Spritebox

So, all throughout high school I was never really motivated. People asked me what I wanted to do for a job and I never had a clue.

I'm now a french major in college and I still don't have a clue what to do. Everyday I see myself doing something different. One day it's a graphic designer, one day it's a translator, one day it's a teacher, etc etc - it's ever changing.

I'm scared that the future only holds monotony for me. The monotony of waking up every weekday morning and going to the same old job that I don't enjoy. Even if I do slightly enjoy it, it will still get monotonous and it's that monotony that I hate so much.

Someone please, PLEASE say something to give me a better outlook (without making life seem like too much of a fantasy) so I can muster some more motivation.

-The person whose motivation is almost gone

__________________
it's all nice on ice alright
and it's not day
and it's not night
but it's all nice on ice alright

Livia Regina

I have the same problem. I'm majoring in history because I liked it better than English and didn't like anything else (well, I would have majored in Classics if I could have).
If you don't like your job, you can always change. There are more ways to make money than to have a pension - like in the stock market. If you like your job but it's getting montonous, ask them to transfer you to a different state or a different part of the company. Or take a nice long vacation. Besides, there's always something more to learn, you could go back to school and get a masters (or a second masters).

__________________
Rule 37: There is no 'overkill.' There is only 'open fire' and 'I need to reload.'

Rlyss

I can't quite see how doing something different every day is monotonous, but I'll take your word for it!

I'm very much in the same boat as you, a recent history major with a million options open for me, but at the same time very few real options. I suppose my small piece of advice is to not think about where you 'see yourself' in the future, instead think where you'd like to see yourself.

Instead of just letting it happen, like letting yourself fall into a translator role even if you don't want that, try and decide what you'd like to do - as opposed to what you'll end up doing - and work towards that.

Spritebox

Ok. I want to play test video games for blizzard. Got any hints on how to realize that dream? =)

__________________
it's all nice on ice alright
and it's not day
and it's not night
but it's all nice on ice alright

Demeter

Heck, I'm 33 and I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up!

Rlyss

Spritebox - well you could probably apply for a computer science course, maybe take a digital art course, apply to be a janitor at Blizzard's offices and work your way up from there? I bet there are ways to do it

f6twister

I don't think there is very many jobs out there that don't have some degree of monotony. I'm a emergency services dispatcher (911 operator, police/fire/ambulance dispatcher...whatever you want to call it). Now, you would think that every call would be different and it would never get boring. Mostly, it is the same stuff every day. Traffic stops, a few car accidents, a domestic dispute and people who misdial 911. There are a few instances where you get surprised by the guy who gets on the phone and tells you he just took 100 pills but even that gets old after a while.

Basically, all you can do is try something. Don't worry about the monotony until you really get a chance to experience the job for yourself. Like Livia said, you can always change jobs.

__________________
A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day. Calvin

shakran

Call blizzard and work your way into talking to their game tester. Ask him how he got the job.


If you want something, talk to the people who are already there.

Spritebox

Thanks for the words of wisdom folks.

__________________
it's all nice on ice alright
and it's not day
and it's not night
but it's all nice on ice alright

Vincentt

Go study abroad while you are in college.
Your studying french, why not go to france?
Even if it is only for a few months, it could change your life or help you find a new your way.

I haven't left yet, but I will be leaving in April. Everyone I know who went abroad said it was the best thing they could have done.

There are so many options in the world for "english teachers." Where all you need is to be a native speaker of english. You could live for years in many diffrent countries before settling down. With all that time who knows what exciting things you could stumble on.

I too forsaw monotony and am fighting it, I am regaining motivation. I hope you can too.

__________________
.

Halx

Regarding game testing, I dont know who handles blizzard's games, but the programming companies rarely do their own testing, their publishers handle that. THQ, for example, is a publisher, and hires game testers to test out the games that their software companies are producing. Software companies themselves don't produce enough games at a time to keep game testers employed, so they run the operation via consolidation.

