Summer Grey

I suppose as Finals Week comes to an end, it is only appropriate to discuss some kind of plan for Summer activities.

For the moment, plans floating around are a possible cruise in Europe. To be honest, I don't particularly enjoy planes, or long distance travel of anything that isn't a car. I'm told it's a little odd, but I digress.

Otherwise, I'm hoping to find a job somewheres, hopefully somewhere that runs parallel to my interests, such as Best Buy or B&N or GameStop or some other obligatory place.

Anything else that happens is certainly fine by me to break up any mundanity.

Putting It To The Test

For some reason, I get an amazing feeling when I use something in real life that I learned in School. It allows me to show off my ability to use concepts that I learned in school and apply them to real life situations. It doesn't happen often but when it does, It makes me feel good. Last semester, I took a website design class that will probably put me in wonderful places in the future. It is a great skill to have in the 21st century while the internet continues to grow at an incredible pace.

The other day, I was at work when I was talking to my boss about the company website. He told me that he pays someone 30 a month to update and change the website periodically. When i heard that, I knew it was my time to shine. I told him that I would love to design the website for free and I will continually update it reflect changes in the store. He thought it was a great idea and that it may "come with benefits in the future." Im pretty sure he meant a raise is coming so i was really pumped about that. Website Design could possibly put me into a job in the future so im excited to start practicing my skill.

Below is the Website I have to replicate:

http://www.marketbythebayonline.com/ordereze/default.aspx

The Train Brain: 6 things

today i took the train back to jersey like i've been doing all year. but today there was something different about the train ride. maybe because it was my last class today or W/e. any way on the train i let my mind wonder and came up with ideas to blog about. i typed these on my ipod and now i will expand on here these are my Train Brain ideas.

" there are 6 things i want in life. to graduate college, get married, get a goof job, have kids, own a boat and have an in-ground pool. is that too much to ask???"

on the train home i see alot of beautiful houses on long island i got to thinking. I WANT TO LIVE LIKE THAT. now don't get me wrong my parents have provided a good life for me and my brothers, but i want to be the one to provide the same for my children in the future. now i have always wanted to own a boat but if i can't get it then i will settle for a beach house >_<. I DREAM BIG AND NEVER SETTLE FOR LESS. lets just hope i can force my dreams into a reality...

How Hard is Hardworking?

I recently attended a job fair here at Stony Brook University. I am approaching my senior year so I feel it is time for a change; maybe an internship would get me out of those “student debt statistics”. I am majoring in computer science and I was in luck. Many, actually most, employers were going for people to write software and for people who are in the technology field. I fit the description…well kind of. The problem is that I only recently declared my major which means less experience. Many people I talked to wanted higher skills or a bigger knowledge base of programs which I don’t currently possess. I did however realize that I was not alone. Many people at the fair were being turned away because they did not have the experience as well which left me one question. “How are we going to get out of this debt?”

My view of student debt is simple; the world is changing and people are not. The business world has changed from wanting volunteering, recommendations, etc… to wanting real world workplace experience. The first comment I got at the fair was “Oh, I can see you have experience from your job.” This is fine however it creates an ironic dilemma. Most people my age don’t have work experience in their field so how are you going to get experience if you don’t have it? Same goes for credit cards in the sense that companies want to see history but if you can’t get approved, how are you ever going to build history? As a result, graduates are getting turned away for jobs, students are getting frustrated, and student debt has risen to the trillions.

I can only foresee this problem getting worse in the future. The only way to solve it is to start early and I don’t see it happening anytime soon. We need to build up a history of experience in the field by any means possible. This may mean going out to a fancy art gallery and talking it up to get in with the rich or even just continuing applying until you get that internship. Opportunity is out there but it is hard to reach. We must continue reaching and solve the issue of student debt on our own.

Cool Jobs

There is nothing wrong with doing a job that you enjoy and love, even though some people may find it somewhat odd and say, “That isn’t a real job.” If you did not know this yet, some people on youtube.com make money for views they get. Certain successful people on YouTube make at least a six-figure salary. Obviously, the people making videos enjoy their jobs, and are probably glad that they do not have to wake up and rush to work every morning as most people do, they get to work whenever they want and make a video without restrictions.

Another cool job is a culinary ambassador, the person would go to different countries and taste food and write about it in a blog. I presume this is the draw people to visit that country, or introduce people to different food around the world. Great thing about this job is a person gets to eat delicious food and get paid for writing about it… yummy. Finally, this job really caught my attention… Have you ever heard of a professional T-shirt wearer? Well you’re not alone, but these people get to do exactly what the job says, they wear t-shirts specifically with a company’s logo and website. This is like a walking billboard. Besides being paid for being a billboard, it is great that the family get free clothes.

These jobs are very interesting, and might be an idea for some people out there who are unemployed, or looking to find a job, they will enjoy and love to do every day they wake up. One thing that actually got me thinking we I talked about the t-shirt wearers, “Are we not all like some sort of walking billboards?”, from the shirt we wear for example Hollister has a little logo of a bird on the shoulder of their clothes, and down to our shoes, Nike has their check. I just thought that was necessary to say.

Hustlin'

I am soo tired of working!! I have been on the clock 7 days a week for the past couple of months and its starting to catch up with me. Monday through Thursday i work in the Stony Brook Admissions department doing some data base work but i love it. I was really fortunate to get that opportunity and i have learned alot of valuable work related aspects that you can only learn on the job. Then just when i think the weekend hits and its time to relax...more work. Friday through Sunday i work at a deli more or less located in the hamptons. If anyone grew up on long island, they know the hamptons is known for snobby rich people and have no respect for most people, especially deli workers. I would have no problem quitting however the pay is really good and it has helped me out tremendeously. I tend to keep the money from the deli as spending money and put away all the money i get from the job at Stony Brook. It has been working really good (Financially) but im exhausted and need a break.

The problem is that i know im not alone and alot of my friends are in the same boat as me . Times are hard and you need to hustle to survive in this world. Holding these pink collar jobs are getting me through college and allowing me to do whatever i want within the constraints of my work schedule. Im also a commuter so its tough paying for gas, car inchurance, and repairs and i couldnt imagine doing it without working two jobs. Anyway, Im looking foward to a small break within the next month. I think ill take a weekend and just sit back and relax!