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Help/Support ► Need to make a decision soon and other adult problems



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Annoyance

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So, I lost my job in January, the statement I was told while I was sobbing in the office and the loss prevention lady and my old boss were trying to "comfort" me so I'd get out of the store after a long 10 hour overnight shift...

She said, "Oh maybe this is a blessing in disguise."
Needless to say, it took a lot to not punch her. My job was my security, and was my first job. It was the safest thing I had and they blew it away because I complained about my pay being under my male co-worker despite working there for 4 years.


But this thread isn't about that.

I'm quickly learning how to drive, because I'm getting my best friend's car when he moves to Boston [which ugh it's gonna kill me] next month, and more opportunities will open up for me.

I can drive a lot more places once I get my license [which is soon, I think. I need to nail a couple more things that will be on the test.], I can either do two things.

1. Go to college full time towards my goal of being an editor/writing consultant with probably a side thing of learning Japanese for real, and getting a part time job.

2. Get a full time job again, most likely in retail again, and pretend I have time for any schooling and cry a lot more because I'll maybe be an editor by the time I'm 50.


Like my gut wants me to go to college, but I miss the security of having a full time job.
Going to college has always seemed like a gamble for me, because even though I'd be going to community college, no question... It's still a lot of money I barely have. I have a good amount in my savings still, but this would take a giant chunk of it. As a lot of you know, I love editing and helping people with writing. It's slowly but surely became a passion of mine... but it's still a gamble.


In general I'd just like to hear your opinions and suggestions.
 
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you're gonna die one day just do whatever the fuck you want who cares
 

Chuman

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you're gonna die one day just do whatever the diddly you want who cares

This is literally the most ridiculous advice but I'm going to assume its satire and nod like you're right because I'm younger than you.
 

Oracle Spockanort

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You'll need to have some kind of college education to be taken seriously as a potential editor (you don't NEED to but it'll make your life easier). Don't put it off. It's your life so take command of it.

If you don't want to be stuck in retail forever, go to school now while you don't feel committed to a job. You'll make that money back.

This is literally the most ridiculous advice but I'm going to assume its satire and nod like you're right because I'm younger than you.

Not really. It's crass but 100% accurate. I think about this all of the time. We all are going to die, so why do we hold ourselves back from doing the things we want to in this life? It's foolish to let things hold us back when we don't have to.

Go do shit. Every day spent thinking about it is a day lost.
 

Chuman

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You'll need to have some kind of college education to be taken seriously as a potential editor (you don't NEED to but it'll make your life easier). Don't put it off. It's your life so take command of it.

If you don't want to be stuck in retail forever, go to school now while you don't feel committed to a job. You'll make that money back.



Not really. It's crass but 100% accurate. I think about this all of the time. We all are going to die, so why do we hold ourselves back from doing the things we want to in this life? It's foolish to let things hold us back when we don't have to.

Go do shit. Every day spent thinking about it is a day lost.

Well I'd love to think that way but its very difficult if you have family to take care of. Of course I don't know annoyance's life but I guess victor knows a bit more about her than I do
 

Oracle Spockanort

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Well I'd love to think that way but its very difficult if you have family to take care of. Of course I don't know annoyance's life but I guess victor knows a bit more about her than I do

All the more of a reason to take more chances. If you live your life for your family or others, you'll never be happy and regret that you didn't do what you wanted to do when you could have.

Nobody is saying that she needs to ditch her family to follow after a dream, though, but investing money in her future now rather than sticking to the safety of a job that allows for little upward mobility and the free time to pursue her future goals is doable.
 

Annoyance

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Victor ain't got shit.

An update I have filed for FAFSA and I'm looking into two community colleges by me. One I'm able to get to relatively easy even if, god forbid, I have car trouble, but it's more expensive by about $1-2000 I guess.

You're right, Spock, I gotta just go with what I can get. I should have done this sooner but I didn't really know what was happening at all. Once I can drive and actually get to school I should be able to move forward with all of this.


Also should be noted that I'm not taking care of anyone but myself at this point.
 

