School vs Work

It is no secret how student debt is in the trillions now. Yikes! We all cringe when we hear that, and yet, everyone is still racking up debt thinking that school will pay off in the end. Hm. I am not so sure this is the case. I know too many college grads on a personal level that are working at jobs that don't pay them enough to pay back their loans in a decent amount of time. One of my friends worked for free for two years before landing an attorney position. Luckily for her, she could live at home with full support from her parents and had full scholarships for school. But what about everyone else in her position? Could they afford to work for free and did they even receive full scholarships? Most students would say no.

Another one of my friends racked up $150,000 of debt after graduating from a private university to a slump salary of $50,000. Again, yikes! Needless to say, there was definitely a much smarter way of going about her schooling to not have racked up that much debt, but the point is -- how ridiculous is this?! School tuition just keeps rising while salaries are not. 

This is why I have decided that taking one class at a time is going to be much more realistic and beneficial for me. While college degrees no longer guarantee success, I am not going to invest 100% of my time and rack up ridiculous debt for a chance at success. I will, give part of my time though to a chance at success. In the mean time, I have a good job at In-N-Out that many people turn their noses down at. But you know what? I'm getting too tired to care about people's discriminations against job types. I know what I have, and it has potential for me to move up even if I don't necessarily love the job. It's a great job that has room for advancement. Managers are compensated well, and also have the opportunity for other jobs in the corporate office in Irvine. There are other miscellaneous jobs that come with management experience that are options as well if relocating to Irvine is not an option.

I'm going to keep moving up at In-N-Out. Even though some days are shitty, I also have some really oppositely fun days. The job is stressful work indeed as the physical demands are high and the pace at work is consistently speedy. Everything is about prioritizing your time, and one bad decision is the difference between staying ahead or being behind. I admire the higher levels at work and some of my managers because their experience at In-N-Out is fun to watch and their timing skills are impressive. Their tolerance levels for bullshit are abnormally high. 

So I've been giving this some thought and discussed this with Ron the other day. I thought it would be a great idea to slowly work on my degree via one class at a time so it'll get finished one day. More importantly, so that I don't rack up debt. I know it isn't worth it. By the time Ron is ready to retire, I should be done with my degree, and perhaps, I'll move into the corporate office and step away from the stores. That would mean relocating to Irvine, but it's a very realistic option. It's nice to have options. 

A few things that inspired me today to write this out:

http://www.askmen.com/money/career_400/493_jobs-without-college.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders

College

I am excited to be in school full time this semester! I start January 23 and the 2 classes I took at DeAnza transferred to Miramar. School is right across the street in walking distance. As in, I leave the gate of my complex and cross the street and enter through the sidewalk that says "campus access" with a fat arrow. Work is in walking distance too so life really can't get anymore convenient than this! And I have the sun all the time so I never have an excuse to drive to work unless I have errands to run before or after work.

This has been quite the decision to return to school this year. I almost wasn't going to because of the money that managers make at In N Out. But then I became sad at the thought of not accomplishing my goal of school. I had this goal before In N Out even entered my life. And I am showing the beginning symptoms of becoming burned out from customer service. I've been doing this for 8 years now. For any of you who have had jobs trying to make people happy, you know it is impossible to make everyone happy. Someone will complain about something because that is simply the way Americans are. They think the world owes them everything. It is hard to be the person behind the counter, much more difficult than what people realize. We have to smile, bite our tongues and allow the customer to get away with almost anything. They are even aloud to degrade us.

Well, I am finally tired of being treated this way and I am not going to be able to tolerate it much longer. So now I am a full time student, not part time! I am ready to roll! This coincidentally happened around New Years. I didn't have the intention of making it a resolution. Regardless, it is definitely a fantastic beginning of 2012! I am ready to be broke, have no money, rely on Ron for everything and get this done. I have a different attitude now and I have motivation to be on this path.

Thank goodness for Ron. I would not be able to do this without him. I am glad I waited to go to school because I can appreciate what school has to offer me now. I am the person I am today because of the experiences I have been through. I learned a lot in my early 20's and have quite a bit of life experience already. I took vacations, road trips and experienced freedom to be independent and learn who I was and who I wanted to become.

I scored high on my English placement test. I am at the college level for English. Unfortunately for math, I have to start at pre-algebra. Math is one of those things you lose if you don't practice it. 8 years of not using it will definitely take you backwards. Oh well. It is what it is. I am moving forward. I hated school as a kid and a teenager. Now, I enjoy it and I am excited! I am ready to learn. It is truly phenomenal what happens inside a person when they change their diet, exercise and attitude. I am walking proof of change.

"The Grass is Greener on the Other Side"

To which I reply, "No it's not. And if it is, then you need to water your lawn." So what brought this up? I've been asked at work by various employees if I like the job or not. You all know I love it. When I reply yes, I get different responses. Today, I had a girl tell me I won't think that way in a few weeks. I've had another girl tell me her life ambitions and goals (as if I care) and as if she was too good for the job. I told her, "This type of work isn't for everyone. You shouldn't be here if you don't want to be." I had a girl tell me today, "Don't lie." Haha. And I said, "You shouldn't assume I'm lying. Just because you're unhappy with your job, doesn't mean everyone else is." That shut them up!


It doesn't matter where you work. You always have to start from the bottom up. And even if you slide right into a manager position, there's going to be things about the job you like and things about the job you don't like. I have learned that keeping a positive attitude is the key to being happy anywhere. This is why I am so happy now and I take pride in finding joy in the simplest things. I am so happy riding my bike to work with the nice sunny breeze. I get a little exercise in that way and I also go to the gym after work. It's all right here. Today, I stopped at the grocery store and put the items in my backpack. I loved it! The fact that I can ride my bike to my job and have perfect weather all the time is enough to make me ecstatic about life. 


The few miserables at work need to start watering their lawns! They're just letting their grass die. It's up to all of us to make our grass green. Stop looking at that other house and worry about your own. I'm not going to let these miserables bring me down! I feel too good to let their negativity weigh me down. For once, I am on the other end of the stick and I am the positive, happy one, not the negative one. It feels fantastic! All I can do is be an example. I know I'm only in charge of myself. This is why I love writing so much. I can release all my thoughts and emotions here and not dwell on it the next day. :-) I can still smile at the frowny people because I've already let this out. 


And one of my favorite scriptures that I constantly remind myself of that goes so well with this blog:

“Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”

Philippians 2: 14-16