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chemosh6969 posted:He's not making it up. I remember seeing that change through schools when my kids went. I was also hearing it as I was going through school. To the extent that this trend actually exists, it's pushed by the parents. The kids don't give a poo poo. The latest generation by and large exists under the shadow of constantly impending ruin, financial or otherwise, and does their best to deal with it. Anyone these days who keeps pushing the lazy/coddled/entitled/participation trophy line needs to have their head shoved in a toilet bowl until the bubbles stop coming up.
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Mar 3, 2017 21:22
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Oxxidation posted:I already want to hurl a brick at this idiot's head.
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Mar 3, 2017 21:43
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Oxxidation posted:I was also hearing it as I was going through school. To the extent that this trend actually exists, it's pushed by the parents. The kids don't give a poo poo. I still see this where I work now, with parents writing essays for their kid to try and get scholarships. Some don't even pretend their kid wrote it, the parent will call in and say everything they've done and how come little Johnny didn't win all the scholarships when they wrote such an amazing essay for them.
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Mar 3, 2017 23:00
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chemosh6969 posted:I still see this where I work now, with parents writing essays for their kid to try and get scholarships.
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Mar 4, 2017 08:18
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chemosh6969 posted:He's not making it up. I remember seeing that change through schools when my kids went. did you also notice that kids these days don't respect their elders, and don't appreciate real music and
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Mar 4, 2017 16:30
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I gradated in May and am making a pretty good entry level salary right now, but I'm not gonna be able to move out of my mom's house for another two years because I only have ~$500 a month to myself after all my student loans and rent are paid. I could consolidate them, but frankly I'd rather get them paid off quicker. teen phone cutie fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Mar 8, 2017 |
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Mar 8, 2017 16:25
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I don't think there's much of a stigma at all anymore about living with your parents when you're within those first few years out of college. Its regarded as totally normal for someone 22 or 23 to still be living at home while they pay off whatever debts they may have accrued during the college years. Once you're 25+ that stigma is there in full force. I lived at home when I was 24 for about 6 months and it was very tough on my self-esteem.
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Mar 8, 2017 19:13
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Basebf555 posted:I don't think there's much of a stigma at all anymore about living with your parents when you're within those first few years out of college. Its regarded as totally normal for someone 22 or 23 to still be living at home while they pay off whatever debts they may have accrued during the college years. It also kills your dating life. I moved back home for a bit after college to pay off some debts. Trying to bring a girl home at the age of 26 back to your parents house, and sneaking *past* your parents bedroom? Yea, that was embarrassing. I promptly saved and moved into a private room in a townhouse a month later. Also to contribute I graduated with a History major because I had no idea what I wanted to do and figured I could teach. I did a little of that and hated it (still love to read history!) Got a job as a Paralegal...hated that even more. Studied for a bunch of IT certificates and did some volunteer work for experience at the local community college. I now work in IT. I don't love it, but it pays decently (bought a car, got a large apartment with my GF, ect) and I don't actively hate my life so I stick with it. Solaris 2.0 fucked around with this message at 20:07 on Mar 8, 2017 |
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Mar 8, 2017 20:04
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Seconding the volunteering thing. I did about two months worth of volunteering for a water quality monitoring nonprofit which led sequentially to meeting a lot of new people and even a job offer (for such an abysmal sum that I joined a jobs program instead). People like people who work hard and are decent, and if you keep blowing up their phones looking for unpaid work, they will go out of their way to find some way to pay you back. Try to find volunteer stuff that will teach you new skills. Many organizations are fine with teaching volunteers new skills if you're willing to stick around. I got my Faller 3 cert and my CPR/AED/First Responder at the behest of a Land trust that liked that I kept showing up to their events.
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Mar 10, 2017 17:35
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During the time I was living with my parents for about 6 months my parents repeatedly suggested doing some volunteer work while I didn't have a paying job and I really wish I'd taken their advice. My time there would have been a lot more tolerable I think and who knows what networking opportunities it may have provided that I missed out on.
