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Adsos Letter

(19,459 posts)
130. I earned both BA and MA in History, but worked 32 years as a painter.
Tue Jan 8, 2013, 02:04 AM
Jan 2013

Did very well in school, too (3.97 GPA in my undergrad work, 4.0 in my grad work); however, I have always really enjoyed working with my hands.

Pick a good shop that does a broad array of work, pay attention and apply yourself, and in a few years you'll develop a skill set that can lead to a very lucrative career.

I've never really regretted the time and energy I put into the History degrees because they fed my desire to understand something about how this world came to be the way it is.

Are the kids trying to stay close to home? randome Jan 2013 #1
This message was self-deleted by its author devilgrrl Jan 2013 #2
Landing a job in a different state is next to impossible. sagat Jan 2013 #7
why should people move away from their famlies and friends? CreekDog Jan 2013 #8
Your right. I guess I grew up in a different time. My sister and I moved out around 19. southernyankeebelle Jan 2013 #30
So... every area needs every industry and profession? No mismatch between need and supply? dmallind Jan 2013 #35
The Better Opportunities May Be Overseas Yavin4 Jan 2013 #56
Or, go overseas and teach English Lydia Leftcoast Jan 2013 #71
Korea pays a lot better to start Dems2002 Jan 2013 #100
Yes, Korea is "hot" right now, sort of like Japan was thirty and forty years ago Lydia Leftcoast Jan 2013 #112
I'm pretty sure that the starting wage in Japan is higher Art_from_Ark Jan 2013 #129
Japan doesn't usually pay all housing costs Dems2002 Jan 2013 #131
In the past, at least, people who were invited to teach English in Japan Art_from_Ark Jan 2013 #132
Actually no it's not davidpdx Jan 2013 #135
Not in Korea, the economy here is struggling davidpdx Jan 2013 #134
The older one was living and working 300 miles away, KurtNYC Jan 2013 #10
So where should they go? treestar Jan 2013 #140
I know a mother with 2 "kids" who finished grad school - big debt and neither work Liberal_in_LA Jan 2013 #3
Depending on where the grad lives, today grads find themselves having to relocate to where the jobs JaneyVee Jan 2013 #4
What kind of degrees are we talking about? Just curious. sinkingfeeling Jan 2013 #5
I'm wondering that too Victor_c3 Jan 2013 #12
Why do you even go there? abelenkpe Jan 2013 #22
uneducated people usually throw the "what type of degree" canard out there datasuspect Jan 2013 #28
Do they really....? LanternWaste Jan 2013 #43
translation: sweetapogee Jan 2013 #76
The problem tends to come up when students pursue degrees without any analysis of job opportunities. Xithras Jan 2013 #41
That is good advice! abelenkpe Jan 2013 #49
You are absolutely correct. dixiegrrrrl Jan 2013 #146
I agree with most of what you said Victor_c3 Jan 2013 #47
Awwwww, you're a good parent! abelenkpe Jan 2013 #53
I will, but my daughter is a little young at the moment Victor_c3 Jan 2013 #88
Wrong marions ghost Jan 2013 #65
Guess I and my husband and all my friends and co workers are just very lucky then abelenkpe Jan 2013 #84
yes you are lucky marions ghost Jan 2013 #152
Any person pursuing a major in the arts these days stopbush Jan 2013 #85
That is about the only way to go other than teaching marions ghost Jan 2013 #150
I've moved from being a performing musician to arts administration stopbush Jan 2013 #155
Thanks for that - I'm getting a Master's in social work. I also live in an area where there are many Michigan Alum Jan 2013 #118
This world will need social workers marions ghost Jan 2013 #151
Thank you theglammistress Jan 2013 #109
It is a matter of barriers to entry Sen. Walter Sobchak Jan 2013 #127
Choice of a Major may also indicate whether a person is a risk taker / Life-liver KurtNYC Jan 2013 #68
I know he was a psych major at one point but not sure if he finished in Psych or something else. KurtNYC Jan 2013 #15
Psychology isn't a great choice according to this list. 5 of the jobs with sinkingfeeling Jan 2013 #26
I know he did a concentration in Anime and Japanese studies also KurtNYC Jan 2013 #31
Interesting! "4. Library science 15.0% " IME, it's been hard to get a job in that field for about raccoon Jan 2013 #48