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If you already know you want to be an editor and take Japanese as your required language for community college, go for it. Take a class or two at a time, so you're not overwhelmed from all the homework. I don't know how you'd get some of the funds for your classes per say but, if you had a job on the side and took a few classes at a time and paid them as you went; I think it'd work out just fine. You could try applying for financial aid too. Or better yet, check for it and see what the requirements are for it because, it could help paying for whatever classes you're looking to take.

Other then that, remember you can take community college at any time and make up for missed classes or get the credit score you need. (Not sure if this applies to all community colleges. I just know mine does.) More importantly, take it when you're ready. Besides that, if you really liked working as security perhaps there's something you could take to potentially lead up to that kind of career?

I'm not sure if what I said was helpful or not. Hopefully it was. :)
 

Chuman

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Then do whatever you want. Take care of yourself, I say go to college and get a part-time, in 2-4 years you'll have a degree and it'll be much easier to pursue what you want. Hopefully you make the right choice, which is something only you can decide for yourself. Good luck with your car troubles too, those things are handy to have.
 

Oracle Spockanort

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Victor ain't got shit.

An update I have filed for FAFSA and I'm looking into two community colleges by me. One I'm able to get to relatively easy even if, god forbid, I have car trouble, but it's more expensive by about $1-2000 I guess.

You're right, Spock, I gotta just go with what I can get. I should have done this sooner but I didn't really know what was happening at all. Once I can drive and actually get to school I should be able to move forward with all of this.

If you need any help or just some moral support when it comes to school, I'm here (and on FB)! I've been in uni, community college, and back to uni so I know the struggle.

Check to see if either school offers any services, waivers, or discounts on courses/other school expenses for low-income families, too. I couldn't get financial aid while I was at CC because I owed money to my last school but I was able to get all of my course fees waived and depending on the CC they might have a similar program like that.
 

Annoyance

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If you need any help or just some moral support when it comes to school, I'm here (and on FB)! I've been in uni, community college, and back to uni so I know the struggle.

Check to see if either school offers any services, waivers, or discounts on courses/other school expenses for low-income families, too. I couldn't get financial aid while I was at CC because I owed money to my last school but I was able to get all of my course fees waived and depending on the CC they might have a similar program like that.
Thanks I'll keep that in mind. I really appreciate it. I know I'm gonna need it.

Well, despite my independence, my mom earns too much to qualify for anything with those programs to my knowledge. I had trouble filing in the previous years before because of that. I didn't qualify because I was technically dependent, and we aren't low-income. They just can't give me literally anything.

If you already know you want to be an editor and take Japanese as your required language for community college, go for it. Take a class or two at a time, so you're not overwhelmed from all the homework. I don't know how you'd get some of the funds for your classes per say but, if you had a job on the side and took a few classes at a time and paid them as you went; I think it'd work out just fine. You could try applying for financial aid too. Or better yet, check for it and see what the requirements are for it because, it could help paying for whatever classes you're looking to take.

Other then that, remember you can take community college at any time and make up for missed classes or get the credit score you need. (Not sure if this applies to all community colleges. I just know mine does.) More importantly, take it when you're ready. Besides that, if you really liked working as security perhaps there's something you could take to potentially lead up to that kind of career?

I'm not sure if what I said was helpful or not. Hopefully it was. :)
I just applied for FAFSA a bit ago. Hopefully it goes through.

:v Also I didn't work as security, I worked retail, it was just a secure job because you have to really diddly up to lose a job with Walgreens. At least that's how it was before. Now it's like you have to step on a bunch of people to stay there. The company has really changed and my pride of working with them diminished before they even fired me.

Then do whatever you want. Take care of yourself, I say go to college and get a part-time, in 2-4 years you'll have a degree and it'll be much easier to pursue what you want. Hopefully you make the right choice, which is something only you can decide for yourself. Good luck with your car troubles too, those things are handy to have.
Thanks mang. The car I'm getting is reliable, it's about 10 years old but it's a good car. I just wanna be prepared if I can't manage to get it started and whatnot. I don't like depending on rides if I don't have to, so I'm used to pushing my bike through 10 inches of snow if necessary. Both schools are accessible to me by public transportation, just a matter of a bike ride+train, as opposed to a bus system I don't understand.
 