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Mar 10, 2017 19:35
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While i'm not there yet. I believe i'm on the path. Finished high school in 09. was working in retail from 08-10. I was working out regularly and managed to finish a half marathon. Due to various stuff happening at the same thing. I dropped out of college in 2010 and got fired. I got depressed and spent a whole year doing nothing but playing video games and watching anime at my parents home, stopped working out and I got fat. My uncle then got me a job as a dishwasher which got me to socialize a bit again and got promoted to cook in the same year. The following year, I decided that I can't keep this up. Went back to school. Graduated in 2015 with a degree in IT. Got a job in the same company where I interned at. Learnt a lot there and spent my time studying for IT certs and that has landed me another job that's paying well. I'm 24. Have 10K saved up. Thought about buying a house. I was planning on starting to work out earlier. The move to the new job took my attention away. and i'm now starting to work out again. So i'm working on becoming fit again so that I may complete a full marathon.
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Mar 14, 2017 11:40
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Hey Sefal, I'm very glad for your successes and hope you learn from your missteps. I'm going to share something with you that might be a controversial opinion but Do Not Buy A House. That's a huge investment that will tie you to a location. Rent until you are on better footing. 10k saved up is super great tho and you're doing better than a lot of Americans.
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Mar 14, 2017 12:51
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N. Senada posted:Hey Sefal, I'm very glad for your successes and hope you learn from your missteps. I'm going to share something with you that might be a controversial opinion but Do Not Buy A House. That's a huge investment that will tie you to a location. Rent until you are on better footing. 10k saved up is super great tho and you're doing better than a lot of Americans. Thank you. I appreciate the advice. I should have elaborated. I asked some dutch goons on here for some advice on buying a house and they talked me out of it. So now i'm just saving up money and working.
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Mar 14, 2017 13:35
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Solaris 2.0 posted:It also kills your dating life. Lol this wasn't my experience. It's like yeah, I'm 21 now so of course I'm going to be dating. No sneaking around necessary, it's not like it's a scandal... I also am being carried through life on IT money, finally bought a house at 30.
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Mar 14, 2017 22:01
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many johnnys posted:Lol this wasn't my experience. It's like yeah, I'm 21 now so of course I'm going to be dating. No sneaking around necessary, it's not like it's a scandal... When I was living at home it wasn't really about sneaking around, just common courtesy that I didn't want to stomp around the house and wake my parents up at 1:30am. It's not like I was on a curfew or any concrete rules had been laid out, but it was just a general philosophy of "you live here now so keep regular adult hours like we do so that you don't disrupt our lives." When I was 19 and on summer break, sure walking in at 3am was accepted, but when you're 24 and living at home its better for everyone if you just act like a responsible adult, even if you don't always want to.
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Mar 15, 2017 21:22
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It all started when I was 14 and bought a fedora from hot topic. Luckily my mother laughed at me so I took my autism elsewhere and became an eve player. I also bought a trench coat and a beret around this time but it looked and felt real school shooter-ey so I sold it on Craigslist and hosed up some poor kids social life. Naturally after that I got into engineering, but I was too dumb to hack it so I did community college while doing practical engineering (machining). After that I went to university with my girlfriend and we moved in together and that was a mistake but then I broke up with her and did some space internships. Now I manage the process for justifying putting "garbage, but not scrap" parts into jet engines. I may have peaked in an internship but I moved out of my mom's place at 22 and never went back. I also threw out that fedora.
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Mar 18, 2017 06:48
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Samuel L. Hacksaw posted:I also threw out that fedora. You threw out your magic fedora that got you where you are today?
