely find that the ones with the best level of English are the European ones that have it as a second language, because they had the benefit of learning it properly, rather than through what I believe is one of the worst education systems in the whole Northern Hemisphere – ours.
Talking about languages, do you know that, besides English, being able to speak either Spanish or Mandarin fluently is now a requirement to enter Stanford Medical, and a great advantage if you want to enter UCSF Medical?
Dude, you do NOT want to grow up in the US if you have a choice of growing up in Europe or Canada instead.