I need opinions- job stuff

On my phone so apologize ahead of time for typos.

I'm a geology technician right now. I have a pretty cozy existence. I make decent money and am able to do what I want finally which is get into dog training more. But it's not fulfilling work really. It's not bad but it's repetitive and nothing much is very challenging. I could easily make enough to live off of this way. But you can't move up without a degree really. You can be a higher level technician but that's it.

I had a conversation with my geologist about maybe going to grad school. She told me I have a ton of potential and could do so much more with a degree. I had bought about engineering but I always liked geology better. I have a math degree though and no geo undergrad courses but I've completely loved all my in house geology classes. I think it is fascinating stuff.

I think long term I'd be happier doing something more challenging. But I think of how much I want a puppy and agility and a house and setting myself back is hard. I'm already stressed thinking of it. But the opportunities would be great.


I don't even know if I could get into school. Sent an email to the grad dept to talk to them and now am feeling like I'm crazy. A few years of struggle though and I could double my salary and do something more interesting to me... I think it might be worth it.

I'm in a somewhat similar position with the exception of not really knowing what I'd like to do any better than what I'm doing now. Also the fact that going to grad school and staying in the same general field really wouldn't open up that many more doors for me honestly. I know lots of people in the biotech industry who got their masters and it absolute jack for them.

Just coasting by in a decent paying job and enjoying what you really love doing outside of work is perfectly fine, and likely what I'll continue doing myself as I don't have a specific goal to work towards career wise. But if you do have an achievable goal and the desire to go back to school to set yourself up for eventually having a more enjoyable career and the ability to enjoy your out of work hobbies I'd say it's worth it. It might delay Nextdog a bit if you'll be strapped for free time and I know you wanted to set a great foundation for agility with Nextdog. That's a cost benefit you'll have to weigh out.

Personally if I had a specific goal I'd probably go for it myself, but it's too easy to just be lazy and stick with the status quo right now for me.

Nothing is saying you can't get the puppy. Lol

Honestly if you do get into school I would go that way. Ok yeah you don't get to buy a house now but when you do buy a house you will have more money left over since you would be making more money.

Could you afford to buy the house now and go to school? You could find the right room mate to help pay the mortgage or something like that. Do what will make you happy in the long term

Go to school if you can, open up as many doors for your future as you can, the house, the agility, the everything else will still be there, school may not always be there. Its much harder to go back after you have the mortgage and car payments.

I was in a similar position when I was working 2 jobs, 60 hours a week. I was like MONAY because I could do classes with Siri and Frodo and buy nice things, and we started talking about a house next year since we would be able to afford one.

But I knew that I didn't want to work 60 hours a week long term and that I didn't want to always need that second retail job to be able to do what I wanted. That's why I am going back to school, I'm back to being broke, and we won't even be thinking about a house for probably 3-5 years now. But it was about choosing the better option for the long term, and not immediate gratification.

Do you want to be 10 years down the road playing the "wish I would have" game? That was my biggest factor in my decision. Yes, the next couple years might be kinda sucky, but then it'll be better than it ever has been! (or at least that's the plan )

I had a similair problem. In the end, I wish I would have gone back to school sooner. I feel like I wasted soo much time thinking about the cost of it and what if it didn't work out or I didn't like the feild I went into, but truthfully as much as it sucks being poor, I'll be happier with my job and making a ton more money.

Also, what kind of engineering are you thinking about doing?

I'm not even sure I will get into grad school. I wrecked my GPA when mon was sick and died plus my health issues. I'm not sure how to overcome that but am wondering if 2+ years of experience in the field could help overcome my low GPA. And maybe taking some undergrad a while before actually applying? Is that possible? I am afraid they'll say no but I guess I won't know till i try.

I can get into engineering undergrad in state here (not sure about which specific program) but I could get into the main school. Pet E is in a different school.

I'm not sure how to keep myself afloat without my jobs/benefits though. If I could make it into grad school I could possibly keep my FT job. I like having a nice paying job like now.

Petroleum. If I do engineering I would like to eventually end up in reservoir engineering. The mechanical engineers are fast tracked to drilling here and no way do I want that. Not living on a rig for a year.

My favorite option is exploration geology but I think I may have effed that up in undergrad. A bachelors in geology lands me the exact same job I'm in. You can only be a technician unless you have a masters.

Gah I wish I had thought of all this before getting my undergrad.

It really depends on the program you're trying to get into in the end so talking to them is your best bet for figuring out your options. One of my friends went back to school for a graduate program in Forestry... her undergrad degree was in Political Science completely unrelated. She'd worked a few years for park services/Rangers (not exactly sure what she did there) before deciding to go to grad school so that may have helped.

I don't know anything about the programs you're looking into but I would think your real life work experience right now on top of employer recommendations should more than make up for less than impressive GPA from your undergrad days. Even more so if your lower GPA is linked to a dying parent explaining the drop.

Basically it doesn't hurt to talk to the appropriate people at the school about the programs and what the requirements are for admission.

If you get it in, after a few years you have a more rewarding job and make double the money?

No question IMO. Do the extra schooling. I think you have a pretty good shot if you let them know what happened to your GPA and you get recommendations from your geologist and employer.

A new pup can wait a few years. A house can wait a few years. This is how you're going to be spending half your waking hours for the next few decades of your life. It's so worth it IMO. I mean if you find your job a little lacking now, imagine how you'll feel after one two three decades of it. I see a lot of people who took a satisfactory job because it was giving them money and at 50 they're dying a little inside everytime they have to go to work lol.

I mean, what's more likely, you look back at 40 and think "I wish I'd gotten that house and puppy at 26 instead of 30 (just making up numbers) or "I wish I'd gone back to school for a few years so that last decade of my life was more intrinsically and financially rewarding."