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Mar 19, 2017 01:17
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Might as well share my story. Graduated from high school in 2006. Went to the local community college for 8 years. General gooniness and My Own drat Fault first and foremost for taking so long, I also dealt with other issues such as undiagnosed depression, my Mom being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and fast food managers getting mad at me for wanting to go back to school. Lived with my parents and hated my life for most of this. It didn't help that my first and only girlfriend only dated me to get over her ex, which she got back with shortly after. One morning, I decided enough was enough. I got therapy, went to the gym, decided to eat right and made up for a lot of errors in Community College. Transferred out to state college, finished strong, and made Dean's List. Been living on my own for a while now. BA is in Political Science. I wanted to be a Lawyer, but decided against it for various reasons (Shout-out to the Law thread). Got a tutoring job with a non profit and found out I love it. Decided to go back to school for my credential to become a teacher. Honestly, getting better starts with you, OP. You're the one who is going to want to improve. It also doesn't hurt to have a strong safety net in Friends and Family. Okuteru fucked around with this message at 04:11 on May 17, 2017 |
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May 10, 2017 18:27
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Forceholy, was there one thing that pushed you over the edge to change? What was it? What was the feeling associated with it?
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May 10, 2017 22:55
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I've got a few stories to tell about how I've transformed my life over the past 2 years or so (not that I started off in a bad situation), but I really enjoyed reading the first page and I'd like to chime in on what I saw there. The message I got from my parents was "You're going to college. [Whether you get a high paying job out of it is your decision.]" I went to college surrounded by premed biology majors. Biology was 50% of incoming freshmen. So that's what I think of when I hear my generation doesn't want to be doctors. I applied under structural engineering but changed my major to cognitive science before the year started. I am lucky that my interests took me into machine learning and I snuck in a computer science curriculum without the hard reqs that CS majors have to take. I don't know what draws people to English literature as a major, but I see it as a kind of basic core that allows someone to receive plasmids for multiple soft skills, so it's probably a decent, if not perfect choice if you want to vaguely enter the corporate world but are really vague about it, or academia I guess. I added a math major after I got out of my "I'm bad at advanced math" spiral and enjoyed the luxury to take a 5th year to complete it. I got an internship doing machine learning at a web security company. It took 4 months at my parents' house after graduating for me to find a job. I'll pick up there in my next post.
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May 12, 2017 15:17
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photomikey posted:Forceholy, was there one thing that pushed you over the edge to change? What was it? What was the feeling associated with it? Honestly? E/N. I posted a thread on E/N where I just pored my heart out and goons listened and helped. It gave me the courage to seek therapy and try to get better. Of course, this was years ago, back when FYAD didn't take over GBS and goons would actually try to help you out.
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May 16, 2017 21:44
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I was born in 1980, so 36 now almost 37. Paralegal by 21 (2001) and worked continuously as a paralegal until 2008. Attorney by 28 (2008). Moved out of my moms place finally then to a cool beach apartment. Worked in 2 law firms, 2009 - 2013 & 2013 - 2016. Still lived in apartment. In 2016, I was disliking my boss/working for others, my landlord gave me a 60 day notice to renovate my beach apartment and re-rent for higher. I decided to start my own firm and move back home with my mom, reduce my expenses, until I had good receivables. Been a year, as it takes about a year i.e. I'm getting paid on work I did 9-12 months ago. Much happier, almost matching my old income with receivables now, and it will surpass and maybe double soon. Gf stuck with me and we are looking to move out. Oh I also had a really nasty run in with skin cancer in late 2016 as I was opening my office. Two surgeries on my face, loss of eyelid function for one eye bc nerve damage, and horrible radiation treatments. So, that set me back some. I am likely clean now.