What is this "library" thing you speak of? 1983law Jan 2013 #123
And we wonder why this country experiences massacres like Newtown. - n/t coalition_unwilling Jan 2013 #61
psychology degree shanti Jan 2013 #96
I don't understand that liberal_at_heart Jan 2013 #113
There's a shortage of psychiatrists (who are M.D.'s and can prescribe meds) but not psychologists. Michigan Alum Jan 2013 #121
You can't do much with a bachelors in Psychology anyway. dkf Jan 2013 #52
Applied Behavior Analysis is a nice skill set these days aikoaiko Jan 2013 #54
yes it is liberal_at_heart Jan 2013 #117
I hope your son continues to make progress. aikoaiko Jan 2013 #122
I am frustrated with the whole thing but he has continued to make progress liberal_at_heart Jan 2013 #124
I didn't get a real job till 38, turned out okay splat Jan 2013 #6
restaurant workers suffer under the stereotype that their job isn't "real". Liberal_in_LA Jan 2013 #17
Retail management... Agschmid Jan 2013 #106
Well, executives need glass bottom nooks overlooking LED wine cellars. HughBeaumont Jan 2013 #9
omg Liberal_in_LA Jan 2013 #18
They did see it coming...that's why Sekhmets Daughter Jan 2013 #60
+1 ellisonz Jan 2013 #153
Getting a job quickly is major related...what were their majors? tia uponit7771 Jan 2013 #11
My oldest is back. I had to tell him straight to his face this is NOT his fault. Viva_La_Revolution Jan 2013 #13
I know the feeling. AverageJoe90 Jan 2013 #19
We stronger together than if we are separate Viva_La_Revolution Jan 2013 #23
My daughter will graduate and then move back in this April. quaker bill Jan 2013 #14
Yes it is that bad abelenkpe Jan 2013 #16
I feel like if the only jobs left are MRI technician, electrician KurtNYC Jan 2013 #20
So true abelenkpe Jan 2013 #27
Part of what made the 1950s a boom for the USA was the devastation of europe KurtNYC Jan 2013 #37
I'd say it has more to do with the rise of modular container cargo shipping. Sirveri Jan 2013 #142
You can forget electrician. Sonny Nay is a 5-yr union electrician, and has been out of that work Nay Jan 2013 #136
All of the trades require construction growth... ellisonz Jan 2013 #154
It's pretty darn bad. Lugnut Jan 2013 #21
Meh. Write a book and learn to play music...most "real jobs" these days treat you like shit. RadiationTherapy Jan 2013 #24
The paradox of capitalism bongbong Jan 2013 #25
that doesn't explain how communism imploded first KurtNYC Jan 2013 #29
Really? bongbong Jan 2013 #34
ink jet printers, ipods with no option for battery replacement, KurtNYC Jan 2013 #46
Well..... bongbong Jan 2013 #93
Communism/Socialism and Capitalism Shankapotomus Jan 2013 #138
It's always the wrong time to be born in some fashion or other. randome Jan 2013 #32
True bongbong Jan 2013 #38
Great words of wisdom from you. bluestate10 Jan 2013 #44
I don't disagree with your sentiments bongbong Jan 2013 #94
Welcome to the global economy eh? It was always a race to the bottom for the world.. workinclasszero Jan 2013 #92
RENTS are high enough that newly minted, work-for-next-to-nothing grads pnwmom Jan 2013 #33
My 25 yr. old is still at home, as is my 20 yr old - lynne Jan 2013 #36
The major is the key ProgressiveProfessor Jan 2013 #39
The next time you or any one reading this OP or responding to it buy something, think bluestate10 Jan 2013 #40
I wish it was that easy KurtNYC Jan 2013 #51
It is that easy. The problem is just what you have shown, excuse making and a lack of will. nt bluestate10 Jan 2013 #59
Why the Blame Game? marions ghost Jan 2013 #70
In your first post the problem was outsourcing manufacturing jobs, now you say KurtNYC Jan 2013 #74
I guess a large part of it is that people aren't picking useful majors. Initech Jan 2013 #42
That is a minor part of the problem. The larger problem is a lack of imagination. bluestate10 Jan 2013 #58
not everyone is cut out to be an engineer tabbycat31 Jan 2013 #69
Yep. Most students need a strong foundation in math / science well before college for engineering Liberal_in_LA Jan 2013 #89
they also have to want to study math/science tabbycat31 Jan 2013 #141
No, it's that companies that used to hire liberal arts majors (until the early 1980s) Lydia Leftcoast Jan 2013 #72
