YoungAndWise's Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
User avatar
jennypenny
Posts: 6851
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:20 pm

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by jennypenny »

YoungAndWise wrote:For Security Studies, my home university offers one that is a relatively new program. I could get a scholarship plus some pay (forgot the proper name for it) as my GPA is relatively high at the moment and I do have internships plus a year abroad. The problem being is that I will have three years at the same university (four technically if count the year abroad), as the same college, limiting the potential diversity of my knowledge.
There are lots of good programs in that field. It's new, so some are in the CompSci Dept, some are listed under PoliSci, some under International Relations, and some universities put it under whatever their World Studies/Global blah blah blah department is if they have one.

Some universities include a security clearance as part of the degree program. That makes you more attractive to potential employers because clearances are a big expense for the employer.

User avatar
TheWanderingScholar
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:04 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by TheWanderingScholar »

Okay, after looking around a little bit I found another option

Geo-spatial Intelligence Path

Basically, The University of Missouri in Columbus offers a Geospatial Intelligence Program and they are one of few campuses in the country are a part of the USGIF.
Might look into that, the only bad part is that I have to stay in the US instead of seeing the world.

EDIT:
And it seems like a campus in the my state offers a certificate for it, so I could do that instead and save money. Might go that way, depending if certificated is online.

User avatar
TheWanderingScholar
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:04 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by TheWanderingScholar »

Monthly Update:
Financially, I learned a lesson this month- Overdrafted by $.10, which scared the shit out of me.They being said I didn't get charged and I am finally get some financial assistance from my parents. Health wise and creativity wise I have never felt better. Tomorrow I am going to hang out and get some coffee, see if she likes me or not.

As for graduate school...I still don't know. Still don't think about it as much.

User avatar
TheWanderingScholar
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:04 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by TheWanderingScholar »

Monthly Update:

Yeah I missed last month. But good news! I am got some running clothes and a kettlebell for working out by myself. And the weather is getting better so I can actually run outside without sleeping on ice!

User avatar
TheWanderingScholar
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:04 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by TheWanderingScholar »

Alright! I am back! Minus the existential crisis! YEAAAHHH!

But seriously, for the last couple months I have been really losing my sense of self and been a loss of what to do with my life. I didn't have a real plan on what to do with my life between now and what I want out of my life; my writing productivity had went to shit; most social life was there but had a colour of grayness like the Turku Winter*.

But March has arrived; the birds are coming out as the snow melts away, the last breaths of winter of being taken as the opening yawns of spring are arriving. Words flow freely from hand to the keyboard to screen, and I am beginning to enjoy life, once again with taking pleasure in every event I hang out with my new found friends and old friends from last semesters. Today I have been running/walking and doing kettlebell swings to work on my cardio.

I have begun planning for my final year of college, where I will graduated at ripe old age of 21! ;)

So the planning stages of my final year are ahead.

I have three main choices between my decide between, all of which accomplish my primary objectives:

1) Get back to Europe.
2) Not Be Unemployed
3) Not going into more debt: $4,000 in student loans is $4,000 too many.

My three choices (or plans):
1) Asks if professors know anyone who specializes in geopolitics. The reason for this is that my one of my former professors knows someone from Slovenia who teaches in geography and did a political geography lecture last year. I am going to see if I can work that connection out to my advantage.

2) Find a job overseas. It recently dawned on me certain countries in Europe i.e. Norway and Scotland, have oil. A nearby city (HOUSTON) has lots of oil companies. Some of these companies work oveseas.

I am an idiot for realizing this before. And yes, I realize isn't exactly pro-environment route but fuck it someone has to do it.

3) Graduate program in the states and offers me a graduate assistant and focuses on human geography. I have realized that I am a human geographer, not a physical one. I may be knowledgeable to some physical geography but all that information seeks to help my main interest and love: humans and their interaction with natural environment. So that being said I am looking programs focusing on human geography that will be offering graduate assistant work and pay, and allow me to travel to Europe for research and among other things.

So yes, those are my three options or plans that I have.


*Which was one of the worst this year; a few hours of sunlight per month, lots of rains with snow that quickly melted and froze over causing inch thick pieces of black ice. Honestly, if I can survive this Winter I feel like I can survive any.

**Objectives:
The reasoning for these objectives are these: I am still aiming for ERE by 30, which gives me nine years since graduating college to save enough money, which I think is possible considering the past few months I have been living less than minimum wage, in Finland, an expensive country to live in, all the while I have been travelling all over the Baltic from Stockholm to Riga to Tallinn to St. Petersburg. Those number includes the support I will receive from my parents these last couple of months.

And about the first objective:

Why specifically do I want to live in Europe:
I feel in love with continent as a whole. It is much different from America; it feels more connected to the world (which goes back to the Heartland Theory of Geopolitics) than US. I feel the effects and pulse of the world that I do back home much more and intimately. And not only that, but the lifestyle here is more...active than the United States. Maybe it is because my home university is a sleepy town in comparison to here but I feel like I have a social life here more than I ever had in the United States. I have funny stories to tell about me having to do yet another hour's worth of walking home on Christmas Eve. I have meet Estonian programmers who are friends with self-made millionaires back in Thailand and befriended them.

