Advice wanted on motivation and education

[Kamera RAWr]

I decided to start this thread because I felt like asking for advice, words of wisdom and whatnot from the collective minds of MR. Perhaps it isn't the most appropriate place , but perhaps someone will come up with something I have not yet thought about and would not have otherwise.
So my situation is that I work doing quality control at a plywood mill. Don't let the title fool you, its not as glamorous as it sounds. Its actually just a low level job at the company like being a pressman, loading the presses. Anyway, I quickly realized that this is a dead end company. Most I could possibly hope for is a foreman position, which is not likely. Even then, being a foreman of plywood mill isn't my idea of an interesting job. I know the place, its not the greatest by any means. Shady supervisors (not all, but a few), questionable ethics oftentimes, IMO.
Now comes for the advice asking portion. Sadly, even knowing all this, I still am not able to motivate myself to go back to school and get a university degree. Have any of you out there ever been in such a position? If so, what did you do to get yourself going? I really don't want to end up like the guys there who are in their 40s (I'm 25) and making $12 an hour, which really isn't much these days. I just can't seem to push myself to get going. I dream of how nice it'd actually to be to study and even perhaps someday living in another country.

Sorry if I didn't articulate myself very well. My head is all mixed up with this. Been spending too much time this long weekend, thinking about things.

 

[TheAnswer]

All I can say is don't get comfortable with your life and don't wait to do it. Strangely enough, I was in a similar situation as yours, working for a small company and already had advanced as far as I could by the time I decided to go back to school.

I'm starting back to finish my last two years on my B.A. in three weeks and I'm 10 years older than you. Now, with just about every breath I take, I wish I had not put this off so long and had decided to go back sooner.

 

[huntnboy04]

Well getting a degree would be my advice. Even though it is going to be hard and suck at times and is gonig to be expensive. I graduated from high school 3 years ago, and my mother told me I either go to college for at least two years or move out. Since I had a two year scholarship, I went to a communtiy college. I did that not knowing what I wanted to do for a major, at first I told people Conservation, because I like to be outdoors, etc. but I didn't want to do it for a living.
After a year of taking basic classes, it clicked in my head one day and I knew then what I wanted to do. So I am now going into secondary education. It does suck and is ironic that I don't like going to school, but I think the main reason for that is I work 30 hours a week , and then class and homework, it pretty hard and stressful. And once I started taking classes that pertained to my major, it's starting to get much better. I try keeping myself focused on the future. So think more money, more money, and moving away to a country where you want to live.

So basically I'm telling you that college is a good idea, and it sounds korny, but follow your heart.

 

[shecky]

i was where you are for a long time, close to 10 years, and let me tell you, its like i lost 10 years of my life. the fact is there are people who have jobs, and there are people who have careers. there are people who have great jobs and crappy careers, and vice versa, but there is a mindshift between job and career.

job = something "static" you may get out of the classifieds
career = something "fluid" that allows you challenge, change and non-monetary fulfillment

so the answer is, how do you go from a job to a career? for me it was school, for you it may be that, it may be an apprenticeship, it may be dropping everything and moving to another country to teach english, it may be anything.

as far as motivation, you need to find something, ANYTHING you are interested in doing do it. very simple. do not discount anything. if you are interested in fixing cars, go to a vo-tech school, work at a garage, eventually buy your own place, etc. if you are interested in breeding poodles, then figure out a way to do it. and when you are thinking about what you are doing, do not think about what will just pay the best, think about what you would actually want to do every day. some days will suck, some days you will not want to get out of bed even with the best career in the world, but overall, what do you want to do? Paul Newman said it best in "The Color of Money" – "if you have an area of excellence, anything, rich can be arranged...rich can come fairly easy". So do something, do it well, and the money part will follow.

i went back to school with a bunch of 18 year olds when i was 31. trust me. its not that hard at all. especially since in all likelihood you will know a lot more about a lot of stuff than them.

 

[Kamera RAWr]

I was actually a high school dropout and then at 23 went to get a GED. Which, by the way, is not very difficult to do . Its been a long rut since about 19 or so. 6 years of my life wasted, dreaming and doing nothing.
At my current job I'm working about 45-55 hours a week. The thought of adding school to that mix is horrifying. Also the lack of motivation doesn't help matters.
Thank you for all that you guys have said so far

 

[shecky]

why add? go to school instead of working. you would be shocked at how much you can get in scholarship, interest free loans, and low interest loans.

its worth it. it has been for me.

 

[Iscariot]

Well, there always other factors to consider. Are you looking for fulfillment from your career, or elsewhere in your life? I personally don't find much fulfillment when it comes to typical work ethics/office politics and accomplishments that generally involve any sort of corporate ladder. What I do find fullfilling is that I work for one of the most environmentally progressive companies in North America, and as a print company that's very significant.

With my technical expertise, I could probably move to one of our competitors for a substantial boost in pay grade, but I value the committment we make to the planet over the possibility of a bigger home. Remember to keep in mind other values you hold when researching potential careers.

 

[true777]

Make a simple commitment to yourself: "I will improve my life and get a college degree". Then do it ONE STEP AT A TIME. One step at a time is much less scary.

You are already web-savvy. Use this skill to check out college/university websites, and find out their application procedures.

Also, search for info on scholarships and loans online.

Find out about tests, etc. you might to do to get into college.

Then, APPLY. Just do it. Apply to 4-5 schools.

Also, apply for scholarships. Once you're in, that's it! You're on your way to success, and everything else will sort itself out! Good luck!!!!!

 

[wongulous]

Well, definitely go back to school. You'll be able to get a job that you want, that is secure, where you're happy, and you're making a lot more money--or a career in other words--and in the meantime, you'll figure yourself out and find what you like and learn about the career path in order to achieve it smoothly while connecting with worthwhile peers and experiences.

Save up some cash, pay off your debt in the timeframe between now and the next soonest starting community college quarter (go speak with an advisor to get paperwork, application fees, admission fees, FAFSA guidance, scholarship apps/dates, etc), and do your best to reduce or get rid of recurring monthly debts. Convert yourself for a part time or night job, even if it involves changing to an unrelated job. Get your FAFSA done and sent in (requires dept of education pin which is seriously a slow and annoying process, so do this ASAP).
Apply for the school (you'll get into community college no prob). Once you're accepted, take your placement tests, register for classes (make sure to not completely listen to advisors--you'll be bored out of your MIND. take afun class each quarter, transferrable or not), apply for scholarships and loans, buy your books if necessary, and then make ends meet for the first month or so until loan disbursement. Then just go to class and enjoy. If you're worried about completion, do like me, and get like 16-18+ credit hours and then drop the class that you like the least and put it off until the next semester.

Continue until your maximum credits/credit hours (for instance, 66 CH in my state) that are transferrable to a 4-year ("real") university in your state, and then weigh whether or not you want to do a few more credits (maybe only 10-12) to get your associate's first (probably just liberal arts) before transferring. If not, transfer to a 4-year as a general ed or liberal arts student (this way you don't need to additionally apply to a specific school, such as the college of psychology within your chosen state university), and continue... then later define your major once you've made some more progress, contacts, and built up your confidence. Upon completion of that, you won't need direction anymore--you'll know what your marketability is with or without grad school, contacts to get there, peers going or not going, and where your finances stand (though that should be the least important)... then you'll go for it.

 

[adroit]

Have you consider trade school?

I don't know much about trade schools in the US, but in Canada, it usually only takes 2 years to go through it (but that depends on the program). You can get paid quite well and the job can be interesting depending on the trade. I think it is a good alternative to university especially if you're having a hard time committing to a 4 years program.