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May 28, 2017 06:55
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Just lol at everyone saying that getting a decent, challenging, full time office job in any way implies you will be able to afford a life of your own
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May 28, 2017 14:49
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- Grew up in a lower/working class family, where the most they ever made was $40k in a year (that was because of lots of overtime). - One brief time my parents were separated, my mom drove a car that had exhaust go into the car and lived in a shitbox apartment. - When I was 16, I was expected to work. Nobody wanted to hire me to the point where I was begging employers for work. Got a lovely retail job. - My parents expected me to work every free day I had. So when I was 17 during summer, after football practice, I'd work a factory job and during the weekend I'd be working my lovely retail job. I even worked on Christmas Day. - Life always went poo poo side up on me so the money I made from my two jobs often went as fast as I got it. Had to turn down homecoming court (I did have some friends) because I had no money to get a suit and my parents refused to lend me any money. Wound up working the night of the homecoming dance my senior year. I contemplated ending it all that night (glad I didn't). - I was so depressed and angry that I never bothered applying for scholarships so I went to school taking out loans. Loans piled up fast. I would work but school being expensive as it was, it was never enough so it kept adding. Felt hopeless at times. - Graduated right when the economy turned to poo poo in 2008. I got a good job offer but it involved working in a town that I absolutely hated. - I hated the town so much I worked constantly to make the days go by faster (I had an Xbox 360 that kept producing disc read errors so not much time playing games). I got in at 6 AM and left around 7 PM. Worked weekends too. Management noticed and started putting me on committees, which raised my profile. - Got a promotion to management by age 25, which was unheard of where I worked. I think I worked even more than I did before. Finally was able to move out of the hellhole I was living at. - Got another promotion a year and a half later, which pushed me over six figures and allowed me to move to somewhere decent for a change. - Took evening classes to get my MBA. I didn't think it was very valuable but I took it seriously and got a lot out of the experience. - During that time I got another promotion when I was 28. Finally paid off my gargantuan student loans around this time. I also started investing into my 401k, IRA, HSA, etc. Something I should have done much sooner but anyway I started. - Early this month I got another promotion to where I'm one of the youngest people with my title. I'm fortunate to get the opportunities that I have but I had to grind hard to get it. Many times it felt totally hopeless and wanted to end it all. The Experiment fucked around with this message at 17:09 on May 29, 2017 |
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May 29, 2017 17:07
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Strategic Tea posted:Just lol at everyone saying that getting a decent, challenging, full time office job in any way implies you will be able to afford a life of your own Depends what you mean by a life. A nice house in the suburbs and college funds for the kids? Probably not. But if you have a decent full time office job then you should be able to qualify for a livable apartment, especially if you have a partner making a second income. But some people don't really consider it a "life" unless you can afford to have kids and own a house.
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May 30, 2017 21:12
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Basebf555 posted:Depends what you mean by a life. A nice house in the suburbs and college funds for the kids? Probably not. But if you have a decent full time office job then you should be able to qualify for a livable apartment Try living around San Francisco, DC, or NYC.
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May 30, 2017 21:35
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IRQ posted:Try living around San Francisco, DC, or NYC. I wouldn't, for exactly that reason.
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May 30, 2017 22:42
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IRQ posted:Try living around San Francisco, DC, or NYC. There's plenty of other nice places than these cities.
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May 31, 2017 00:43
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IRQ posted:Try living around San Francisco, DC, or NYC.
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May 31, 2017 08:20
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Panfilo posted:A clinical lab tech job in a hospital can pay pretty well. Our local Kaiser had quite a few techbros/engineers turned phlebotomists and lab techs. Its usually a case of HR being stupid or the person doing the hiring not knowing what they're doing. I've literally had a hiring manger try to make a stink of me not having 5 years experience working with a flow cytometer that just came out last year.
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Jul 13, 2017 21:33
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Azuth0667 posted:Its usually a case of HR being stupid or the person doing the hiring not knowing what they're doing. I've literally had a hiring manger try to make a stink of me not having 5 years experience working with a flow cytometer that just came out last year. This is why I never believed the tale of "job posting requirements being more like wish lists" for employers.
