When you grow/grew up

[noski]

My daughter graduated high school today which got me thinking.... and it is sort of two questions for old farts like me:
1. You have just graduated HS, and if you had it to do over again, would you take a different direction? (listen up Austin)

2. As an adult, did you grow up to become what you had planned at 18?

answer #1, #2, or both.

I choose #1:I have been out of HS for 25+ years. I did not go to college, but wish I had done that and become a school teacher.

 

[riverc0il]

1. You have just graduated HS, and if you had it to do over again, would you take a different direction? (listen up Austin)

2. As an adult, did you grow up to become what you had planned at 18?

congrats to your daughter. i am not quite an old fart, though but i will attempt to answer the questions

1. this is hard for me to answer as one of my life mottos is "no regrets." always has been and always will be. so to think about doing something differently suggests potential regret. so no, i wouldn't do anything differently. what ever happened has happened and it made me the person i am today. if things had gone differently, who knows how i might have turned out.

that said, if i knew then what i know now, i probably would have ended up at UVM. that would have been unthinkable as a teenager as i was looking for certain programs and certain extra curricular activities and if possible, a ski team or club. skiing was low on the prioriety list. well, it turns out that i changed majors after one semester and did not pursue the extra curricular activities beyond college. skiing is the one thing that has remained constant since high school.

2. if anything, i grew up to be the one thing i never thought i would be: in business managing a retail operation. i always thought college was the route to take to never work retail again. when i graduated, it was the furthest thing from my mind. even after switching majors in college and then picking up a second major, what i do now has absolutely no relation with my majors or my intended dirction in college. and during high school and college, i generally looked down on business in favor of science. i wanted to make a real difference in the world and thought science was the best way to do it. turns out, all of us can make little differences in everything we do, as long as it is moral work. doesn't matter what you major in or do for work, it is all how you approach something and with what attitude. so direction, college choice, doing things differently etc, are little concern to me. this is what we have. let's do it.

 

[ga2ski]

I recommend going to college, but make sure you travel while you can. I wish I had done more traveling both within and out of the country. Mainly i would have loved to see more ski areas and national parks. Especially if your friends live in Jackson Hole or a similar and they are offering a free place to stay. Get out there on your school break and drive it it make for a good adventure.

Also enjoy everyday. When you start your first job, enjoy the fact that you don't have lots of responsibility. You will want the extra responsibility until you get it.

Oh yeah and ski as much as possible.

 

[bvibert]

I've only been out of high school for 11 years and never took more than a few community college classes. That's the one thing I regret sometimes, but then I always remember that I wouldn't be the person I am now, or have the family I do if I had and I certainly don't want to change that. So I guess it's a wash.

As far as question number 2; I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. I'm thinking more and more that's it's not what I'm doing now though. If I had gone to college I probably would have gone to be a draftsman of some sort, I'm glad I didn't. I think I would have either switched majors or be burned out by it now (even more so than my current job).

When I was younger I wanted a job that would be fun and get me lots of money, in that order. Now I just want something that we can live off of and still have free time to do the things I want to do.

 

[andyzee]

OK, this will be fun, since I was a total waste don't read this Austin

1. You have just graduated HS, and if you had it to do over again, would you take a different direction? (listen up Austin)

Well, that would have been doing it differently right there, I never graduated High School. However, I did eventually get a GED and went to college, never finished college. I also live by the same mantra as Steve, No Regrets. I've had a great life and gotten further than most college grads I know, as a matter of fact, have a few reporting to me.

2. As an adult, did you grow up to become what you had planned at 18?

Didn't really have any plans,at 18 it was sex, drugs and rock and roll. Just kind of fell into what I'm doing now, IT manager. IT was great when I first started about 13 years ago, now it's just a modern day sweat shop. Wouldn't mind doing something different, just not sure what, whatever field I'd go into, it would have to be something that couldn't be outsourced.

 

[thaller1]

I graduated from College last year... it was a 16 year project for me..but I did it! I can still remember the feeling as I accepted my Degree at Graduation.. it was a high.