__________________
You have found this post informative.
-The Administrator
[Don't Feed The Animals]

Master_Shake

That's what life is, and it doesn't matter how much you work or how hard you try, you'll always be in the hole. If you do manage to make some money, it will be because you've sold out to the man and your occupation will consist of exploiting children in Thailand or finding ways to deny health insurance to a man with brain cancer. Every day you'll go to work in order to make other people rich. Hopefully you won't get married or else your wife and miserable children, that probably aren't even really yours, will suck all the rest of your money out of your pocket. They'll also consume your soul and you will become a shriveled-up, heartless, pussy-whipped old man just waiting to die.

Fortunately, there's alcohol. If only the government would legalize the rest of the stuff.

__________________
-------------
You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

Charlatan

You could start your own business and then you are not working for the man but rather for yourself...

Takes a lot of guts to do this.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Master_Shake

It also takes intelligence, dedication, physical and mental strength, sobriety, startup money and quite a bit of luck. Not everyone has these things, or wants to invest every waking hour of his/her life in the pursuit of just another job.

I work for the man because I've been beaten, not because I want to. Wanting something to happen doesn't make it so and I think it's time we stopped teaching people that they can grow up to be whatever they want. That's a dream for rich people. The rest of us have to get up too damn early to go to a shitty job for lousy pay to make sure the electricity doesn't get turned off this month.

__________________
-------------
You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

la petite moi

I totally understand you.

I almost ended up a French major, but realised my community college didn't offer French courses, so I chose Business Administration instead.

My sister just asked me the other day what I want to do when I get older. I really didn't know. And I still don't know- I think the opportunity will come around when I get there. And yeah, for awhile, you and I will probably be in our boring day jobs and going to school. But then again, that is what school is for.

And dude, Master_Shake, all I ever read from you is negative, negative, negative. I feel sorry for you since you think the world is out to make you miserable.

PS: How is French? And what level are you at?

Spritebox

Intermediate French 2, pretty much french 5.

__________________
it's all nice on ice alright
and it's not day
and it's not night
but it's all nice on ice alright

Charlatan

Master_Shake... you are correct.

The reality is that most people will live a life of monotony, working for the man, etc. However, there are ways to break out of that cycle and starting off thinking that I might as well just settle in for the long haul cause it isn't gonna get any better than this is not one of them...

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Master_Shake

I don't think the world is out to make me miserable. I don't have some kind of crazy ego; I know I'm not important enough for the world to care whether I'm miserable or not.

Sure, but most involve having money, which I don't have.

And I do think it's better to settle in and accept things rather than get your hopes up too high because then you'll be really miserable when your dreams don't come true. If someone had told me back in school that I wasn't going to be a secret agent/astronaut, I might have paid a little more attention to those vo-tech classes. Then at least I would be able to fix the plumbing in my kitchen sink.

__________________
-------------
You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

Charlatan

Master_Shake... not all things require money.

It also helps if you remember that a job is just a way of making money and that there can be more to life than a job... The truth is that many of us are or will be wage slaves at jobs we don't neccessarily like...

You can learn to suck the marrow out of the rest of you life or just plod home, sit in front of the tube and do it all again the next day.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

The_wall

I sort of feel the way master shake does lol, I just don't really express it. I live on a day by day basis, and don't like trying to think in the long term, its not my style. But usually on a day to day basis I don't feel like signing up for classes or finding a better job, I feel like having fun and making life enjoyable. Unfortuneatly I need more money for this. Such is the world I live in and I accept it.

__________________
"We do what we like and we like what we do!"~andrew Wk

Procrastinate now, don't put off to the last minute.

la petite moi

Strange, at my school, Internediate French 2 is French 4.

Master_Shake

Really, what doesn't require money? I suppose you can still breathe air for free, but I wouldn't be surprised if that changed soon.

I certainly agree with this.

Yes, there can be, but only if you already have money. For those of us without it we are sentenced to perpetual work in order to earn money in order to get those things and engage in those activities that we want. That we seem to work a hell of a lot more than we enjoy life isn't by choice, it's because that's the system we find ourselves in. If you can direct us to a place where the ratio of work to life is skewed in the other direction, I would probably be on the first boat there.

