amandanism 0 Posted December 28, 2002 Share Posted December 28, 2002 this has absolutley nothing to do with skiing/snowboarding..or even snow. im graduating from highschool in May and im thinking of getting a summer job in Canada. So I want ideas about what other people have done etc. thanks in advance. Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard_freak 0 Posted December 28, 2002 Share Posted December 28, 2002 Not me. I went from high school to university for about 2 and half years and jumped in between courses because i couldn't find what i wanted to do. Then i found a path that i wanted to follow so i went to TAFE (a government run college). I've done 3 courses there and am still toying with the idea of doing one last course, but im getting sick of study. I would have liked to have worked in between, but i had no idea what industry i wanted to get into. Experience counts. Link to post Share on other sites
nagoid 4 Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Sure did, but I'd like to forget that as much as possible... Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 I didn't (unless you count 2 months of washing cars in a car yard over the holidays before uni started. Mind I you, met a lot of chicks as 'car wash boy' I wouldn't be in a hurry to take a year off to work before uni. Personally, I wish I had taken a year to travel. Experience is VERY valuable, no doubt about it, but you will get experience and your career will take off in the few years after uni. Remember, you will most likely work until you are 65, that would be about 45 years for you after uni, so what's the rush? It takes along time, but the best way to get experience is to work full time and do uni part time for the first 2 years after school. Then knock off the degree with a full time year or two. This way you will get experience, understand what career path interests you* and earn some money so that you don't have to donate organs to survive. Whilst I was at uni, for work experience (or resume filler) I became an officer in the Army (tank commander in a armored recon. regiment). This worked wonders, rather than walking out of uni saying to an employer: "hey, look at me, I have a degree". And they say: "yeah big-wizz buddy, join the 'got no experience' queue". db * a much better method than I adopted which was getting career inspiration from some crap Michael J Fox movie. Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted December 30, 2002 Author Share Posted December 30, 2002 hmm i see your point db. but heres my situation. Canada is my top choice for university, if i get in i will go there. I graduate from high school in May, start uni in September. So i have a good three months and would like to do something productive during that time. The chance that i get into uni in Canada is pretty slim. Theres only one course I want to do, and thats all im applying for. If I dont get into uni in Canada, im going to wait and apply to Australia, which i will do in december of 2003 (the year i graduate) and start in February of 2004. That leaves approx 9 months of doing nothing. So it wouldnt necessary be taking a year off, thats just the way it is. So i would prefer to get some sort of job, to keep me busy during that time. Both my brothers did the exact same thing (had a good 9 months off) and tell me that without a job they wouldve gone insane. so thats my situation. im having a hell of a hard time finding a suitable job, age requirements and specifications hindering most opportunities. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 so either way you will have 3 or 9 months before starting uni. I would most certainly travel in that case. You will probably gain a lot more valuable personal experience from seeing teh world than you would gain a foothold into the job market. Unless you can swing a job as a favour from a family friend in the industry you are interested in then the work experience wont add up to all that much. I didn't travel and have never had teh courage to pull the pin on the career for a year of travel since I started work. I am now 30 and it gets harder and harder as each day passes to give up the career momentum for travel. As each year passes I have more to give up (career wise) and would have to make a cold start back into a tough industry. Pretty soon I may be married with my wife quitting her job to look after some screeching baby that pukes breast milk on me as I head off for another day to earn the mortgage, car, holiday and Amex cash requirements. So much for being a backpacker and seeing the Andes, eh?[see note 1] But you are a girl, so chances are you will start your career after getting your 3 or 9 months work experience and a degree and then get married and throw it all in to supply the raw material for the little puker on a daily basis.... same story, no travel for you, ever again. Note 1: Nah, it won't happen that way for me. I aim to marry a higher earner than me so that we are not financially disadvantaged when I retire to look after the little puker (and run my currently embryonic income earner from my home office). Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted December 30, 2002 Author Share Posted December 30, 2002 Quote: Originally posted by db: But you are a girl, so chances are you will start your career after getting your 3 or 9 months work experience and a degree and then get married and throw it all in to supply the raw material for the little puker on a daily basis.... same story, no travel for you, ever again. lets not stereotype shall we. (knows she is fighting a lost cause) ive been very much spoilt on the traveling side of things. ive just turned 17 ive been back packing in vietnam and thailand with 3 close friends, ive been white water rafting and trekking in nepal in the annapurna foothills. singapore really is a great country to live in if you want to travel in the region. one side of me says to get a summer job, the other side tells me to go volunteer somewhere interesting (my brother took a trip to bhutan and did volunteering work) Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Oh, I know that I blatantly stereotyped(?) you, but I also did that for me as well. I did it to poke satire at the whole mess of a deal that life can be. I probably should have clarified that when i was writing. Well, you