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Oracle Spockanort

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Well, despite my independence, my mom earns too much to qualify for anything with those programs to my knowledge. I had trouble filing in the previous years before because of that. I didn't qualify because I was technically dependent, and we aren't low-income. They just can't give me literally anything.

Oh man...

Does your mom still claim you on her taxes now that you are 24? You can probably talk to a FA aid at the community colleges to discuss the possibility of being considered an independent student with 0 EFC.
 

Annoyance

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Oh man...

Does your mom still claim you on her taxes now that you are 24? You can probably talk to a FA aid at the community colleges to discuss the possibility of being considered an independent student with 0 EFC.
Oh, no, she hasn't since I got a job at 19. But now that I am 24 I guess that changes things?

The community colleges will get my FAFSA information and know what's up with that info I gave them. I am independent according that, and my taxes.
 

Oracle Spockanort

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Oh, no, she hasn't since I got a job at 19. But now that I am 24 I guess that changes things?

The community colleges will get my FAFSA information and know what's up with that info I gave them. I am independent according that, and my taxes.

No, you are still in the clear. Your mom can't claim you even though you plan to start college. This does work in your favor because it means you don't need to account for your mom's income to seek out opportunities that can save you money because usually you have to apply for them separately from FA...but again I wouldn't know about different CCs since it depends on the school.
 

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Couldn't really give you advice, since I have an inkling my work and college systems differ from America's, but I would just like to take a moment and say good luck to you.
 

Annoyance

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No, you are still in the clear. Your mom can't claim you even though you plan to start college. This does work in your favor because it means you don't need to account for your mom's income to seek out opportunities that can save you money because usually you have to apply for them separately from FA...but again I wouldn't know about different CCs since it depends on the school.
True, but to my knowledge when I tried last time I guess I was dependent which was weird and confusing... I don't know.

But at least it's making sense now. I didn't have to do anything about my parents this time. Which is a relief because they're difficult to talk to about this stuff and make a big fuss about a government company knowing their info??? Just chill...

Couldn't really give you advice, since I have an inkling my work and college systems differ from America's, but I would just like to take a moment and say good luck to you.
Thanks man.
 

Oracle Spockanort

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True, but to my knowledge when I tried last time I guess I was dependent which was weird and confusing... I don't know.

But at least it's making sense now. I didn't have to do anything about my parents this time. Which is a relief because they're difficult to talk to about this stuff and make a big fuss about a government company knowing their info??? Just chill...

It really is...You try to go to school, know you will likely be fending for yourself and then you get told you're a dependent so no matter what financial state you are in, what truly matters is your parent's financial status even though they either won't be giving you money or have no money to give you to begin with. I'm glad you don't have to deal with that crap anymore.

Lol the government knows about their financial situation when they file taxes anyways and through their jobs so haha not like they could have stopped it xD
 

Annoyance

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It really is...You try to go to school, know you will likely be fending for yourself and then you get told you're a dependent so no matter what financial state you are in, what truly matters is your parent's financial status even though they either won't be giving you money or have no money to give you to begin with. I'm glad you don't have to deal with that crap anymore.

Lol the government knows about their financial situation when they file taxes anyways and through their jobs so haha not like they could have stopped it xD
God when I tried when I was younger I qualified as dependent and it was awful, because my dad was unemployed and I still didn't qualify for FAFSA. And yeah my parents are really silly when it comes to this stuff. They really value privacy, or at least they think they do, but don't know what that really means.
 

Nyangoro

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At the end of the day, life is about one thing and one thing only: Making it work.

If you think you can make it work while doing what you want, go for it. Everything is difficult in a sense. That's just how things are. So you might as well pick something you don't mind being so difficult.
 

Annoyance

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At the end of the day, life is about one thing and one thing only: Making it work.

If you think you can make it work while doing what you want, go for it. Everything is difficult in a sense. That's just how things are. So you might as well pick something you don't mind being so difficult.
Yeah, you're right about that... Honestly I really don't think I can or want to see myself rot away at another retail manager position being miserable because while customers love me... Everything is your fault and nothing is ever good enough for your boss.

I'd rather be a cashier, or something small, and just get money on the side.
 
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