True there's always that. Initech Jan 2013 #73
Coming from the other end - the refrain I keep hearing is - hedgehog Jan 2013 #45
I know people in their 60s and older who keep working because their 401ks took a hit Liberal_in_LA Jan 2013 #55
Lots of that out there. I have heard similar from doctors, farmers and KurtNYC Jan 2013 #78
I hear a lot of the older machinists saying the same thing. Sirveri Jan 2013 #143
It could be worse. stumpremover462 Jan 2013 #50
An adult is still their parents responsibility? LisaL Jan 2013 #57
When one of them dies. Responsibility gets redefined at each age, circumstance and passage of life. libdem4life Jan 2013 #67
Why? stumpremover462 Jan 2013 #101
This message was self-deleted by its author stumpremover462 Jan 2013 #102
No 25-year-old is a "child" -- Offspring yes, child no. KurtNYC Jan 2013 #80
It's actually stretching into the 30s now...and it's delaying marriage and family davidn3600 Jan 2013 #62
Trades HockeyMom Jan 2013 #63
+1 Good and (mostly) honest professions that got eclipsed years ago by high tech buzz KurtNYC Jan 2013 #82
And some mouth breathing moron made millions off of Fifty Shades of Grey joeglow3 Jan 2013 #64
Most of my friends were forced to relocate after college ecstatic Jan 2013 #66
And don't let your major define your work Lydia Leftcoast Jan 2013 #75
I earned both BA and MA in History, but worked 32 years as a painter. Adsos Letter Jan 2013 #130
What about grad school? ananda Jan 2013 #77
Looks like a great racket to me Warpy Jan 2013 #79
I come from a culture where living in an extended family isn't a bad thing--in fact, it's pretty MADem Jan 2013 #81
Ha! I know people in their 50s who are living with their kids because the parents got laid off. yardwork Jan 2013 #83
sad and pathetic to hear some of these responses Kingwithnothrone Jan 2013 #86
This message was self-deleted by its author fujiyama Jan 2013 #104
Exactly my thoughts. blueclown Jan 2013 #114
Yes! We're moving back to intergenerational living and that, in and of itself, pnwmom Jan 2013 #108
because they are helpless needreallibs Jan 2013 #87
Just so you know... bluesbassman Jan 2013 #90
+1 Thanks for that. Agschmid Jan 2013 #125
Don't mistake lack of experience for helplessness magellan Jan 2013 #95
OK That Just Made Me LAUGH SO FUCKING HARD! HangOnKids Jan 2013 #115
Oh snap. n/t Agschmid Jan 2013 #126
you should hire one as a proofreader, and not just for typos. eom yawnmaster Jan 2013 #105
If you were really a hiring manager, you wouldn't be making your post in teenage texting lingo. backscatter712 Jan 2013 #110
Ah, yes. Here we have a 'manager' who can't spell and uses textspeak, complaining about Nay Jan 2013 #137
It's about 50/50 in my experience madville Jan 2013 #147
Are you friends with my mom? RedCappedBandit Jan 2013 #91
It sucks walking out of your commencement ceremony into a bad recession. That happened to me. slackmaster Jan 2013 #97
my daughter is about to enter college and I wouldn't have it any other way liberal_at_heart Jan 2013 #98
This is correct mythology Jan 2013 #119
Tell him to run, don't walk to Dave's ESL Cafe for a true adventure Dems2002 Jan 2013 #99
I'm putting that on my list KurtNYC Jan 2013 #103
Happy to help Dems2002 Jan 2013 #116
We need to start being realistic in this country and redefine "success". fujiyama Jan 2013 #107
That's also an important point that should be made davidn3600 Jan 2013 #111
well said liberal_at_heart Jan 2013 #120
Businesses are low balling the starting salaries and increasing the minimum work experience. peace13 Jan 2013 #128
Sorry. I graduated during the Reality Bites era and with far less supportive parents. Iris Jan 2013 #133
I think it's great that parents allow adult children to come back to the homeplace when they raccoon Jan 2013 #139
At the rate the housing crash is going my mother will be moving in with me. Sirveri Jan 2013 #144
My experience and opinions WilmywoodNCparalegal Jan 2013 #145
"don't be afraid of learning something all the time" liberal_at_heart Jan 2013 #148
Yes, there is nothing to prevent a person from reading on their own Lydia Leftcoast Jan 2013 #149
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