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Tiny - Thanks, but I think you miss understood me. College is my NUMBER ONE PRIORITY. I will be applying to UC schools. I WILL go to college first and get a really good degree. Now becoming a pilot is easy without military...but an AIRLINE pilot is hard. I think that is what you mean. Thanks for your concern, and yes of course I will go to college. And I agree with bossy as he said its a passion, but can I even pursue the passion if its that hard? I mean if its something like a chef sure someone can easily be one and love it, but an airline pilot is a lot different. My concern is being able to get there in the first place.

But again, to clarify, I was saying do I do college and flying same time or first college. That was my point, but college is a huge part of my family. Especially for my dad who went to UCLA, UCSD, and Harvard...so, obviously I have to, and Want to go to college :)
 
Glad you have that sorted out man! College is super important in this day an age.

i would try to be a successful as possible in your chosen career and then use your free time to be a private pilot or just fly personal aircrafts. My friend's father is a recreational pilot and goes flying almost every weekend.
 
That sucks. Same thing happened to me. I would not consider a job until after your first year. You need to see how you will do when it starts getting hard. Geology is a joke until like junior year, and I went to one of the best Geology schools in the country.
 
Mergh. EVGA denied my Rebate citing a missing UPC. They scanned the UPC, the packing list, AND the Invoice I sent them.... and then they say it's missing... I cut the thing off the package, bubble wrap and all. >.<
 


Yeah I was talking to a Southwest pilot one time who said that he had his degree in IT and decided that he didn't want a desk job.

Even then though military is the best career path to becoming a pilot because you'll get far more hands on training than you will just at a flight school.
 


Yea. I plan on getting a degree in either aeronautical engineering, or something aviation related. All my mentors have pointed me in that direction as a fall back and a way to build up my resume.
 
Code: 
@echo off
cd/
cd Users
cd USERNAME
cd Appdata
cd Local
cd Temp
del *.* /Q
cd..
cd Temporary Internet Files
del *.* /Q
cd/
cd Windows
cd Temp
del *.* /Q

That's a verbose, 1 click version of my temp clearing batch... USERNAME replaces my real name... I'm working on adding my moms account in as well...
 
Hey hey, easy on the dream crushing!

College is not a completely necessary thing. I know almost all people say it is and go and do that, but the workforce still needs people with technical jobs, labor jobs, and degree-less jobs. At least here in America, that is a huge part of our problem. Yes we are short staffed on this STEM front, but we are also sadly short staffed in the unskilled labor division as well. Everyone wants to work for 100k a year and that's just not possible.

If you really want to be an airline pilot, the military is the easiest way to go. If you get accepted, you are given training to fly what they need you to fly and you don't have to pay a dime for it. In fact you are the one getting paid. However, you will be giving 10 or so years of your life to this, not really a complaint for someone who wants to fly (myself included). The real problem is that they are going to put you where they need you. If they need tanker pilots, you'll be a tanker pilot. Granted as an airline pilot is what you want in the future, a tanker may be the best thing for you. But they are really looking for drone pilots as they have more and more drones and not as many people to fly them. Now the way it was told to me is that if you are in the top of your class, you will possibly, I repeat, POSSIBLY be given the option to choose a preference. This still doesn't mean you'll get what you want, but you have a much better chance at it.

Another thing you can do is go to a school with ROTC and fast track. That way you'll have a commission when you graduate and you will already have a spot at flight school with your name on it.

I have no idea what it takes to break into the commercial sector outside of the military. For that you are on your own.

There is also the military academies, but you need to be top of your class (top 10%), very involved with teh community and highschool (Boy Scouts, volunteering, sports, band, Boy's State, what have you), and you will need a letter of recommendation from a public official. I can't remember if it has to be as high up as a congressman or woman, but it has to be pretty high up.
 
Mechanical engineering isn't a bad way to go either and then get your masters in aero. It's all the same stuff anyways, just over/through different surfaces. Flow is flow whether it's water or air. Unless it's blood. Then you're out of luck. All bets are off at that point.
 
If you go to college, do it WITHOUT student loans. That's a racket, pure and simple. Consider also the skilled trades. After the pooh hits the rotating wind accelerator, people will finally recognize that moving OPM around and divvying it up into different pies is not of any value, but they'll still need their houses [re]wired, [re]plumbed, and new structures built. Auto mechanics will still be needed. If you can make or repair something, you'll have a useful skill.
 
