What do you do for a living?

[Youssuf Ramadan]

yes they should be but not at the expense of crippling debt load you can't hope to pay off at then end because there are no career prospects at the finish line.

Itunes U has the same courses at actual universities that people pay thousands of dollars to attend. Life in the Universe course from Ohio State University. Critial Thinking course from Oxford. This isn't exactly type writer repair from the St. Louis Adult learning center.

You can learn all you want, it doesn't end once you leave college but when you do leave college you should have the foundation and skills to build a career, and that all depends on what you take. College is usually four years, maybe a bit longer. The rest of someone's life is alot longer, lots of time to take a course on Russian Lit if you want.

It takes a long time to pay off student debt working at Starbucks and that English, Art History, or Philosophy degree will really come in handy making coffee or waiting tables.

I totally understand where you are coming from, I just disagree on the idea that a degree should just be career oriented.  If someone wants to rack up some debt on something they are interested in rather than something that will get them into a job that they may not even like, then that's entirely up to them.

You're exactly right about learning being for life, too.  There are a lot of options now and I for one like to keep exercising the grey matter.  Once you get out of the habit of learning it can be a bit daunting getting back into it.

[hillbillyatheist]

thing is most people don't just choose to go in debt to just to learn stuff. Hell, thanks to the internet you can learn almost anything now for free.

I went college thinking it would put me on easy street. I was young and naive.

now I owe 50,000 dollars on a useless degree.

99% of people go to college to get good jobs and think a college degree will achieve that goal

Turns out unless you get a marketable skill you're fucked. learning philosophy might be nice, but unless you get a doctorate and become a professor you're not going to obtain any skill that will get you a nice paying job.

and if you're content with a low wage job thats fine but in that case, just get on the internet or hit your local library and save your damned money.

[Youssuf Ramadan]

It pissed me off enormously that the Open University decided to jack its fees up at the same time as the established universities, especially when there is very little actual tuition.  How can they justify adding tuition fees when there is little to no tuition? Fuckers....

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

I deliver mail for the USPS. 6 days a week at $15 an hour. Since I'm not a regular mail carrier with a regular route (yet), I usually end up doing a different route every day with an hour of extra, so I get a ton of hours. It's hell, but the pay is good and I can finally feel justified singing along to Somebody to Love by Queen.

[Satt]

I am an electrical engineer at a power company. I design power plant systems and manage projects.

May FSM bless you in your careers with the touch of His noodley appendage.  

[Bobbotov]

I am retired. Worked for an electronics manufacturer for 23 years as a managing Director. Now I am a full time curmudgeon with three dogs and five cats.

Retirement is great and I highly recommend it. I spend my time making music and reading the thousands of books I have accumulated over the years. For those interested I have an album out: Mirages

[Mermaid]

I deliver mail for the USPS. 6 days a week at $15 an hour. Since I'm not a regular mail carrier with a regular route (yet), I usually end up doing a different route every day with an hour of extra, so I get a ton of hours. It's hell, but the pay is good and I can finally feel justified singing along to Somebody to Love by Queen.

Is it really hell? I always wondered what that job was like. What's hellish about it? Do you do a lot of walking?

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

I deliver mail for the USPS. 6 days a week at $15 an hour. Since I'm not a regular mail carrier with a regular route (yet), I usually end up doing a different route every day with an hour of extra, so I get a ton of hours. It's hell, but the pay is good and I can finally feel justified singing along to Somebody to Love by Queen.

Is it really hell? I always wondered what that job was like. What's hellish about it? Do you do a lot of walking?

The job is made harder when:

1.) You haven't done the route before and you're not familiar with it. Especially businesses, delivering mail to large ones is hell because you have no clue where they accept their mail. Front desk? Loading dock? Mail room? God forbid they just put a mail box out front.

2.) Mondays, since mail is heaviest on Mondays.



3.) ^^^^ Monday and Tuesday, when you have "Marriage Mail" to deliver. That's that red plum sales paper junk mail shit. Heavy crap that you have to lug around with you that goes to every residential address. This means that EVERY address on your route now has mail that goes to it, as opposed to only most/some of your addresses getting mail.

4.) The weather. Rain not so much if you have proper gear, but the heat sometimes is just terrible. Haven't done winter yet.

5.) Depends where you deliver mail. In my office most of it is walking, but in other nearby one's I've worked at it's been mostly mounted. Mounted is physically easier, but you get more addresses and mail so it'll take just as long to do a mounted route as a walking one.

6.) When you get extra. If you finish your route early, you'll likely get sent back out to help someone else. If someone calls in sick, then the route has to be split up amongst 5-6 different people in usually ~1 hour pieces.

[Samabq]

I did 24 years as a cop,retired now and enjoying life.I saw and did many things as a cop but,just glad I didn't get shot and didn't have to shoot anyone.Mission acomplished!

[Tabula Rasa]

The best job I ever had was as a janitor, because the boss was a nice guy and trusted me to do my job, and left me alone. Got paid peanuts, but it was actually a very enjoyable job. go figure.

I do commercial office cleaning (janitorial work), and I love it! The ironic thing for me is that I have a Master's in Education. I use my degree during the day to give educational support to college students who are transitioning into the workforce. Occasionally, I substitute teach at a private school. I clean offices on weeknights and Sunday mornings (great and legit excuse for missing church).  :-D

[Mermaid]

The best job I ever had was as a janitor, because the boss was a nice guy and trusted me to do my job, and left me alone. Got paid peanuts, but it was actually a very enjoyable job. go figure.

I do commercial office cleaning (janitorial work), and I love it! The ironic thing for me is that I have a Master's in Education. I use my degree during the day to give educational support to college students who are transitioning into the workforce. Occasionally, I substitute teach at a private school. I clean offices on weeknights and Sunday mornings (great and legit excuse for missing church).  :-D

There has to be something satisfying about janitorial work. Sometimes I wonder if I wasn't cut out for that rather than what I do.

[Smartmarzipan]

Hostess/Cashier at a chain restaurant. It sucks, but I've had worse jobs. I've been thinking about going back to college for years and finishing up my BS, but it's just so much money and there's not guarantee I could get a decent job in my field (environmental science) in the rural area I live in. So...minimum wage slave it is. I'm mostly happy, so it doesn't bother me much. It keeps you humble though, that's for sure. Everyone should work a retail/service job once in their life.

[Mermaid]

How much more school do you have to go, Smarzy? Having a BS would open a lot of doors for you if you feel your options are limited.

[Smartmarzipan]

How much more school do you have to go, Smarzy? Having a BS would open a lot of doors for you if you feel your options are limited.

Two full years. I'm still paying off loans at the moment.

[crippledatheist]

So what do I do for a living? I actually have 3jobs. The first I am certified sprint technician. I am also an amateur tournament bass fisherman. I am also president and founder of Atheists of Northern Indiana. We are the only atheist non-profit group in Indiana.

You can check out our website at //aoni2012.webs.com