And I have fallen head over girls more often than I did back in the states. Maybe it is because I am not hung up over one girl, maybe it is because of my more active social life. But this falling head over heels phase is part of something larger.

I love people. I enjoyed hanging out in bars with my friends, I enjoy talking to new people when I am drinking (the only way I can have long conversation with a Fin beyond "Moi/Hei"; which I find annoying about Finnish culture in general. Love Finns nonetheless <3). I miss the company of people after a while.
I feel Extroverted, actually.

Which brings me to my final point.

I feel like I beginning to finally have a grasp on who I truly am in a way. Either that or I am changing yet again.

Anyways.

Moi, Moi!

Catch you later!

reepicheep
Posts: 383
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:45 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by reepicheep »

Have you considered that you might be affected by SAD?

I have a blue light and take Vitamin D every day in an attempt to forestall the winter blues. It sounds like you might have been more impacted by the long winter than you realize.

User avatar
TheWanderingScholar
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:04 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by TheWanderingScholar »

Yes, I think the winter really fucked with my mental state. I took Vitamin D during the winter to stave it off a little however did not have a blue light, which would probably be a good investment if it wasn't March already.

henrik
Posts: 757
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:58 pm
Location: EE

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by henrik »

On these forums we talk a lot about learning to live without the forced structure of employment. Well, around here, you need to manage independently of the Sun, both in terms of the daily wake-sleep cycle and your yearly distribution of energy. Make sure you stay around for the summer!

reepicheep
Posts: 383
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:45 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by reepicheep »

This is the one I have:

http://www.amazon.com/Zadro-Sunlight-Ar ... t+sun+lamp

It's a little wonky--sometimes I have to fiddle with the buttons, and it has a lot more functions than I have ever used--but I've had it for six years now and it's stood up to multiple international and domestic moves. It's pretty decent for the price; you could spend 3 times as much and get the same light spectrum and brightness.

Edit: Started reading some of the 1-star reviews and many of them accurately reflect my experience with this device. I can turn it on and off and that's about it; the keypad functionality is laggy and limited, the directions were shit. However, it's done exactly what I need it to do (be really bright and blue colored), without fail, every winter for six years. If you want a device that's closer to a smart phone, this ain't it.

User avatar
TheWanderingScholar
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:04 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by TheWanderingScholar »

henrik wrote:On these forums we talk a lot about learning to live without the forced structure of employment. Well, around here, you need to manage independently of the Sun, both in terms of the daily wake-sleep cycle and your yearly distribution of energy. Make sure you stay around for the summer!
I will definitely be around for the summer; until June specifically.

User avatar
TheWanderingScholar
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:04 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by TheWanderingScholar »

Alright, now that the grey, dull, fog of winter is beginning to lessen it effect on me, I can see several different paths or options to see upon graduation, none of which are exclusive of each other.

A) Get a job.
The most standard (and boring :| ) option for me. I can easily get a job if need be with my experience (internship and a year abroad are in my favor, alongside the shenanigans I pull of my last year aka possible cultural ambassador alongside Honor's ambassador)

B) Internship (to get foot into geopolitical think-tanks)
I have been researching a couple places that are think tanks that offer internships to recent graduates, which I can try to get into. The difficulty with is I doubt my abilities to get my foot into the door with my current state of knowledge and skillset (mostly technical (read: GIS) and social sciences (read: development and human geography)). But who knows? I might be able to pull it off.

C) Graduate School in Europe (Specifically Finland and Estonia)
The reason being I want to go to graduate school in Finland and Estonia is the lower cost as opposed to the U.S. graduate school (read: Finland is free, Estonia has a lower COL in exchange for actually paying for school). Specifically between Quantitative Economics (Eesti) and Geography Regional Studies w/ focus on Development/Planning Geography (Finland). These two could be potential stepping stones into different careers that are kind of related to geopolitics/geoeconomics.

D) Gap Year
Have a gap year in-between Master's and/or career. Basically, build a buffer of money/experience while I am young, while enjoying life. Probably work at a hostel, internships in different companies to set what I want out of life or work, and so on. I might do this because I am graduating one year earlier that most American students.

And as for this semester? Finishes classes strong, getting ready for the final onslaught that is next year and in general try to install habits that will help me in the long run in ERE Marathon (i.e. working out consistently, eating more fruits and vegetables with less meat/no meat, and financial sensibilities.)

reepicheep
Posts: 383
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:45 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by reepicheep »

I took a gap year before college and loved it. If I were to do it again I would have gone for more depth of experience rather than breadth--I moved around a lot--and I would have been more financially conscious.

Still, highly recommend.

leeholsen
Posts: 325
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2013 6:38 pm

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by leeholsen »

reepicheep wrote:I took a gap year before college and loved it. If I were to do it again I would have gone for more depth of experience rather than breadth--I moved around a lot--and I would have been more financially conscious.

