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22 and no life

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: 22 and no life

#31

Post by galvanist »

rdouble wrote: post #13

Work anywhere you can until you can save up about $5000. Then go to Australia on the working holiday visa. You can make $16/hr picking tomatoes or as a barista or $25 an hour shuffling stuff around at a building site. Save $20K while enjoying life, then move to California and do a 2 year degree at a community college for $36 per credit. Get good grades then transfer to a UC to complete a bachelor's at in state tuitio…

I second that plan. Or instead of farming in Australia do something else that is outside your comfort zone. Do some WWOOFing, crew a vessel at sea as a janitor or cook, get a job in McMurdo for a few seasons, do something from cooljobs.com, look for low-level embassy jobs, teach English to students abroad, apply to the peace corps. And frankly, many giant evil multinational corporations have some of low-level international jobs, sell-out for a little while. ;)

Re: 22 and no life

#32

Post by L0j1k »

That's what your 20s are for. Learn to live off next to nothing and hit the road. The people you meet, the experiences you have, the skills you learn, will feed you and your family for the rest of your life. Take it from someone who was in your position exactly...

Re: 22 and no life

#33

Post by fletchowns »

rdouble wrote: post #13

Work anywhere you can until you can save up about $5000. Then go to Australia on the working holiday visa. You can make $16/hr picking tomatoes or as a barista or $25 an hour shuffling stuff around at a building site. Save $20K while enjoying life, then move to California and do a 2 year degree at a community college for $36 per credit. Get good grades then transfer to a UC to complete a bachelor's at in state tuitio…

Saving up $5000 is simply not feasible for a lot of people.

Re: 22 and no life

#35

Post by pyrocat »

These people telling you to move to California aren't necessarily giving the best advice. Seattle is like San Francisco with slightly less start-ups and 1/3rd the cost of living. Seattle also has Microsoft and a wide variety of businesses that support Microsoft. It also has a great public transit system that means you can live in one of the cheaper areas around Seattle (Wedgewood, Northgate, Central District, Georgetown) and bus to the city easily for work. There are lots of jobs for tech savvy people, so check http://seattle.craigslist.org/ early and often. You can catch a Greyhound from Yakima to Seattle for $18 if you order online early enough. If you can get a loan from your parents or someone, just enough to cover rent for 3 months, you could find a place to live in Seattle and (hopefully!) find a job in that time.

Re: 22 and no life

#36

Post by Jd »

I think if you can't find a job and you are aspiring to have other skills but don't have them yet your best bet is a focused job with manual labor as the core component. You might think I'm joking, but manual labor has the benefit of focusing the mind, and there are numerous labor intensive jobs that pay very very well.

Here are three you might consider: working on a fishing boat / working on a oil rig / joining the US Armed Forces.

The first two of those are very good money with a bit of risk with not a particularly long time commitment. After you are out of your financial hole you can transition to doing something else. The Armed Forces is not a bad option if you are looking for something that could be a longer term option for you and potentially include training in skills you are interested in.

Also, in general, getting jobs is first and foremost about confidence. I suspect you don't have a lot, so going out there and doing something where you can build confidence (my suggestion not knowing you is through a body focused manual labor activity, but that may not be the best), and then use that confidence to build skills, and then go out and get a job that makes use of those skills. That's a general strategy that can carry you for your whole life, the trick is to avoid getting stuck in a depressive cycle (which seems like where you are now).

Anyways, good luck mate, wish you the best!

Re: 22 and no life

#37

Post by rdouble »

fletchowns wrote: post #33
rdouble wrote: post #13

Work anywhere you can until you can save up about $5000. Then go to Australia on the working holiday visa. You can make $16/hr picking tomatoes or as a barista or $25 an hour shuffling stuff around at a building site. Save $20K while enjoying life, then move to California and do a 2 year degree at a community college for $36 per credit. Get good grades then transfer to a UC to complete a bachelor's at in state tuitio…

Saving up $5000 is simply not feasible for a lot of people.

He's going to have to save up about that much to move pretty much anywhere that has better jobs, though.

Re: 22 and no life

#39

Post by turing »

rdouble wrote: post #13

Work anywhere you can until you can save up about $5000. Then go to Australia on the working holiday visa. You can make $16/hr picking tomatoes or as a barista or $25 an hour shuffling stuff around at a building site. Save $20K while enjoying life, then move to California and do a 2 year degree at a community college for $36 per credit. Get good grades then transfer to a UC to complete a bachelor's at in state tuitio…

I second the idea of going to Australia. I have a friend who did so and managed to make $20/hour as a barista. Granted it won't be easy, but it will give you the chance to get out of Yakima. I've spent time there and I understand your desire to get out. From the sounds of it I think the change in scenery alone could do you some good. I wish you all the best, and I admire your strength.

Re: 22 and no life

#40

Post by slajax »

Convert that angst to motivation and create something. Every day take a step towards making that thing better. Before you know it doors will start opening. Most importantly, never give up.
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