Storm

As some of you know, I work at TCBY in Lenoir.  Every so often a customer comes in by the name of Mrs. Hinson and she is usually not very fun for most people to wait on since she will come in about 3 minutes before we close and stay FOREVER.

Now, last night at about 8:56, right before closing at 9pm, Billy and I were granted with Mrs. Hinson's presence.  She targeted me out because she doesn't know Billy and we started our nearly-hour-long conversation.  Eventually we began talking about Why I wasn't going to school and stuff.  I had told her before that I didn't like school and that I was taking a break until I figured out what I would like to do for a living, and then I would start my path from there...  If that path involves formal schooling, so be it.  Anyway, my point is that I actually had a breakthrough and I know now what I want to do...or, more precisely, I know the type of job I want to look for.

I know I'll never randomly get lucky and fall into a job playing video games, or poking holes and cutting into people all day...  It finally hit me that I want a job where I use my hands and my brain to think about something and solve practical problems.  I want to have one of those jobs like repairing instruments like my dad, or being an electrician, or working on something that is actually useful to people.  I want a job where people will call on me because they have a problem and they know I'm the best person to solve it.  I want to be useful to somebody.

I'm not giving up playing and writing music, or playing video games, and certainly not giving up on my time with my friends and family.  I'm going to make time for those things regardless.  My plan now is to find another job (such as Wal-Mart maybe? *fingers crossed*) and earn some steady income until I've narrowed down what kind of trade I'm most interested in.  I'm going to find a trade school that specializes in it and then I'm on the fast track to a new career.

Now, I may only be 20 years old, but I have some very good advice for those who aren't yet out of high school based on my own experiences as well as what people around me have experienced:  College and formal schooling is not for everyone.  If you go in with a straight-forward plan and really want to do well in school, you will.  If you go in like I did, not knowing what you want to do and not really caring, you will find it much more difficult to do well.

The reason is this:  When you go into school and you're sitting in that English class, or that Algebra class, and you don't know what you want to do for a living, that thought will slowly go from "I don't know what I want to do" to "I don't know what I'm doing here."  That thought will eventually keep changing for the worse until you're wondering when the hell it will be practical that you'll need to know how to write an MLA research paper or solve a complex mathematical equation.  The answer is that it won't ever be practical for 99% of you.  Unless you want to be a teacher or professor, then that knowledge will benefit you very little.

Lots of people I know can't decide on a major as well...  I have been living by what many, many people much older and wiser than myself have told me.  "Arts degrees aren't worth the paper they're printed on."  And they are right.  The only jobs that two-year Arts degrees allow you to get are the same jobs you can get right out of high school.  I just ask that you remember and think about this before the time comes so you can have some real-world experience be given to you.

I wasn't sure where this blog would end up, but I'm running out of steam now, so I'll leave you with one last thought.  This was not just a place where I could vent all of my frustrations with my life and career.  I'm partially writing this so that people have an idea that my plan isn't just to float through life with no purpose, and it's not to just get by on as little as I can muster.  I realize that it looks like I'm not a great role-model and that I've messed up on a few things in my short 20 years on this planet.  I just hope that I can spread what little knowledge I can offer amongst some of my younger friends and help them out in some small way by just showing them that life and education isn't a one-way path.  For some people it's the best path, but for some people it's not.  It can leave you bitter and hate-filled towards the education system like myself, or it can lead to prosperity and happiness.  I just hope for your sake that you can tell the difference before you get there.

If you actually managed to read this and still think that I'm some lazy teenager who doesn't care what happens in his life, I suggest that you read it again.  If you've come away from this with a new idea of where you want you're own life to go, then I've done my job.