Moving and Moving On
Oct. 3rd, 2009 12:10 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
lickbrains.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
hogwartsishome*comes in on broom and waves to everybody in the hall; crashes* Bleegh~ okay, well, I'm moving tomorrow (or today) and won't have internet for a little while until I get everything settled. I'll try to hit the mall or any public place with internet so that I can have a house unity chat and whatnot with you lovely people!
Anyway, a friend on my f-list asked what our goals were and how we wanted to achieve them. Here's what I basically told her:
I'd like to ask you guys the same thing! It could be anything: getting your license, buying that Supernatural DVD box-set you've been meaning to get, school, home, nabbing Jensen Ackles as a boyfriend, anything! LAY IT ON ME AND MAKE NEW FRIENDS WHO SHARE THE SAME DREAM (OR DON'T SHARE THE SAME DREAM)!
Jamie//Ravenclaw
Anyway, a friend on my f-list asked what our goals were and how we wanted to achieve them. Here's what I basically told her:
My Goals: Make enough money to move out, get financial aid, get associate's at city college, transfer to a good college and major in Art (don't know what my sub-major will be), learn some life lessons, get a job at Disney/Disney's Pixar, make a name for myself, get my own flat, travel the world and do philanthropic things along the way. That would be so amazing.
How I'll Get There: Wing it.
I'd like to ask you guys the same thing! It could be anything: getting your license, buying that Supernatural DVD box-set you've been meaning to get, school, home, nabbing Jensen Ackles as a boyfriend, anything! LAY IT ON ME AND MAKE NEW FRIENDS WHO SHARE THE SAME DREAM (OR DON'T SHARE THE SAME DREAM)!
Jamie//Ravenclaw
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Date: 2009-10-03 07:26 am (UTC)LOL, I love this plan.
For me, it goes a little something like: Find a job and survive this Organic Chemistry class that I'm taking for reasons that God only remembers. Figure out if Linguistics is really what I want to study.
That's all I've got right now. My future plans did an entire 180 degree turn in the past month. I came into Uni convinced I wanted to be a doctor, or at least something science-based... and then linguistics bit me. So I honestly haven't got much worked out beyond the end of this semester. XD
Becky//Gryffindor
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Date: 2009-10-06 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-06 08:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-06 09:09 pm (UTC)Asking a Slytherin about goals is a VERY dangerous thing ;-)
Date: 2009-10-03 09:06 am (UTC)MAJOR GOAL: Get PhD by end of academic year (i.e. by June) leading into a prestigious, well-paying postdoc in my subarea.
To achieve it:
I) Move to Switzerland for the fall, where the best people in my subarea work (already accomplished)
II) While in Switzerland, follow the programme of these experts to discover something new by sometime in November.
III) Use the rest of November/December (while still in Switzerland) to build on these ideas and apply for postdocs.
IV) Upon returning to LA, write up thesis (to defend) and be prepared to travel to attend interviews for these positions!
Minor Goal 1: Get a high score on Exam C (the last preliminary actuarial exam; remember my 'backup' plans to teach people how to pass those exams?)
To achieve it:
I) Continue practicing Exam C questions and watch as they become instinct (note that the cutoff for a 10, the highest possible score, has ranged between 70 and 84 percent - so 90% should be more than enough).
II) Travel to Geneva for a long weekend in the beginning of November, using one of the days that weekend to take the test!
Minor Goal 2: Improve German skills to near-fluency (with a strong B2 certificate).
To achieve it:
I) While in Bern, use German whenever possible (this may be harder than it looks as people are VERY quick to speak to English - and are also more reserved than you might expect).
II) Have German-language TV and newspaper in the 'background'.
III) Study from various textbooks/prep materials at the B2 level so that I can pass the B2 exam when I return to the US!
Re: Have you ever read Piled Higher and Deeper?
Date: 2009-10-03 04:08 pm (UTC)And as for well-paying postdocs, many of the top positions in my field pay at least $60k/year for postdocs (in USD)...
http://www.math.ucla.edu/people/positions.shtml from my own university (the top position, the Hedrick, pays $61,200/yr)
http://www.math.yale.edu/public_html/Employment/Employment.html shows my dream postdoc, the Gibbs Assistant Professorship, which pays 'at least' $69k/year!
