My college friends and our 'careers' (1 Viewer)

guidomerkinsrules

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this might be a bit long winded and i'm not sure there's even a point (that's how you start a thread, amirite?)

so 4 friends from college, all in the arts to an extent (one dancer, one dancer/actor--me--, one actor/tech guy, and one dancer/tech guy)
dancer/tech is probably the most talented among us and the just dancer the least
me and the actor/tech guy were the only ones to really pursue our craft
he's a stunt man who does construction on the side to supplement lean times (which are many)
and i'm a hand to mouth teacher
the most talented dancer/tech guy, has been kind of a knockabout like the other 2 of us

here's the kicker - -the just dancer guy (not very talented and did not have much direction/ambition) is now out-earning the rest of us and it's not even close
now, to be very clear, i'm not saying this out of any jealousy - -i love him to death - -i was best man at his wedding and we've remained very close and i don't begrudge him anything
he got married in school (to a great woman/person - -visual/graphic artist)
he started working nights at a copy shop- -he cast about for awhile trying to do anything else (teaching, tried to start a dance company, grad school), all the while still keeping shifts at the copy center
eventually he drops all the other stuff and goes fulltime with copy center then jumps to another etc, and now travels around the world training customers on whatever fancy copy machine his company sells

again, long-winded and not much point
but i think my take-away is that not of this was knowable and predictable when the 4 of us were 'choosing' what path to take - -and choosing might be too strong a term, we all followed the path that our talents put us on

life is funny
 
People that get into sales of pricey equipment can do quite well. I suck at selling people on things they don't want.

My five best friends from college:
- Dentist
- Veterinarian
- Lawyer
- Long-time unemployed -> chef school -> now a sous chef
- Long-time waiter -> restaurant owner -> failed restaurant owner -> unemployed -> specialty foods distributor sales

The Vet was ROTC so he always had his **** together to some degree. The lawyer was always pretty reserved and motivated. The dentist was one of those guys who partied and never went to class but managed to keep in line (sort of like me) . . . and though I wouldn't have thought he would be a dentist, in hindsight, it makes perfect sense. He was into woodworking and furniture and doing stuff with his hands.

The other two also make sense, they never were the typical 40-hour week types.
 
life is funny

And I have learned that it never turns out like you anticipated it would.

My favorite Bible verse:

Ecclesiastes 9:11 King James Version (KJV)
11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
 
My education and my career are very different.
 
this is my take on teck-dance-teck-act-dance-act and dancer... wait where was I going.

I was like water and took the path of least resistance so I have no meaningful input. I used the same methods for putting this reply together that I used in career choosing.
 
I thought about posting an old SNL skit about "makin' copies" but I never liked Rob Schneider, so I dismissed the thought.
And yeah, life is funny. I always considered myself a mildly gifted writer but never had the drive to pursue it.
Out of desperation, I took an entry level offshore job which eventually led to my move to Cali and a pretty good living in the oil industry.
Who would have thunk it?
 
In college, my 8 closest friends (yeah, there's 8 of us) and I were all pre-med.
1. Dropped pre-med after freshman year, went into graduate education. He probably makes the least out of all of us. Works for a college system now.
2. Went the military route. After college opened a business. Sold the business now works for a company.
3. Me. Went to public health school, then med school. Now work in public health and teach adjunct courses at a college here.
4. ER doctor.
5. Ortho
6. Anesthesiologist
7. College professor
8. Ophthalmologist (not an optometrist)
 
My education and my career are very different.

what i find fascinating is S LA vs rest of country. Those that leave the state to continue education seem to refer to their college buddies.

those that stay home, stay with the same friends since high school. Further, those high school connections/networks go further than the college ones. ( at least i have found locally )

I have my best friend since grade school ( 40 years ) and then great friends ( from high school thru now ). He has had several jobs over the last 20 years. I have had one. Yet we are arriving at near the same place econmincally- just different paths.