That's absolutely right, and I just wish someone had told me that back in the day instead of lying to me and saying that I had the chance to become president or something. With such knowledge, I probably wouldn't have invested nearly so much time in trying to "make my dreams come true," I would have realized they can't happen. I wouldn't have had such dashed hopes, and I probably could have been a happier person. I fear that parents and teachers are making those same crazy statements to children today, telling them they can be anything they want, if they work hard enough, or put their minds to it. But I suppose that's part of the system the man uses to keep people down, so long as people hold out some hope there's no real chance of revolution. So long as we can win the lottery and make all our problems go away we'll continue to follow orders.

Again, sucking the marrow out of life requires money, or at the very least illegal substances. I have no desire to go to jail, so I accept those trance inducing, pain numbing substances and experiences the man lets me have: Television and alcohol. It's not a very satisfying way to live, that's true, but with a lack of money my only other options carry far too great a risk of incarceration. They don't let you watch the porn channels or drink in prison (I know it sometimes goes on, but it's hard to get, the selection isn't great, and you risk being ass-raped) so I will make do with what I've been given.

Hey, if you're a smart, attractive, popular, successful, rich person, I don't begrudge you that. Enjoy life, you can certainly afford to. Just please don't try to convince me that I can have that life too in order to prevent me from becoming a criminal, or refusing to show up for work. You don't need to worry about me, I will follow your laws and rules, I'm not going to make waves or try to change things. You have beaten me, and I relent. Just please don't take away my liquor and porn.

And even if you do I don't suppose there's anything I would do about it. I guess I would choose the next set of things and activities that provide some comfort that are still legal: NyQuil and Cinemax After Dark.

__________________
-------------
You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

la petite moi

:rolls eyes: You just sound like you're whining...but hell, by all means, go ahead. You're joining hundreds that like complaining just as much as you. My advice: If life is so boring or monotonous, Master Shake, either find something to do or kill yourself.

clavus

Things to do that require dang little money -

Learn to draw - #2 pencils and blank paper are cheap. Teach yourself or buy a couple of cheap, used art books.
Run distance - cost: 1 pair of running shoes
Act in a local production - cost: 0
Volunteer for a charity - Cost: 0. Hell, I started a charity and it didn't cost THAT much...at first...
Learn to fix your pipes: cost - buy a book and a couple of tools
Learn pottery - clay is cheap. If you want to throw, a wheel will set you back a few hundred bucks, but it is a one-time expense.
Write a book
etc
etc
etc

__________________
Ass, gas or grass. Nobody rides for free.

Charlatan

My point exactly... Thank you Clavus. Fill your non-work time with things you like to do...

You are spending more energy convincing yourself that life sucks... spend a bit of time finding out if there are things to do that don't.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Master_Shake

Again, without money "something to do" is hard to come by.

And Clavus I already work most of the day. When I'm finished, I like to find some way to enjoy something, or find some pleasure or pain relief in something. Those things you described are all code for more work for which you don't get paid. You sound like a real go-getter, and maybe helping the homeless satisfies some inner desire you have to help others, but not all of us are wired that way.

Working for a living is pain. Those things you describe don't provide any relief, just more work. Besides, doing any of those activities you will eventually start you think you are good at it, and that will only set you up for more disappointment when your girlfriend laughs at your drawing, or you lose the race, or you have to call a real plumber after your amateur attempt at fixing your pipes results in a ruptured septic system.

I already do. It's just sad that the ratio is so skewed toward work.

I know there are things to do that don't, unfortunately I can't afford them.

__________________
-------------
You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

la petite moi

I never said finding something to do doesn't cost money, but guess what? Without money, we would be animals fighting for everything.

I am a full-time student, trying to get my AA in Business Administration and my AA in French, trying to keep up my life with my fiance who lives four hours away, and squeezing in work so I can have money. I want to finish with my BS degree in International Business with a minor in French, and somehow get married and support myself. Sounds like a hell of a lot of work, eh? And yet, somehow I don't complain constantly about the man and how work is just so terrible and monotonous. Yeah, work is sometimes a bitch, but jesus, if you don't like what you do, find something else to do.