1. I wouldn't change a thing if I graduated today. Everything I have now I worked hard for and earned...that is the best feeling ever. It took me a long time to finish College, but each year as I got older and gained more experience I was able to get more than just an education. I learned to appreciate people and to learn from everyone around me..not just my Professors...(who were fantastic)

2. I don't think I knew where I wanted to be when I Graduated... I followed a path I paved each day and it brought me to where I am now. I have a good job, a great husband, a wonderful family and I have no regrets.

 

[kickstand]

I recommend going to college, but make sure you travel while you can. I wish I had done more traveling both within and out of the country. Mainly i would have loved to see more ski areas and national parks. Especially if your friends live in Jackson Hole or a similar and they are offering a free place to stay. Get out there on your school break and drive it it make for a good adventure.

while I don't have anything profound to add at the moment, I will say this:

having just returned from Glacier National Park in Montana, and talking to all the college kids working in the various lodges thruout the park, I will say this:

I would have gone this route during college, working in the various parks and/or lodges thruout the country. It seems like a priceless experience and I would recommend it to anyone. I would hope my kids have the option of following this route. At that point in my life, I wasn't terribly interested in something like that, but I also didn't know about the option. You work your arse off, but you get to experience some of the most beautiful landscape this country has to offer and you get to meet people from all over the world.

 

[teachski]

1. That's a hard one, because some days I feel like the answer is yes and other times I feel the answer is no. When I went to college Computer Science was a fairly new major. At one point during college I actually considered changing to Computer Science. I sometimes wonder what I would be doing now or where I would be if I had made that change. I'm sure I would probably be making a lot more money.

2. I am currently doing exactly what I planned on doing when I was a senior in high school (27 years later).

 

[ski_resort_observer]

#1 sometimes yes, sometimes no

#2 at 18 I had no idea what I would be doing later in life. I just wanted to get my college degree than move out west to ski the bottomless powder. I did that and then some....no regrets. I do fantasize every so often that I went to Lyndon State and get a degree in ski area management. Who knew back then there was such a thing.

 

[Ski Diva]

I would definitely recommend going to college, but I'd also recommend not jumping into any one career too quickly, and be sure to have some fun along the way. I got married right out of college, and though at the time it seemed like a great idea (no regrets now, either -- I guess I was lucky), it might've been better to take a few years off and ski bummed around or worked at a mountain or something. When you're young, you don't realize how much time you have to make your way in life. So I recommend taking it slow.

I'd also recommend getting a job you can do anywhere, preferably working for yourself. I've been lucky enough to have a job like that, and it's a gift -- it gives me the flexibility to ski pretty much whenever I want. Also, get into something that can't be readily replaced or outsourced -- which is increasingly difficult to do these days.

 

[YardSaleDad]

# 1 - I would have quit smoking right then. Everything else is no regrets.
# 2 - I had no firm plans then(or now), but I did do a lot of things I had dreamed of. I never made it to college, but I have been educated every year in new and different ways. It's all about the journey. The way I see it, I still have a long ways to go.

Tom
Class of 1980

 

[ChileMass]

This is tough. Do you advise an 18-year old to experience as much as possible when he/she is young ("You're only young once")? Or do you advise them to keep their nose to the grindstone, work hard and take vacations when they can? Can you do both? Hard to say.

I ended up OK, but certainly would have done things differently given the opportunity. It was a long and winding road to here. It took me 10 years to earn a BA, but thank God I did it.

My advice is to make sure your kid understands all of his/her options and realistically weighs them against their short and long-term goals. It's important to have a plan, even though it will change and unforeseen obstacles will come along.

Realistic, helpful guidance from a trusted adult is invaluable. (I wish I'd had someone like that way back when.) Help your kid make a well-thought-out decision, and they should be fine.....

OB - HS Class of 1977, BA - 1987

 

[skibum1321]

This is a tough question for me since I just graduated a year ago. Right now, I would love to have a different job - this one just doesn't excite me. But I would not have done anything different - I think that a job working with newer technologies in software engineering would be far more exciting than my current one. I'm getting my masters in my spare time now, so once I have that and a couple of years under my belt I should be in good shape.