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Jul 14, 2017 06:20
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Edit: holy gently caress this is long as hell, I'm sorry, just read the tldr at the end.  I'll share my story here for op but idk how much use it will be as being not male and not white I don't think I've ever identified as a ~goon~ although I'm sure there are a few others on SA who are in the same demographic as me. So yea, loving long post incoming I'm gonna lead with some childhood poo poo because I think it's ultra relevant to this thread to show that for a lot of people luck plays in very early on and decides a lot of poo poo for you and it's not really always "aha! But see truly your LUCK was your personal SKILL AND OPPOURTUNISM all along" and sometimes it's "actually some people get to not starve because other folks made choices for them and also a lot of poo poo is out of your control but determines which choices you are aware you have" Grew up in a single parent household in Brooklyn just above the poverty line (wavered at too much $ for food stamps a couple of times ). I took some test in pre-school that said I was smart so I got to be in the classes that ~challened kids~. At this point it's worth saying that I guess im smart in that I retain information and test really loving well, but other than some enjoyment of problem solving I don't feel like I'm especially better than anyone at any one thing. So I am considered SO SMART WOW!!! and am not actually being challenged by any school work. Mom got me into what she thought was ~free summer school and after school stuff for the youths~ but was actually test prep for the SHSAT, Which is this ridiculous test for getting into competitive high schools in NYC. I really am not kidding you, she went to my elementary school guidance counselor and said "what can I do so this kid is at home the least possible amount of time because I need to work" and the guidance counselor found something that wasn't just a time sink, but also didn't really explain it to my mom at all. At the end of the SHSAT thing (two years of learning to the test and getting really good at gaming exams lol) I HAPPENED to let slip to some teacher there that I didn't give a gently caress about going to a good-er high school and liked the school I was at so I would take the test (all random answers) and not put any schools down for where I wanted to go. They lied to me and said if I don't take the test seriously + apply for at least one school then "they"  would tell my mom that I hadnt attended the program for the last 2 years and was a Bad Child and Liar.To be clear my jr high wasn't bad and was also a high school and I could have gotten to college earlier and poo poo if I had stayed there because it shared a campus with the college and they did some cool college programs. But anyway I got into a gooder school and this was announced in front of my whole class and I was made to call my mom on the spot, in the middle of class and tell her about all the good news and how excited I was to go to this new school. :/ Lots of stupid guilt trippy nonsense about how I'm literally letting down my race if I decide to stay at my currently very good school. So I watched my GPA plummet such that I was in the bottom 25% of students in my new school (my GPA was 80.23~ when I graduated). I wanted to go to job Corp and just do cooking or something after high school, especially bc I didn't have the grades for merit based scholar ships But Was Once Again Told I Was Destined For Greatness and MLK Would Roll In His Grave If I Passed Up These Chances. But also had NO guidance on where to go and everyone in my school is a genius so you can get ANY DEGREE and be great because YOU TOOK A TEST AND IT SAYS YOURE GREAT!! And how am I going to disagree with that? I took the PSAT/SAT and I was like 88-90th percentile for my state or something. That's got to be good enough to get a job right?? (Note; this was like... 50th or 60th within my school.  did I mention that at this point I have undiagnosed Dysthimia? Because I sure did lol) I start applying to schools for Creative Writing because ?? I liked it I guess. But at the time my mom married a dude who started stealing my college apps money and no one told me that since I was from a low income family I could get waivers for college applications, so I couldn't afford to actually apply to a bunch of schools that I wanted, like Bryn Mawr where I had to pay money for them to see if I qualified for need based financial aid  . I got more depressed and hopeless/apathetic about my future and also mom (who was full tilt telling me poo poo like "obviously he only stole that money bc youre a bad kid, etc etc if only you cared about anything other than going to school and book learning!!!!" Nevermind that I was CONSTANTLY getting complaints sent home from teachers about how I'm extremely unmotivated, I sleep in class and some days sleep through every class and skipped gym because I'm tired. Hmmmmmm.), So I pulled up the actual expected job market growth and median salaries for a bunch of careers and just went down it by Expected Growth until I picked one that made more money that my mom did annually but didn't directly mean people would die if I was bad at my job. I graduated high school in 2010 so I only checked this poo poo because it was what was constantly being talked about in the news as a metric for which fields were healthy or safe to study/work in. In retrospect this was a crazy good decision on my part, but at the time I was hopelessly lost trying to figure out how I was supposed to meet everyone's expectations and was just crying while trying to Get The Right Answer For This Question In The Exam Of Not Starving To Death Forever. Anyway, Computer science is the winner because I was currently learning visual basic in school and Wow That poo poo Is Easy. Mom was also adamant that if I stayed at home after college I was a Bad Child because gosh she's already spent so much time and