Thats not to say college friends dont equate to high school, because one of my really good friends was LSU grad and his frat brothers are doctor, lawyer, brewery owner etc. But it does come back to louisiana as all these guys were born and raised here and still all live in the area.
 
Life is like a box of chocolates....you never know what you're going to get.

No truer words have ever been spoken.
 
One of my best friends got his degree in sports media, marketing or something. He was mostly making videos/commercials. He wanted to get on ESPN. I think he even interned there or for the college sports paper/radio.

He ended up getting a job at a Hurricane Glass/Window maker and worked in sales for commercial development. So, if an airport redoes their windows in a hurricane area, he's bidding on it and selling their glass. He bounced around when one company folded, basically was a GM at one point, and now He's kind of a GM/partner/sales/whatever they need guy for another Hurricane window company, again for commerical.

His wife, was studying to be a mortician. Ended up getting her masters either in accounting or an MBA. She works at a wealth management firm.

I don't even want to know how much they make, but I know it's enough to be a little stupid with their money. But they're not rich rich. Still driving the Kia's, but they're at Disney world like once a month.

My other best friend and I got our degrees in engineering. He's a Civil Engineer, I'm a Materials Science (or Metallurgical) Engineer. We both work in our industries.

I will say this and always have. A degree is a key to unlocking doors. And it unlocks more doors than just your field.
 
In college, my 8 closest friends (yeah, there's 8 of us) and I were all pre-med.
1. Dropped pre-med after freshman year, went into graduate education. He probably makes the least out of all of us. Works for a college system now.
2. Went the military route. After college opened a business. Sold the business now works for a company.
3. Me. Went to public health school, then med school. Now work in public health and teach adjunct courses at a college here.
4. ER doctor.
5. Ortho
6. Anesthesiologist
7. College professor
8. Ophthalmologist (not an optometrist)


haha, aka "a real eye doctor" I knew a Ophthalmologist, retired surgeon, and he'd talk trash about Optometrists. Another one was impressed an optometrist actually caught a condition my wife had. I think my friend must have been running low on money or bored, because he unretired but now works on various "injury healing" practices. I think like the platelet injections and all that. I forget the term, but I see him giving talks and and all that now. He used to have a bad hip, so I also wonder if he just did it to fix himself.
 
haha, aka "a real eye doctor" I knew a Ophthalmologist, retired surgeon, and he'd talk trash about Optometrists. Another one was impressed an optometrist actually caught a condition my wife had.

Yeah, he's keen on pointing out the difference, LOL.
 
I thought about posting an old SNL skit about "makin' copies" but I never liked Rob Schneider, so I dismissed the thought.
And yeah, life is funny. I always considered myself a mildly gifted writer but never had the drive to pursue it.
Out of desperation, I took an entry level offshore job which eventually led to my move to Cali and a pretty good living in the oil industry.
Who would have thunk it?

This is the best copy-related skit ever. NSFW!!

 
what i find fascinating is S LA vs rest of country. Those that leave the state to continue education seem to refer to their college buddies.

those that stay home, stay with the same friends since high school. Further, those high school connections/networks go further than the college ones. ( at least i have found locally )

I see the same thing. I went to high school in south Louisiana and college in north Louisiana. I'm still really great friends with most of my same core group of high school friends to this day as I am with my core college group. The crazy thing is that in our 30's, one way or another we almost all (high school and college) ended up in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, or the Northshore so it's even easier to all keep in touch and hang out. Hell, two of my friends from college married each other and live right across the street from me. None of the college friends I made really associate with anybody in which they went to high school.

As far as the OP goes, I'd say about half do something related to their degree (mostly medical field related) while the other half (including me) have completely unrelated careers. A couple that didn't finish college are making great money after learning a trade, coding and welding, respectively. And 2 more are enrolled at LSU in their 30's to finish a degree after working service and retail for years.
 

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