In fact, if you can't get a position earning $60k/year at this stage, you're probably not good enough to get a decent tenure track position a few years down the road...
Re: Asking a Slytherin about goals is a VERY dangerous thing ;-)
Date: 2009-10-04 07:18 am (UTC)Re: Asking a Slytherin about goals is a VERY dangerous thing ;-)
Date: 2009-10-06 09:11 pm (UTC)GOOD LUCK!! These goals are crazy-even the minor ones XP
no subject
Date: 2009-10-03 11:01 am (UTC)Basically, I need to sort my life out.
How I'll get there: work my badger arse off, of course
Shanima//Hufflepuff
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Date: 2009-10-06 09:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-03 12:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-03 12:46 pm (UTC)How I'll get there: Never stop trying.
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Date: 2009-10-06 09:13 pm (UTC)Good luck ♥ and NEVER stop trying!! :D
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Date: 2009-10-03 02:53 pm (UTC)Get scholarships - Will do this mostly by taking extra exams.
Get into uni. And then do well when I get there.
Get a job (maybe?)
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Date: 2009-10-06 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-03 03:18 pm (UTC)Get good grades in Grad School
Open a savings account and put money aside
Get my driver's license
no subject
Date: 2009-10-06 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-07 03:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-03 05:47 pm (UTC)Get my political science major and my English and history minors (I knowww, 2 minors, what)
Find some kind of job with any of those degrees
Get my driver's license
Get married to my wonderful guy
Have a baby
Hopefully be able to spend some time at home writing
How I'll get there:
Keep paying crazy amounts of money for undergrad school and looking for job opportunities
Stay with wonderful boyfriend ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-06 09:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-03 06:36 pm (UTC)Professional-
- Go back to college for my masters in School Counseling. I'm probably going to go to my undergrad alma mater UNC Charlotte because I've heard they have an excellent counseling program. This will (hopefully) take me two years, during which time I'll be living on my own, surviving on loans (I know, but I cannot bear to live with my parents anymore) and whatever bit of substitute teaching I can do.
- Get a job at a GOOD high school in the Charlotte area. This may change after I go through the program, but ideally I would like to work with finding scholarships and financial aid for students, or with helping students pick which college they should go to.
- If I like that, from there I could maybe go to work as an advisor at a university.
- Or if I can't find any freaking jobs in education (which has been my problem over the past two years, but I'm hoping that it's just my subject and not ME), I could move into the private sector and do community counseling. Not sure what exactly yet... maybe just people with depression/anxiety (aka become one of the people who helped me!)
- After finally getting a job, I can finally buy myself a new car, if my piece of crap doesn't die before then, which it probably will. New laptop will have to come before I go to grad school.
Personal-
- FINALLY find a man. Every single one who is decent who lives here is taken. I'm not even joking. The people here like, marry their high school sweetheart at age 21. If they're not taken, they're gay. If they're not gay or taken, you soon find out that they fall into the category of either douchebag or loser. It's very frustrating.
- After finally moving heaven and earth and finding such a man, get married.
- I don't know if I want children yet. I think staying home with children would cause me to go absolutely batshit insane. If I do have children, it will probably only be one, and I'll stay home with it until it's old enough to go to preschool, then go back to work. That's one good thing about being a teacher (or in my case a guidance counselor): you get out of work at about 3, so my child wouldn't have to sit until like 6 at a preschool daycare.
- Travel a lot with my husband. There are sooo many places that I want to go. This will be easier BEFORE we have children, because I'm not dragging a two year old through, like, India with me. Yeah don't think so.
Hmm... I think that's all the major ones... tl;dr, right??
no subject
Date: 2009-10-06 09:22 pm (UTC)Waaah~ good luck [x_x] your pro goals sound frustrating already just thinking about them [x_x]
I personally don't think any woman should feel obligated to find themselves a man (society needs to stop pushing the "get married to find happiness" shit because it's all BS) because there are a lot of things that can make you happy but I see how it gets frustrating when everyone around you are floating around like butterflies [=_=]
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Date: 2009-10-04 07:40 am (UTC)--Goal: get back onto my diabetic diet so that I don't kill my pancreas before I hit thirty. How I'm going to do it: start cooking for myself more instead of eating out with
--Goal: read 50 books by 2010. This was a New Year's resolution, actually. How I'm going to do it: update the list of books I've read so that I know how much I have to do, and then just... do as much as I can. I'm way behind (stupid college) but maaaaybe I can at least hit 50% and it'll still be better than last year. >.>
--Goal: get over my writer's block. How I'm going to do it: no clue, sadly. My muse has been gone for so long that I'm starting to wonder if it isn't gone for good. I can't even think of stuff to do for Writer's Block. :O But I'm not giving up.