money on me when am I going to earn my loving keep??!!! And I CANT go to trade school because those aren't real careers that are upwardly mobile and if I do those then I will end up poor and dead (??? My mom went to job Corp and if she didn't spend like $200 a week on drugs she'd be doing OK for herself right now really, this would have been fine.) I get $0 in scholarships/grants (except Pell Grant). mom has kindly informed me that if I work while going to school that I won't be focused enough on school and will be WASTING MY TIME so I gotta do school FULL TIME school IS my job! So I'm a wreck and scared because college is expensive but I cannot fathom any other way to get away from my mom without severing and I can't sever at this moment for reasons. I pick the first school that sends me my full financial aid information so I can just be done with this poo poo and get more time in playing MapleStory and sleeping and being always tired. Happens to be a great school for computer science. I get Cs my entire time at school but it turns out that making it through a comp sci program and being able to program decently means you get to have a job. It also helps if you're too depressed to have any standards (because your classmates are right you're not good at this you're just a token not-white/asian-male!! You've got it easy and are basically cheating and stealing from good hardworking Americans!!!) and have literally equated moving back home after college with dying perpetually of Starvation. The only reason I didnt drop out was because I was too apathetic and scared of Starving and was too hosed to even have the ability to imagine myself X months from now so I just assumed that I would die a sudden death some time soon so I guess I should just plug away at this degree and play league of legends until the clock stops ticking and I am free of this hell. (I'm gonna mention here that at some point after getting the job I then went to therapy and was diagnosed with Dysthimia + also learned that probably since grade school I have had periodic bouts of "double depression" , and I am now medicated and am slightly less dour about everything, I do not think I will literally starve to death.) Tldr; conveniently angled depression and anxiety tricked me into going to school and getting a job that underpays for my field/skill level, but is still A LOT of dollars as far as I'm concerned, instead of killing myself I guess. GenericGirlName fucked around with this message at 10:54 on Jul 17, 2017 |
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Jul 17, 2017 10:52
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You ever read a long story full of accusations and wish there was some way you could find out the other side of that story? That's me right now.
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Jul 18, 2017 05:23
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It sounds like you actually did have a fair bit of luck growing up, probably about average really. Good luck with the depression though, I'd expect your outlook on life to improve a lot if you take care of that issue.
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Jul 27, 2017 21:30
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I'm trying to figure our where to begin. I've gone from sleeping in a graveyard across from harvard university to being a recipient of the Microsoft MVP Award. I don't really think It's been any one single moment that brought me here either. But rather a collection of opportunities. To be honest I don't think I could have achieved anywhere near what I have without the people who had faith in me and gave me those opportunities. I guess the best place to start is at the very beginning. My birth mother was just not able to take care of me. So at the age of three, I was taken away and entered foster care. I bounced from foster home to foster home for about a year before being adopted into a middle class family. Growing up I was always the outsider, unable to really make friends or trust anyone. I was pretty much a mess and just unable to get past what had happened. I would lash out, sometimes violently at almost anyone that tried to get close, including my adopted family. By the time I was 17 it boiled over. I ended up homeless on the streets. I went to whats known as "The Pit" in harvard square. There I found others who had similar situations or even worse situations. Some ran away because their parents beat or molested them. Others like myself had been kicked out. The main binding thread between us was we all felt like fuckups who had no value. There was also a third group, kids who had homes but hung out with us anyway. Eventually I became friends with one of those kids from the third group. His father worked for Newbury Comics which is a local new england record, comics, misc type store. Eventually he offered me a job working in the warehouse. Quite frankly it changed my life. I got my first apartment, first car, etc and started building my life. I studied and applied myself. I ended up eventually in IT as a web developer. Then I met my wife! A few years later, I wound up as a database administrator. I can't say enough about user groups, sqlsaturdays, blogs, etc. I was self taught so these resources helped me grow my career. Eventually I started giving back and helped support/run these groups. This lead to me finding mentors who further encouraged me and helped me by providing advice and guidance. They shared with me not only their knowledge and experience but in some cases details about their lives and struggles. This helped not only on a professional level but also a personal one. Around 2014 I was speaking regularly at conferences like SQLSaturdays and usergroups as well as organizing them. In 2016 I was awarded Microsoft Data Platform MVP Award. This award is given to folks who Microsoft recognizes as technical and community leaders. But that won't be my biggest accomplishment. That honor is reserved for raising my son who was born in 2015.
