[rootchord]

OK here is my story:

I screwed around when i went to college the first time and stopped going to live with my GF. This went on(and we got married) for about 4.5 years. I then found myself working full time as a PC technician at a major retailer(yep, that one). I decided to try to go back to school. It worked fine for awhile, i worked part-time and my wife worked full-time and i was mostly happy. Then, however, my wife lost her job and we are in trouble. She got a pt job working at my store but we are still having to eat into our small savings account to live. i can now only afford to take one class this semester and work as much as i can. At this rate we will be broke by the end of the year. I could apply to get a full-time job as a PC tech at a large company and make enough for us to live, but it would mean giving up on school(and I've already lost 4 years of time). And on top of everything, i HATE my job. I need a job that challenges me intellectually and teaches me things. My job consists of getting yelled at by customers and fixing the same problems over and over again. I am now depressed all the time and i don't know what to do.

If i take a FT job, i will most likely have to keep it and not go to school. i will remain a PC technician forever. I would be financially stable, but i would be soooooo unhappy. If i don't we remain very very poor(we now eat ramen most nights) and may lose our apartment and have to move in with her parents.

i am at a loss here, do i do the noble thing and get a job i hate for the rest of my life and give up on my dreams of doing something meaningful? or do i focus on school and probably spend another 6 years just to get a BS while working at a job i hate and living incredibly poorly?

[Lonpone]

This sounds like a decision that should be between you and your wife, not a gaggle of faceless voices on the internet, as your decision will not only impact you, but her and your family.

[rootchord]

I don't plan on simply taking any old advice and acting on it. I was just hoping for some insight from others to help me put things into perspective.

[Nelwyn]

some questions to keep you thinking...

	Originally Posted by rootchord To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	If i take a FT job, i will most likely have to keep it and not go to school. i will remain a PC technician forever. I would be financially stable, but i would be soooooo unhappy. If i don't we remain very very poor(we now eat ramen most nights) and may lose our apartment and have to move in with her parents.

How exactly does "financially stable" balance out "unhappy forever"? How noble can it be in the long-run when people caring about you (especially your wife) might suffer from seeing your condition?

Getting a FT job makes it more unlikely going to school again, but not impossible. On what does this depend? On the job your wife might get at some point? On your motivation? Planning for kids?

People value current losses higher than future gains. What is your dream, what's your wife's dream? "seven years of famine" might be not as bad if you both have the same goals, it might be worse than it actually is, when one of you doesn't now for what.

Just some thoughts.

[Apophenia]

Take a deep breath! Nothing is permanent!

Some important questions:

What is your major?
How close are you to finishing school (if you were attending full time)?
How easy will it be for you to get a job that you like with that major (at your current level of experience)?
Are there other full time jobs you could take that you wouldn't hate as much?

If you are in the states, from what I've seen and heard, it is very difficult to get a well paying full time job regardless if one is holding a 4 year degree or not. (depending somewhat on the area of study)

If I were you, I think I would prefer to take the full time job for a few years (or even just until your wife gets another job) and save until you can afford to go back to school full time. Compounding debt and not being able to live comfortably (ie food and rent)...is probably worse than a terrible job.

[zippikay]

have you looked at financial aid? some people would get pocket money from financial aid (albeit it may be in the form of student loan). another option could be working ft and taking online classes, some community colleges have started offering online classes themselves, there are universities that offering online degree but do further research on them

[Dream]

I'd say find a way to complete your degree without killing your wife. And how does it take 6 years anyways? What are you taking?
Also ask yourselves if you're willing to sacrifice your apartment and stay at your wife's parents house. I think the degree should come first. It does open doors to opportunities. Consider what zippikay said.

[eagleseven]

Assuming your commutes are still acceptable, and your degree has an actual career-path (I know too many unemployed grads), I would move in with your parents-in-law now. It will reduce your expenses, improve your food quality (family meals), and give you the personal flexibility to get that degree. It may feel like you are "failing" by moving in with the parents, but it's a very smart move in your situation. And if it will allow you to reduce your hours so you can take more classes, all the better!

I moved back in with my parents after college to complete a professional program, because I didn't have the savings nor loans to support myself while studying full-time. Now that I've completed my program, I'm in a better job with better pay and can afford rent!

[PRBori]

College doesn't seem like a right choice based on the fact that you are using your savings already to survive. Granted, being a PC technician is of no interest, but is there other field in IT that interests you? Computers is where both money and stability reside.

I would recommend looking into a technical school and/or acquiring a number of certificates in IT that could lead to a better position. Also, taking the job as a temporary measure and telling the employer that you would like to grow into a more challenging position is an idea. After all there are still a few companies that would love to train someone like you in certain aspects of IT such as cyber security and information assurance.

Penetration testing is also fun and challenging. Bottom line, you now have a family that depends on you. You're not single anymore, you're the man of the house responsible for providing stability, not adding to the current unstable environment.

All I say is stick it up until you stabilize yourself and your family a bit more and don't run yourself into deeper debts than what you currently have, if any.