The problem with this country is that degree-less jobs often do not pay enough to live on in most areas. I live in a 2br apartment on the edge of the nice part of town in Denver for $2400 a month. It's nuts. My GF and I make it happen pretty easily, but if one of us didn't have a degree and an associated job, we would not be able to live here and save any money at all.

BUT then there is the issue of the minimum wage. If you raise it, there are TONS of associated problems like the price of basic goods going way up.

The reality of it is, if you want to make good amount of money, and have job security, you NEED a degree. I'm totally 100% cool with this. The issue is that college is pretty damn expensive. I was lucky enough to have had parents who set up a college fun for me and I graduated debt free, but I understand this is not the case for many. BUT, student loans are not as hard to get as people make them out to be. I had a ton of friends in college with loans. Everyone from middle class people who just needed an extra couple grand to get though that extra semester, to dirt poor guys who needed every dollar they could get to pay for college. They really aren't that hard to get.

After this, people seem to complain that entry level jobs don't pay enough to even be able to pay back their loans. This I have an issue with. If you are going to school on mommy and daddy's dime and know they will help you get on your feet (much like mine did, so I'm not hating here) then sure, it might be ok to go get that Liberal Arts degree and struggle for your first few years out of school and have to have your parents help pay the bills. This is fine. It helps relieve the stress or getting into the world and starting a real job, and give you time to find a GOOD job that will pay the bills.

Unfortunately this is not the case for many people. If you are taking loans to pay for college, and upon graduation, you have 6 months before you need to start making payments on them, you probably should be getting a degree that has some promise. If your dream is to be a sports commentator for the NFL and you decide to get a communications degree with no minor and expect to be able to make $500 a month payments on top of your bills and living expenses 6 months after you graduate, you are crazy. You won't be a commentator for the NFL, you will end up with a crummy $35k a year job MAYBE if you can land one. This person needs to take a step back and think, hey this is probably unrealistic. I should probably get a business degree in accounting, finance, etc. and market yourself to sports teams or agencies that deal with sports teams. This is a MUCH better way to still work in the sports industry, but actually make a living. Then in the future, you can work towards that dream when you are comfortable and have the means to do so.

Basically, if you are taking loans to pay for college, you should probably put your dreams on hold and get a degree that you know there are jobs in that way well enough to get by AND pay your loans. Basically Engineering/Science/Business.

My dream was to race cars professionally. Could I have ever gotten there? Maybe. Probably not. But, in a few years I will have enough money to build a race car (probably a drift car) and compete in local events a few weekends a month. Will I ever get famous? No, but I will have a blast and it will be totally worth it.

People don't need to kill their dreams, just take a step back and see how they can still manage to live a good live and do what they love.

My girlfriend has 40k in student loans and we will have them paid off in 5 years easily.
 
Hopefully I can get a partial scholarship for my degree. I could get a full ride at CSUSB but both my mom and teacher SAT its not worth it. I think it has something to do with extreme racism or something like that.

I just took a mock SAT and got 1700... Working on that and my GPA.... Personally I plan for UCR since their business programs are good and UC Irvine, UAC, or Cal Poly Pomona for the IA degree.
 
Exactly, skilled trades are so important and you can make quite a good bit of money in them. Example: I worked at a summer camp that I climbed trees with gaffs and a harness (spikes on your feet, look up spar pole climbing). This was a boy scout camp and one of the leaders on trek asked me if I wanted a job doing that? I was a little intrigued. 5 year apprenticeship and you come out the back end making 150k a year. The price? You lose your back by the age of 40 and you have to work electrical lines in the middle of Nebraska or North Dakota. But you make bank and after 10 years you can look into doing something completely different and you have all the money you need to do it.

I agree a lot of skilled/unskilled labor in the country doesn't pay enough. I don't know how to fix that because you're right, if you raise the minimum wage too much then the overall cost of goods goes up. Most of the people working at McD's don't have any business and economics understanding. All they understand is the amount of money going into/not going into their bank account. Now on that note, do business executives need to be making 7, 8, and 9 figures? No, I think there's a lot of stuff that needs to be fixed up there too. But something does need to be done to help the middle and lower class. Unemployment benefits should be a hand up, not a hand out. They work very well right up until someone is making too much money ($25k, $30k a year) to receive the benefit anymore. The problem is the welfare help is a hard stop. It should encourage people to work more and still support them while they are making more money on their own. Not take away all the money that they are using to support themselves, when they start finally making a small amount of money on their own.