Still, highly recommend.
i would second that.

don't put yourself in a box from going ere asap because you loaded up credit cards doing it, but if I could have done it all over again; i'd have been all over the states in the closest campground. spending 3 months on the west coast and 3 in the applachains is something I would have done.

User avatar
TheWanderingScholar
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:04 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by TheWanderingScholar »

[snip][/snip]
i would second that.

don't put yourself in a box from going ere asap because you loaded up credit cards doing it, but if I could have done it all over again; i'd have been all over the states in the closest campground. spending 3 months on the west coast and 3 in the applachains is something I would have done.

I have been leaning towards gap year because honestly this coming up last year is going to be hell for me between academics, school activity programs and trying to get a research paper out alongside my undergraduate thesis while maintaining my GPA at a Magna Cum Laude worthy level (Right now if were to graduate I would be Summa Cum Laude).*

My only worry would be losing momentum for graduate school. But I can push my way through that by saving enough money during my last year to pay off my student loans (which is around $3,625 ATM; $3,625 too much IMO) and then during summer just work like crazy (2 Jobs basically) to live in either Estonia, Latvia, or Lithuania for a while until I can get a hostel job in one of the the capitals.

*I know these only mean shit for my first job, but they are solid goals for me to concentrate on.

User avatar
TheWanderingScholar
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:04 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by TheWanderingScholar »

No Longer a Stupid Teenager; Now just another 20-something year old college student who has debt :P.

Talking about debt, I have bad news: I have to take on more debt during my last year in college. Reason being I am only getting $2,425 in grants instead of crap load of money got these past two semesters (I am going to miss having $2,000 in scholarship money per semester :( ), which will only offset the rising cost of housing. If I work a full-time job at the super-market I am going to get around $3,200 by the time college starts up which bring how much I am going to pay with loans for F15 down to $1,225.

It is S16 that I am worried about because if I quit the job when university starts up, I won't have that much money to put away for next semester. In which case I will have to pay the entire tuition then with student loans, which is horrible idea.

So am I going to do two things:

1) Work like crazy over the summer
During the summer work a full-time job and a part-time job to save enough money to pay for my semester in full for F15 without taking on debt (okay it is about $60 but I hope my parents could cover that much for me).

2) Maybe get a part-time on campus
Even though I have a little bit over a full course load I could squeez in twenty hours of work during the semester on a campus job. The reason I say this because if I study an hour per hour of course I have, I would be focusing on my class work 34 hours a week. Even on 5 day, twelve hour schedule that I have sixty hours of time to work with. In that case, I can have a part-time job for minimum wage and save up to $2,320 in one semester. That leave only $3,041 left to pay off.

Hmmm...I could work two full-time jobs during the summer, I could save up enough for both semesters.
And if I can't get that full-time job, I can just be waiter.

Quadalupe
Posts: 268
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2015 4:56 am
Location: the Netherlands

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by Quadalupe »

Make sure that you also allocate some time for yourself besides study + work. If I were to go for your option 2, I'd become very stressed out. It's of course commendable to strife for a low debt, but don't get a burn out in the process! Of course, you might react different to a high workload, so your mileage may vary.

By the way, can you explain to me, as a non-USA person what F16 and S16 are?

User avatar
TheWanderingScholar
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:04 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by TheWanderingScholar »

Fall Semester of 2015 and Spring Semester of 2016.

I just decided to shorten the terms into a short phrase.

User avatar
TheWanderingScholar
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:04 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by TheWanderingScholar »

...And fuck my university.

Seems like if I live on campus next semester I have to buy one of the $1,700+ student meal plans except if I live in one of the apartments owned by the schooll.

bottlerocks
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:51 pm
Location: Magicant (WalkScore: Pajamas)

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by bottlerocks »

YoungAndWise wrote: Seems like if I live on campus next semester I have to buy one of the $1,700+ student meal plans except if I live in one of the apartments owned by the schooll.
My university instituted the same requirement towards the end of my undergrad except it applied to anyone who lived within 30 miles of campus. I think they've since scaled it back to on-campus living but I was able to get out of it by writing what I called a "Letter of Financial Hardship" to the bursar. If there isn't an official means of getting out of it I would just annoy enough of the administration until they cave in. Or when you don't pay it and they try and prevent your from taking classes, threaten with legal or media attention. $1700 is worth a lot of time spent on the phone whining and bitching, to me.

I used a similar tactic to get out of parking passes as a part time grad student...why should I pay $300+/year to park in a single specific lot that is never at capacity? University standardization is a joke and flies in the face of academic endeavor.

User avatar
TheWanderingScholar
Posts: 650
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:04 am

Re: YoungAndWise's Journal

Post by TheWanderingScholar »

@bottlerocks: Agreed. The standardized package of education system for everyone, is very annoying to me. I hate the fact that I have to waste time on some core curricular classes that could spend on studying different subjects that I want to learn about.

But good news!

There pulled back the stupid meal plan so I am going to go live in the cheaper dorm!

Post Reply