We ALL have to work in order to live, or else it would be chaos in this world. If you don't make enough money for your expensive hobbies, get an education or work harder to make your way up the food chain. Drinking and sitting in front of the TV is just furthering your stupidity instead of improving yourself. This society of human beings gravitate toward either smart humans with personality that can work and play hard the same, or morons (just cos it's fun to laugh at them).

I'm 18, and I already know that you're full of bull. And it's dead obvious you have no clue about economics.

Master_Shake

Not true, many people don't work in this world, they own property and the means of production, so they just sit back and watch other people work.

Well then you are either rich or intelligent. I am neither. I am sure you will be a success and won't fall into the trap that I have. I didn't think this way when I was 18 either. My mind was poisoned by people telling me that I could do anything, be anything, and enjoy life.

Maybe my experience is a singular one, and everyone else here is wildly successful, working at a job they love, not denying health benefits to a man with brain cancer, living with a hot spouse who doesn't gain 100 pounds after having a child, then cheating on you with someone from your office, divorcing you, suing you for child support for a child that probably isn't even yours but because it was born during the marriage it doesn't matter, getting audited by the IRS, losing a lot of money in bad investments, then developing prostrate cancer and dying because your employer, a health insurance company, doesn't provide you with an adequate level of health insurance.

Good luck with everything. If things don't work out, well, maybe it's because you didn't try hard enough.

Look, I'm not trying to change your views, I really do hope you succeed, all I can speak from is my own personal experience, and I have not succeeded, I have failed miserably. I just wish I had been better psychologically prepared for it.

I mean, you must admit that not everyone is going to be a success, right? By telling everyone they can do anything you're just setting these people up for disappointment. Why would you want to be so cruel? Would you tell a midget he could play professional basketball if only he worked harder, or was a better person? That sounds really cruel to me, and it's not something I would condone.

__________________
-------------
You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

The_wall

Alright I'm not quite as down on life as Master Shake, but I understand where he's coming from. I don't even know what I want out of life. I don't really agree with the american attitude towards money, money seems so fake to me, but if I want to live on my own, feed myself, etc... I gotta make it. I don't want to go to school, I prefer to learn on my own, but in order to make some real money I gotta go to school at some point.

__________________
"We do what we like and we like what we do!"~andrew Wk

Procrastinate now, don't put off to the last minute.

la petite moi

I have not been told that I can do anything I wanted- in fact, I was told the opposite. I always need to work harder, according to my parents and people around me. Life is not perfect; obviously, things happen and the government can not please everyone.

I am not rich, nor intelligent. I just try really damn hard.

Telling someone they probably won't succeed is just as bad as telling someone they will most definitely succeed. If you don't enjoy life, why do you live? Just a question.

And another thing, if you aren't intelligent, go pick up a book at the library and read sometime instead of guzzling down beer and staring at the TV. Learning a skill can help your chances at getting a job. It's obvious you aren't mentally challenged or anything, and at least your typing isn't like SOME people's (sum ppl lyke 2 type lyke dis...you get my point).

Master_Shake

I certainly don't expect the government to help me, I just wish the government would let me enjoy life by legalizing pot and prostitution. I don't expect much out of life, I just try to get by experiencing as little pain as possible.

You don't have to tell people they won't succeed, just give them realistic expectations. I was given unrealistic expectations by parents and teachers. If I knew that my life was going to be a long series of indistinguishable days sitting behind a desk wasting my life away, I could have prepared for it better.

I ask myself the same question 10 times a day at work, then I drink some alcohol and everything seems a little better.

But I enjoy drinking beer and watching TV, that's about all that makes life bearable.

Learning a skill isn't going to improve my life, it's only going to take away from valuable liquor and porn time. I have very little of it as things are, I don't want to lose anymore of it.

__________________
-------------
You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

la petite moi

1.) I agree with you for the pot and prostitution, but as long as society believe it's a taboo, blame people not 'the man'. You have nothing to lose; why not move to another country where they allow it?

2.)So what's realistic? People land amazing jobs all the time when they are told they can do nothing with their life, just like some people land shitty jobs when they are told they can do anything.