And if you really need a pup now, you can probably figure something out while in school (I assume you will still be working, which is probably a better situation than when you got Summer and Mia).

Besides, if you enjoy geology it might be fun to go back to uni

This is something to look into. My sister got preapproved for $125K for a home loan with no down payment through their credit union. Their monthly rent payment right now is $950 a month. If they get the house they're bidding on, that monthly housing payment will drop to $425 a month. Plus they're bringing in a roommate to sublet a room to for half that, so they'll be paying barely over $200 a month for housing.

There are expenses to home ownership too, so definitely factor that in. They'll be paying for garbage ($15 a month), plus water and electricity which weren't included in their rent anyway.

They waited over a year to find a nice bank owned property with a solid, non moldy structure on it that doesn't *need* any work. It could use some cosmetic stuff, but the plumbing is new, insulated, new roof, etc. It'll end up being a great place for them to live and save a lot of money, as well as put equity into rather than dumping their money into some apartment management company's pocket. My sister is also going to school and working full time, and has two kids that her husband stays home to take care of.

A family friend of mine is a geo-chemist. Based on his experiences that he shares with us quite often, he said his job prospects greatly increased after he decided to go back and finish a graduate degree after working as a geologist for 7-8 years. He said without having done his graduate degree, he definitely wouldn't have moved up much in his position or have been able to get his current job which pays pretty well. I don't know much about geology or math but he said his degree was well worth the time and money and effort.

Just make sure that the return on your investment will be worth it not only in terms of money but in your time and mental & emotional input. There are plenty of people out there with graduate degrees who didn't get as much benefit from it as they thought they would. Don't only look at potential salaries, but stuff like - how stable is the job market for your potential career? Is it growing or shrinking? Is there going to be a job for you when you are done, or will you be left with some debt and a piece of paper? Most of the time education/degrees open doors but although it's not popular to say so, sometimes they can slam doors in your face, too.

If you are unhappy with what you are doing, then you should make a change that you think will make you happy. If you're happy with what you are doing but feel like you "should" be doing something different with your life, honestly I wouldn't rush into anything. There's nothing wrong with not having a "career", or with staying at a decent job that you can live with even if you don't LOVE it, or with wanting to fulfill other goals first.

In this day and age you can really go back to school at any age and there are so many more different ways to go to school than there used to be, you don't need to rush into any decisions.

Go back to school. I have never for one minute regret the fact that going to grad school meant pushing back buying a house for a couple years. I even made less money coming out the other side (career switcher), but it was so worth it.

Houses are money pits. Even ones without major issues suck up money like there's no tomorrow. New fence, new roof, leaky faucet, all cost time and money. I don't know that I'd have the time/money to go back to school now that I own the house. I had a lot more flexibility before.

That pretty much sums up where I am right now. I'm not 100% sure going back to school is what *I* want or what I feel like everyone thinks I should do.

I am afraid of settling down completely and buying a house and then being unable to however.

Blah, I feel like Im still in a limbo stage and I don't know what I want but I feel like I should by now.

I keep thinking more on this and the more I think the more I'm just not sure.

Is it bad to have an average lifestyle instead of striving for a career in the 6 figures right off the bat? I feel like I should but that's because I keep hearing 'you could do better!' Or other people on the same job as me action like its 'less than'.

My dad pointed out I have a job that can pay good money and I do have the option of trying to go laterally if I thought there was a better fit.

I really want to pursue dogs more than anything. I know that makes no sense to most people but it my favorite thing in the world right now. I'd love to one day move to holding classes or doing something like that part time. Is it bad to see a day job as a mean to that?

I am meeting with the grad school Friday though just to see what it would take.

As long as you're not hurting or stealing from anyone, the lifestyle choices that make YOU happy are not "bad."

Sometimes if I'm really struggling, I think about the worst case scenario for NOT making each of the available choices and which one I can LEAST live with rather than which one I think I WANT the most. Like in your situation, if I didn't go back to school right now, the worst that could happen is xyz. If I went to school but didn't decide to stick with my path now the worst that could happen is abc. Now, between xyz and abc, which one is the worse worst-case scenario? It doesn't always change what I was going to do, but it can help me think through the potential choices and outcomes.

Does that make sense? Virtually no one is going to make it to the end of their life making absolutely perfect decisions they are 100% happy with about every single thing. But if you're ok with the possible consequences of a "wrong" decision then try not to sweat it too much. It will all be ok.

Being happy is not about whether other people choose the same path or make more/less money. I know that sounds trite but it's true.

If you can figure out what you actually want and embrace it and not end up in the poor house or jail because of it, you're doing pretty good. It's like that whole "meh home in a perfect area" vs. "perfect home in a meh area" debate...there's not really a right/wrong answer...just your answer, and whether you were honest with yourself when you made it.

And despite the risk of sounding even more trite and like an old fogey to boot...invest in what you think will make you happy long term, within reason. You're young

Well I talked to the adviser and have options but it will take 3-3.5 years because I will need to do the undergrad (partially) and get good recommendations. I have one class he recommended that I could take online just to see if I liked it. I also would need to do field camp for 5-6 weeks. :yikes: All in all I will probably need to quit my job a year or so in, which terrifies me.

Anyways, I'm thinking. I don't want to ask to go to school and take off part of the week (I'd need to for the lab) if I'm not going to pursue the full degree.

On the other hand, I found a program for a masters in statistics that is supposed to be good for working adults and it's at the local college here (it's not a community college but not a big college by any means). I'm wondering if a bachelors in math at a major university and then a masters while I'm working at a smaller school would be doable. I think I'm going to contact the grad department at this school to get some information. Having a masters in computer science or statistics really opens the door for people with math degrees, it seems. AND it would be a lot easier to switch industries as a statistician.