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Aug 22, 2017 20:32
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Did you ever make up with your adopted family?
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Aug 22, 2017 22:59
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photomikey posted:Did you ever make up with your adopted family? I did apologize to them and for the most part it is behind us. I recognize that the fault lies with me and not them. That being said they are still a painful reminder of my past. But one I can deal with.
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Aug 23, 2017 18:28
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I went to one of the top 3 most prestigious art schools in the country. I started doing drugs my Junior year. I dropped out my senior year in 2008. From 2008-2010 I became a professional heroin junkie. Being a junkie led me to a 4 year prison sentence in Texas. I served 9 months of my 4 year sentence, and was released on parole (non-violent drug charge, first offense). I started doing heroin again maybe 1 month after my release. I was sitting in a Texas State halfway house waiting to be allowed to go back home. The wait was hard. I was weak. Got home with a raging heroin addiction - again. Spent about 9 months free on parole before just stopping to show up for parole. Not exactly thinking clearly while banging heroin everyday. Parole Revoked in April 2013. Sent back to Texas prison from May 2013 to May 2016 to finish the remainder of my sentence. While in prison discovered yoga, meditation, and Buddhism. Converted to practicing Buddhist teachings and practices. Found out that happiness only lies within myself by looking directly at my troubles and facing them, not running away. Picked up from Prison by a close friend and Yoga instructor this time. Hired me to work for his moving company, and literally went to work 24 hours after release. Worked on the road with him for 6 months before moving back home. Came back home, got a full-time job as a Auto Paint & Body Tech. Started attending San Antonio Zen Center when I got back home. Became their volunteer co-ordinator in 2016. Started and maintain the "BuddhaPals" prison pen-pal program where I manage and oversee the pen pal program for Buddhist centers in Texas writing prisoners who have no one else to listen to them. 2016 I took my TDCJ volunteer classes. I became a CVCE (Chaplain's assistant) in March, 2016. I work at the Dominguez state Jail now working with Chaplain Sherman on managing unit Religous services and volunteers. In 2016 I went back to community college to finish my degree. I used the credits I earned from college originally in 05-07, and graduated with a degree in sociology from University of Texas at San Antonio. Shortly after graduating in Feb. this year, I MOVED OUT OF MY PARENTS HOUSE! I'm 32 now, living in my own condo, paying all my own bills. I work full time, and I'm taking my Clinical Pastoral Credits, so that I can become a Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice Prison Unit Chaplain, hopefully by the end of 2017. So after a complete turn-around in my life, I finally made it out of there! My only advice, my only guidance to anyone that's coming from a poo poo background and trying to make it out like I did, -- You just have to find a reason. Find your reason, not someone else's. If you don't have a reason, you won't have any motivation. Always look for your why. I found a reason to live- I want to spend my life's energy to help other's break free from suffering. I'm very familiar with suffering, and I never want anyone to go through what I did. I should mention lastly I've been sober from my drug of choice for 4 1/2 years. I smoke a little pot here and there, but nothing serious. No drinking. Just crushing the gym as much as possible! Dennis McClaren fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Aug 30, 2017 |
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Aug 30, 2017 17:40
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Dennis McClaren posted:So after a complete turn-around in my life, I finally made it out of there! Good job. Great story. You should be proud.
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Aug 30, 2017 18:54
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photomikey posted:Good job. Great story. You should be proud.
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Aug 30, 2017 22:56
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