--Goal: get the position with Americorps that I'm applying for. I'll have to wait until January and it doesn't pay much money, but it's in my field and it'll look amazing on my resume. Plus it's guaranteed for all of 2010 and by the time it's over I just might be ready to go back to grad school, especially if I get financial help from it.
zomg so much of my future riding on this job.How I'm going to do it: write the best application letter EVER and tell them exactly how perfect I am for the job, and then PWN the interview in the face. 8)--Goal: get a temporary job between now and the time the Americorps job starts so that I have some money to spend. I won't actually be able to move out of my parents' house before Americorps starts because I can't sign a lease for longer than I'll be here, but at least I'd have money to do fun things and get out of the house and not get depressed. How I'm going to do it: probably interview at Amnesty International for canvassing or office work. I already know how their system works from doing grassroots stuff with Environment California, so it's the most guaranteed temporary position that's out there. I hate canvassing, but I'm fairly confident that I could charm them into giving me a different job. XD
... I'm gonna stop there because the rest are either too private or they're just little things like "get my DMV paperwork filled out!" and that's boring. XD XD
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Date: 2009-10-06 09:25 pm (UTC)(hates the DMV) >:[
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Date: 2009-10-05 09:32 pm (UTC)How I'll Get There: Any way possible.
Maria/Slytherin
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Date: 2009-10-06 09:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-16 06:01 am (UTC)-- OMG, that is what I'm doing this semester (and next, hopefully!). My teacher is awful at what he does (or doesn't do), and it's difficult to learn anything in class. At least for me. Good luck with your class and plans! :D
no subject
Date: 2009-10-11 11:14 pm (UTC)How I'll Get There Other than putting together a pretty application, writing a kick-ass essay that is aimed to, in the words of a classmate who relayed the essay to, "manipulate the feelings of those higher up on the food chain." Also, sending a letter personally addressed to Hoyer thanking him oh-so-graciously for giving me the time of day and reminding him of how awesome I am.
Goal B Winning NaNoWriMo 2009
How I'll Get There Procrastinating on my homework, duh.
Samaria//Slytherin
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Date: 2011-04-16 06:13 am (UTC)1) PASS MATH, because really, it almost seems like a lost cause at this point. I am horrible at the subject, and my teacher is horrible at teaching...so it's both of those things put together.
2) Aside from math, I'm hoping to take some classes over the summer and then transfer to the local university here (University of Arizona) in the Fall 2011.
3) A minor goal is to draw/paint and write more often.
Solutions:
1) For math, I'm planning on talking to my teacher Tuesday to see if there's even the slightest chance I can pass his class. We have two more large tests before the semester ends and some quizzes in between, but he doesn't grade homework - which would have REALLY helped me. Uhg. If he can't help me, I'll go to the tutoring center at my college and see if someone there can help me to understand what I've been doing wrong. Hopefully it will sink in, because this is beyond stressful.
2) As for the University of Arizona, I've already submitted an application. I still need to get my official transcript from my high school and to apply to the Art Department for my major (Studio Art) at the uni, but that is it! I'll have to call my high school to have them fax the transcript over, then I can apply to the Art Department online. I just have to cross my fingers and and buckle down, hoping that I can pass math (and my summer classes) so that I can transfer soon!
3) Between school and work, it's hard to find time to draw/paint or write. I try to do this in between both, but it will be easier once I have more time after all this math. I'm waiting for summer to come around. :D
~ Melissa // Ravenclaw
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Date: 2011-04-16 06:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-16 06:28 am (UTC)It's great that you're thinking about these things and making me think about these things so thank you.
-- Aww, I'm glad! :D ♥
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Date: 2011-04-16 06:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-16 07:07 am (UTC)Thanks for the support, bb! ♥
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