 

[SkiDog]

I have some of the same feelings as others on this board have mentioned.

I graduated high school in 1989 (man when I see class of 06 I just feel OLD ;-) )...I went to Green Mountain College for a bit, and some community college..never graduated college. Putzed around painting houses for MANY years..KNEW that wasn't what I wanted to dod forever...finally settled and went to a tech school, and now am an IT manager...again..I don't think this is what I want to do forever, but DON'T for the life of me know what it is I DO want to do...I know I want to be outside more in the mountains...but I still need to pay a mortgage and raise a family so...it sitll has to pay. Eh...someday i'll "grow up"..I hope...

I also like someone else mentioned wouldve likely done things slightly differently had I been directed slightly better in my younger years.. I also wouldve liked to possibly be a teacher. Likely too late now, so....

I believe that you should go out right after high school and get a job...work a few years and find out what you DONT want to do...then when you finally settle and go to college you have a "clear" direction...you're not switching majors, taking 10 years to complete a bachelors degree, not party party party....this is one of the reasons I think we have a bunch of graduates that have "useless" degrees, that really don't mean anything in the "working world"...

This is quite and interesting topic..

M

 

[Vortex]

Can only speak for me any my family. Go to college and start saving for you kids college. College teaches time management and decision making. Skills that are valued in any profession.

I knew I would be in sales. At that time not much computer use and very little math. A perfect world.

With prior knowledge... I still would have done things pretty much the way I have lived them.

 

[YardSaleDad]

Go to college and start saving for you kids college. College teaches time management and decision making. Skills that are valued in any profession.

Just to play Devil's Advocate.

Join the Marines, learn the same things, get paid for it, avoid going into debt a hundred grand.

 

[Vortex]

Agreed. YSD.

I was not much for structure, miltary service would not happen unless I was called to do so.

My kids will have that option. Just saving so they can make the choice.

My brother went into the Navy and I went to College. One of the few checks I have written in my life was my last loan payment for college.

Time management.

 

[Greg]

1. You have just graduated HS, and if you had it to do over again, would you take a different direction? (listen up Austin)

Probaby, yes. I think it's difficult to expect someone to know exactly what they want to do the rest of their lives at 18 years old. I went to college right out of high school and it took me five years to get my BS in Biology/minor in Chemistry. I knew pretty early on that research was not my thing, and I certainly wasn't headed for pre-Med, but once you get started with a science degree, it's pretty tough to change as you feel like you've commited so much time already. I think my thinking was a Bio degree would lead to some sort of environmental or forestry job where I could play in the woods/mountains. It didn't.

2. As an adult, did you grow up to become what you had planned at 18?

Luckily, no. I was fortunate enough to get a pretty good job right out of college in the biotech industry. It was pretty tech heavy so my position sort of evolved into an IT role. If I had to do it over again, I probably would have majored in business or computer science.

I think college is somewhat important, not only the academics, but to build social skills. Certainly not to say you need a degree to succeed as I know many folks that haven't finished college but are very successful. Nevertheless, we are already actively saving for our two daughters' educations and they are only 3 years, and 5 months old.

Class of 1991
B.S. 1996

 

[Vortex]

Nice preperation Greg.

 

[ChileMass]

For me, college was less about the academics per se than about learning time management and project management skills. College is a long term project with lots of ups and downs that you have to persevere through to reach the ultimate goal of a degree. In that respect it's really good preparation for an adult job.

And the academics can help, especially if you specialize in a professional skill (engineering, science, finance, IT, etc). If you take a more general college major (business, liberal arts, etc) you have perhaps more choices, but the transition to professional work can be more difficult.

But - if you are 18 and have no idea what you want to do and your plans are up in the air, take a while to figure it out rather than go deeply into debt in a major you don't intend to use. Just don't take too long or you may never go back to it. It's really, really hard to go back and get your degree at age 25 or later, especially if you get married or have kids during that time. If you need time to figure out what to do with your life and college was originally part of the plan, keep it in focus as you go. Don't wait too long.