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22 and no life

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Re: 22 and no life

#91

Post by bdcravens »

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.

For some, yes. A single mom with 3 mouths to feed perhaps. A kid with no real responsibilities? As I see it, he (presuming here, I know) has as much as 100 hours of free time per week. As much as he dislikes home, if you're living there rent free (which is a luxury if you're over 18, IMO) then work is pure gravy. You're not entitled to free time to entertain yourself. If you want it, freaking work for it. Or spend your time whining on HN and Reddit about how you have no time.

I'm a developer today, and do ok by industry standards (not great, just okay, for now). However, I grew up in a less than trailer trash home, my dad was a janitor, my mom was nuts (I used to watch her talk to invisible people in a roach infested kitchen), my siblings were sucked into the poverty mindset. I was born with a serious medical condition. I've had some other crap go down that I'll barely tell my close friends, let alone an Internet of strangers, but trust me when I said I've had to rebuild areas of my life more than once. So what. I won't tell I have it all figured out, but I will tell you I will not be defeated. And I have little sympathy for those who tell me the horrible hand they've been dealt.

I realize that we live in a world where only the kids of the rich get to succeed, and the only way to start up your own business is to join an incubator. If you believe that, then you will be taken advantage of. Either push to be successful, or be the kind of person that the successful use to get there. They're more than happy to take your money and your spirit.

Re: 22 and no life

#92

Post by robeasthope »

Hopefully I'm just being paranoid but on the off chance I'll say this:

You sound pretty depressed - remember the best functional description of depression is an inability to create detailed mental images of the future - Your entire psyche is focussed on trying to solve all the things you've got going on (which is natural because want to fix this) but be careful about it distorting your perspective.

Slow down your thinking and try not to freak out - like others have said you are young and that gives you time to learn new skills. .

If things get bad or you just want to talk email the Samaritans in the UK - http://tinyurl.com/bfghx6q - it's all anonymous and they won't care or even know about the US connection unless you tell them (If anybody knows the US equivalent or one local to the area, post it below). There are literally hundreds of people out there that want and can help with these situation but you've got to seek them out - Western society is terrible dealing with mental health issues but once you fire up the bat signal decent people come running. Good luck

Re: 22 and no life

#93

Post by matiu »

This is how I got out of a similar situation. I hope it helps:

When I was there, I made a flyer: "Computer Whiz-kid Seeks Work" .. like a news paper headline. Did some bullet points:

* Website design/fixing * Desktop Publishing * Data entry * Virus Removal * Computer Speedup

then some blurb .. I'm 22 and really good with computers. Give me a call if I can help you out with anything.

I distributed 100 fliers in a trading estate and a shopping mall, and got 3 job offers. One turned sour and the guy tried to sue me, one was a one off, and the last one got me a job converting .eps and .ai files for a sign writing plotter machine.

This company had associations with gangs and a drug using boss, who sometimes slapped me on the back of the head and called me a fing idot. However that job set me up for my next job and following career.

At that time, I was 13k in debt, and had no degrees. To get off the street, I bought a car for $150 to live in. The Methodist city mission was very helpful to me, giving me free, or $2 meals once a day. Also the Hari Krishna restaurant had good cheap food.

From the car, I moved in to a friend's part-under-the-house where the supports and dirt is, and lived rent free in exchange for doing chores.

That's when I managed to get that job controlling a sign writing plotter. Also I had to go through 6 months of being sued and had a bit of a breakdown, but it's all good now.

At that time I was 20/21. Now I am 38.

I hope it works out. Just keep sowing seeds, and soon enough some will start to sprout. I think the best place to get work and help is the larger cities.

Re: 22 and no life

#95

Post by rdouble »

zpconn wrote: post #87
rdouble wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked 10am to midnight 6 days a week.

Based on my friends' experiences, you often have to fight tooth and nail to actually get overtime at some retail or fast food places. In other words, simply working more is not always an option. If that were to become an obstacle, one solution may be to get a second job. And yet the OP writes that he's having trouble getting even one of these jobs. It may be hard to believe, but some small towns have a vast, vast exc…

I can believe it. I'm from somewhere which is in many ways worse off than Yakima. That's just the best idea I have. If he can't make any money at all, I don't know what to suggest other than join the military. But I'm not a military guy, so I wouldn't feel comfortable suggesting that.

I could also suggest he goes off to western north dakota to work in the oil field, but I don't know if that's such a great idea. I have some friends that have done that. It sounds horrible, and they look like they are about 15 years older than they actually are. Plus you need the money to get there, and need a car, all of which is probably $5K+ anyway.

Re: 22 and no life

#96

Post by prawn »

elithrar wrote: post #56
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…

> You can make $16/hr picking tomatoes or as a barista or $25 an hour shuffling stuff around at a building site. These figures sound good compared to US min. wages, but given the (substantially) increased cost of living I'm not sure this is good advice.

Go anywhere else. Hike somewhere. Getting out of the rut and mindset is one step of many.

I do second the concern that Australia is expensive though. But there's no language barrier, work around and lots to see.

Re: 22 and no life

#98

Post by bazillion »

willurd wrote: post #89
bazillion wrote: post #81

Honestly, probably one of the best things you could do is join the military. If you are tech savvy, then chances are that you can score high enough on the ASVAB (entry test) in order to get into a really high speed career field. I joined the Navy, became an arabic linguist, left after a few years, and got a programming job as a contractor for 102k/year. Here's the process you're looking at if you want to take a simil…

I almost joined the navy right out of high school. I went through much of the recruiting process, but ultimately decided against it. For me, that was one of the best decisions of my life. For you, you should consider it, but give a lot of thought to it before you even start the recruiting process. Military recruiters will lie to you and your family (maybe not all of them, but it happened to me) to make sure you join…

My first chief, who is a great inspiration in my life, was once a recruiter. I asked him how he felt about recruiting, and if he had to lie to get people to join. His response was this:

"I never had to lie to anyone about joining the military. The secret is that no one walks into my office if everything is going right in their life. I just find what that problem is, and figure out how the military can solve it."

Recruiters can't effectively tell you lies if you know everything you need to know. In my case, my father had been a sonar tech and had told me what to expect like what I posted up there -- I already knew what I was getting into when I walked into that office. Don't go to a recruiter (and potentially waste their time) if you haven't done the due diligence to research a very life-changing decision.

Re: 22 and no life

#99

Post by RougeFemme »

It sounds like you are also depressed, which is not all surprising, given your situation. While you are following through on the work/training/career suggestions posted here, also try to hook up with some free counseling resources. If there aren't any readily available in Yakima (which is likely) see what's available online. The suggestions here are great and just starting on some of those may help peel away the depression, but just in case, reach out to other resources focused on emotional well-being, in addition to networking, training, etc.

Re: 22 and no life

#100

Post by bdcravens »

Freelance. Join enough online meetups, Linked In lists, etc. Start a website where you blog about topics you're an expert in. (I'd lean more heavy on the programming thing than the audio stuff - not as fun, but you can program from anywhere)

Or: do some overseas mission stuff. I don't mean church stuff, where you pay to go, and are in an isolated bubble of service. No, I mean give up your life, go somewhere for a year or two. You can live on dollars a day (and still live better than the natives), and I think it will greatly benefit your worldview.

Join the military. Regardless of the politics of it, I think most will agree it's an opportunity to learn, grow, and get away.

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