3.) You should not be drinking at work.

4.) Then you're just going in a circle. You have to sacrifice a little to move up. If that means giving up bad habits in order to land a better job, well...you know the rest.

Master_Shake

1. Moving to another country isn't cheap, and I would have to upset my liquor and porn schedule. Maybe if I was younger I would've considered it, but again, I didn't know my life would be such a disappointment at 18.

2. I can't speak for other people, just myself. I think it would have been obvious to anybody back in high school that I was going to wind up as an overweight guy who sits behind a desk and drives a 10 year old car to work.

3. Sorry, I meant to imply I started drinking immediately after work. I do not drink at work, at least, not yet.

4. Yes, I am going in a circle. Moving up would just require more work, and intelligence, and money, and determination, and luck, all of which are things that I do not possess.

__________________
-------------
You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

gondath

Spritebox, just explore your options and try to settle for a job that you can tolerate. Do enough research and thinking on it to have many choices available. I don't think you can fight monotony. You can stall it, but it'll always come back. The key is to make the repetitious interesting. How you accomplish that is up to you. Try having what little fun a job allows.

Master Shake has a lot of valid points. Nobody needs smoke blown up their ass with optimistic bullshit. We live in the real world. Make your expectations fit your environment, and you'll end up being so much happier. No matter what anyone tells you, the playing field is not level and not everyone can get the things they want most. Look at the children starving to death in Africa if you believe otherwise, and then get back to me.

Enjoy whatever takes your mind off the boring and soul-sucking nature of life without adding more problems. Realize that trying hard does not in itself equate to a damn thing unless you are amply rewarded for it. Try to balance positive and negative things so that neither comes as a shock. That's my two cents for now.

la petite moi

If you won't sacrifice to help your situation, don't complain. And sorry, I hope your son doesn't learn anything from you or else he'll turn out as depressed and lame as you.

And gondoth, the playing field is not level, but then again, I didn't know that the author of this thread was a starving African child born into a third-world country.

Hardknock

Bullshit! Complete bullshit. No one can be beaten. You're only beaten if you think you are. Personally, I don't have a job, I have a career. One I've been literally working my entire life to obtain. I also plan to start a business once I'm done with my second degree. If it fails, then it fails. But at least I tried rather than throwing up my hands before I even try and go through life wondering "what if." Along the way of getting to where I am today, there have been people that have told me "you can't do it." "People who look like you should be doing something else for a living." Fuck you!!! Is what I told them. ALL of them. You are only what you think you are. If you want to start that business so you can get out of the rat race, then just get of your ass and do it dammit! It makes me sick to see people talk about how they will never amount to anything in life because it's too hard. Make a decision, either shit or get off the fucking pot. If you want to change your life then just make the decision and do it!

That's all it really takes.

I'm off the box now.

gondath

First, it's gondath. Second, my example illustrated my point perfectly by getting straight to the point. I think you should chill out and stop attacking people who present opinions you don't agree with. To be specific, the comment about the poster's son was completely out of line. Be mature.

Again, let me state that goals should be realistic and take into account available opportunities. Starving children in Africa obviously do not have access to even the necessities of life, much less a college education and a stable future. The same can be applied to people anywhere.

Hardknock

Did I miss something? The author is this thread is from Charlotte.

gondath

I think we already established that. Move on.

la petite moi

Sorry I misspelled your name, but I know how it feels; I am constantly referred to as 'la petit moi' as if I'm some sort of French hemaphrodite (no offense to them). I only 'attack' someone when they have extremely debatable points in their posts. I don't just go about searching to put people down. And frankly, I really do feel badly about the son- I would be afraid that he might commit suicide (which he says he contemplates everyday), which I don't object to unless you have the responsibility of raising a son.

The commit about African children not going to college; well, most children probably don't get that education, but saying they shouldn't try is ridiculous. There is a girl in my poli sci class who is from South Africa, for example. :shrug: Just moved here 2 years ago.

PS: Is being mature talking about how one doesn't want to try for success because it might interrupt one's porn and drinking schedule and then whining about it?

/all rants

And now back to our usual programme...