The other problem is the "American Dream" : You can come to America and do whatever you want and become as rich as the Rockefellers. It's just not possible and people are told to live their dreams from the time they're a little kid and sometimes your dreams need to also include some realism. Or you need to understand that you will not be living out your dream right away, but you are working on getting there through the job you are working now. And that is completely acceptable as it is still your dream, just not your exact dream right this second.

But I think I've hijacked this forum enough lol.

On topic, I finally did some video rendering on my new rig and it was amazing. I made a highly edited montage style clip about 3 and a half minutes in length. My old laptop (W500) would've taken an hour or two to render the thing on Adobe Premiere 7. My new rig (see sig) rendered it on Premiere 13 in about 4 minutes...
 
The country being too big is also an issue. It plays a big role.

For example, I'm originally from Howard County MD, the second most desirable count in America to live in for a variety of reasons. If you make less than 70k there, you are poor and barely scraping by. In other parts of the country if you make 70k you are the richest guy in town by a big margin.

This is why universal unemployment doesn't work. It needs to be based on the area you live in. If you are in a tough situation (company you worked for went bankrupt because the market is down for example) and live in an area like my home town where the average 3bed 2.5 bath house costs $700,000, making 35k at a temp job while you look to get back in the industry won't cut it and unemployment should be acceptable. At the same time, if you live in a more rural place or, for lack of better words, cheaper place to be, and you make 35k a year but your 3 bedroom ranch only cost $120k and it's mostly paid off, do you need unemployment on top of that $35k you make at your normal job just because someone in a completely different situation needs it? Probably not.
 
I mean I could just do something that makes a lot of money and buy my own cessna plane and get my license and do that. My uncle wanted to be a boat captain, but instead became a doctor and bought his own boat...and now he makes good money and has fun with boats. So people in my personal life have told me not to be an airline pilot, including my mom and brother.
 
Just remember, everything you want or need, that you don't make (or grow) yourself, is owned or controlled by someone else. If you want it, you need something of value to trade for it. Remember, the government is unable to give you anything that it did not first take by force from someone else who produced it or earned it. Do not lose your integrity; make SURE you can face yourself in the mirror, every day.
 


I'm still of the idea that if that's really what you want to do, don't let anyone stop you. I currently work at a job where I like the people, the work keeps me busy, and it is challenging, but I'm not really satisfied. I'd rather be live streaming or just working in a different industry. Somehow even though I'm well off, I am not completely happy. I am mostly happy, I just feel that there's something missing. So I'm not going to be staying here much longer. Perhaps I'm just ready for the next big thing.

I'm not saying you should drop absolutely everything and pursue your dream, unless you are THAT driven (see Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, VERY driven people), it's just not worth it and you will never end up achieving it. However don't put your dream on hold. Strive to get by and always keep that dream in sight. I do YouTube videos and I ride a motorcycle. YouTube videos give me an online presence so maybe someday I can actually live stream and riding a motorcycle is the closest thing to flying that I have. Doing 100+mph with no cage around you is an awesome feeling, albeit a bit loud.

Don't let your parents tell you what to do, but respect their words, advice, and opinions. They have a lot of experience they are coming from, but they're not you and they don't quite understand your dreams like you do.
 


I completely agree. Though if you are living in such a community and you lose your job, wouldn't it behoove you to move somewhere cheaper instead of trying to make it by with less than 1/4 of what you used to live on?
 


No, not in many circumstances. When I was in middle school and my sister in elementary school, the company my dad worked for went under, and he was unemployed for 3 years. He went from making $160k a year to consulting part time and making like 40k for those three years. Luckily we had alot of savings, and we were fine, but if we didn't I would like to think we would be able to get by with the help of unemployment. No need to sell the house, change children's school districts, move to a less safe area, kids lose their friends at a vital age, etc. just because of some crappy luck that will be short lived. After that 3 years was over, my dad started his current job where he makes significantly more than he did before and he and my mom are perfectly fine and very comfortable, and will be able to retire in a few years.

I see unemployment works well in those circumstances where people are in between careers and don't want to completely change major aspects of their lives. This just compounds stress about being unemployed especially if children are involved.

I DO NOT agree with people just collecting unemployment indefinitely while they don't look for new jobs or anything like that. Those people are just abusing the system. But I do think it works very well in the situation outlined above, and is perfectly appropriate.
 
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