[waday]

Do you have a full-time job lined up? If you do, you may want to take it. In this economy and job market, there are barely any openings in any field. You need a job to get a job--and experience is indispensable.

Does the full-time employer aid in going back to school? Many employers nowadays are helping employees get degrees or even advanced degrees in a job-related field if the employee is willing to sign a contract to stay with the company for a specified period of time.

At one point in time, several large companies had a program where if you worked for them, they would give you a loan for classes. The one company that comes to mind is UPS--granted, I have not looked into the fine print.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck.

[Sumwun]

Given your circumstances, it doesn't seem like college is a good idea for you. It's probably more cost and time effective to go to a vocational/technical school instead, get in, get a degree, get out ASAP. College is mainly for young people with loans and older people with financial stability. A technical school really seems like a smart move here. Also, are you going to a community college right now? If not, then maybe that's a good idea if you really prefer college over tech school for some reason. If you are already attending community college and it's making you suffer financially, I wouldn't recommend going on for another 2 years. It's already very cheap by college standards, and (from what I've seen) an associate's from a community college is a lot less valuable than a 2 year cert from a vocational school. And it'll only get more expensive to transfer to a private school for a bachelor's.

Also, it's been said before, but have you filled out a FAFSA? That will help you immensely.

[Autumnleaf]

Start having babies and you'll qualify for food stamps and pell grants. Do it for the future! Just make sure you are poor enough to qualify for medicaid so its all covered.

[Paji eh Wong]

I'd take the FT job and look into a night course. Even 1 course per semester will make you feel better.

I worked full time and did my MBA part time in 3 years. Some weeks were 70 hour work weeks, and I probably didn't learn as much as I could have, but it was worth it.

Make a pimp decision and then make it happen.

[Sean O]

Originally Posted by rootchord To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

OK here is my story: I screwed around when i went to college the first time and stopped going to live with my GF. This went on(and we got married) for about 4.5 years. I then found myself working full time as a PC technician at a major retailer(yep, that one). I decided to try to go back to school. It worked fine for awhile, i worked part-time and my wife worked full-time and i was mostly happy. Then, however, my wife lost her job and we are in trouble. She got a pt job working at my store but we are still having to eat into our small savings account to live. i can now only afford to take one class this semester and work as much as i can. At this rate we will be broke by the end of the year. I could apply to get a full-time job as a PC tech at a large company and make enough for us to live, but it would mean giving up on school(and I've already lost 4 years of time). And on top of everything, i HATE my job. I need a job that challenges me intellectually and teaches me things. My job consists of getting yelled at by customers and fixing the same problems over and over again. I am now depressed all the time and i don't know what to do. If i take a FT job, i will most likely have to keep it and not go to school. i will remain a PC technician forever. I would be financially stable, but i would be soooooo unhappy. If i don't we remain very very poor(we now eat ramen most nights) and may lose our apartment and have to move in with her parents. i am at a loss here, do i do the noble thing and get a job i hate for the rest of my life and give up on my dreams of doing something meaningful? or do i focus on school and probably spend another 6 years just to get a BS while working at a job i hate and living incredibly poorly?

Some thoughts:

- Lots of people start/finish their post-secondary education later than the 18-22 range.
- Going to school part-time (maximum 3 courses) while working is always a viable option, as long as you take care of yourself to keep your energy levels up.
- As others have mentioned, getting a student loan would help in this regard.
- It is 100% possible to be "poor" and still lead a happy, fulfilling life. Extravagant living is an illusory form of happiness, kind of like drugs; the enjoyment doesn't last between hits, and you need to keep upping the dosage in order to feel it again. True happiness is less about getting exactly what you want, and more about wanting what you already have.

Best of luck to you.

[LifesEcstasy]

	Originally Posted by rootchord To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	i am at a loss here, do i do the noble thing and get a job i hate for the rest of my life and give up on my dreams of doing something meaningful? or do i focus on school and probably spend another 6 years just to get a BS while working at a job i hate and living incredibly poorly?

Your problem is not your job, it's you. Read this again. Are your alternatives really to give up on education forever!!!! Or live poorly forever!!!? Talk about a loss of perspective. How about you take a FT job temporarily because that will pay the bills and ease tensions and return to study as soon as you are able. This is not a do or die choice here, you are dramatizing it to the max. And you can choose to hate your job and yourself or you can choose to see the upside in it ( that you don't have to live on ramen for the rest of your days). That choice is always yours to make even if it's the only choice you have to make. We all at some point end up in situations where no appealing option exists, but those situations are never permanent and once a course of action is embarked upon more choices soon present themselves.

[Tactical Panda]

Just a thought:

Have sane options.

For example, if you choose to study make sure you have a decent paying stable job to fall back onto if it doesn't financially work out. That means applying for positions a lot, and carefully seeing how things go.

If you pick work, look into how much excess money you have and options to work part time once you have enough. You can go back to study if thats what you want. Does age really matter if studying matters more than age to you? Just do what you need to do - even if it means studying later on in life.

But I suggest getting a second opinion.