have done the travel a bit, so your choices are a) work, go to London and lose yourself in the club scene, with trips to Ibeza here and there. All the required condiments are stupidly cheap in London (by all accounts - not been myself). You should aim to get wasted at least 5 times a week and sleep the remainder of the time. After a few months of that "it"* should be well out of your system and you wont have to waste 3 years of your life going out every weekend, thus dragging out what you could have done in 6 months of full time partying in the UK. That should leave you in the clear to get on with the career sans distraction. However note that you may no longer be as bright and sharp coming out as you were going in. Please don't follow this advice. * "it" being that hedonistic desire that takes you to the extremely awesome brink of self destruction, where, in the most seedy of trash joints (but the music is good!) with many relaxing beers and tequilas you can close the weekend on monday morning after being awake since friday morning. Oh, don't forget to call in sick by about 9.30am Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted December 30, 2002 Author Share Posted December 30, 2002 Quote: Originally posted by db: Well, you have done the travel a bit, so your choices are a) work, go to London and lose yourself in the club scene, with trips to Ibeza here and there. All the required condiments are stupidly cheap in London (by all accounts - not been myself). You should aim to get wasted at least 5 times a week and sleep the remainder of the time. After a few months of that "it"* should be well out of your system and you wont have to waste 3 years of your life going out every weekend, thus dragging out what you could have done in 6 months of full time partying in the UK. That should leave you in the clear to get on with the career sans distraction. However note that you may no longer be as bright and sharp coming out as you were going in. australians are quite renowned for doing this. i have a few friends from 'stralia who have just gone to the UK to work in a bar. and their lifestyles seem to fit the aformentioned to a tee. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Quote: Originally posted by amandanism: ....tells me to go volunteer somewhere interesting (my brother took a trip to bhutan and did volunteering work) Probably a better experience than some crumby office job. However, more self indulgent 'when I was younger' jibber-jabber: I spent 1 year do volunteer work every weekend with the homeless every weekend. I had to stop in the end as it became so depressing. Try not to pick anything to bottomless pit and depressing and if you do, don't expect to feel good as though you made a difference. Others may have had different experiences, but I found it an almost pointless effort. Sad but true. Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted December 30, 2002 Author Share Posted December 30, 2002 Quote: Originally posted by db: Quote: Originally posted by amandanism: ....tells me to go volunteer somewhere interesting (my brother took a trip to bhutan and did volunteering work) Probably a better experience than some crumby office job. However, more self indulgent 'when I was younger' jibber-jabber: I spent 1 year do volunteer work every weekend with the homeless every weekend. I had to stop in the end as it became so depressing. Try not to pick anything to bottomless pit and depressing and if you do, don't expect to feel good as though you made a difference. Others may have had different experiences, but I found it an almost pointless effort. Sad but true. ah yes, i spent nearly 8 months (once a week mind you) doing arts and crafts with troubled teens/juveniles. at the start it was alright but it ended up being depressing to the point of it becoming a chore. on the other end of things i spent 5 days working in an orphanage teaching kids football (soccer) and it was a really good experience, we ended up being showed up by these kids' football skills. amazing. Link to post Share on other sites
enderzero 0 Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Quote: (and run my currently embryonic income earner from my home office) Any chance of getting any hint of info on this baby Deebee? Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 ender - there is a very big clue in another still active thread on this board. Link to post Share on other sites
enderzero 0 Posted December 31, 2002 Share Posted December 31, 2002 Wow, deebee...you are taking up the piano and plan to travel to worldwide destinations as a resort critiquing musician?! I am behind you 100% buddy. That's it right?...or is it something about surfing and beer? Link to post Share on other sites
zwelgen 0 Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 I went straight from high school to univ and was glad I did it that way so I was finished by the time I was 21 and free to do whatever the hell I wanted. At university I worked loads of jobs and part time stuff came out of some summer jobs I had too. I have done some volunteer work too but just to sound extremely selfish you can get the same experience in a job and get paid for it. Dont underestimate your summer holidays either. I worked at a ski field in Japan for 3 months at the end of my 1st year of university and left with a wad of cash in my back pocket(and a snapped acl ) And db whats this shit, i quote: "But you are a girl, so chances are you will start your career after getting your 3 or 9 months work experience and a degree and then get married and throw it all in to supply the raw material for the little puker on a daily basis.... same story, no travel for you, ever again." Believe it or not some people want more out of life than that. But I guess you were just saying that for a reaction eh! Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted January 3, 2003 Share Posted January 3, 2003 I went straight to uni to do history of art after school and hated it. So I went to the University of Pizza Hut for 4 mths and then worked in France for another 4 before going back to do English. Helped to see how the other half live, but as zwelgen says, it just postpones the blissful moment when you can get out of Homework Land. Link to post Share on other sites
enderzero 0 Posted January 4, 2003 Share Posted January 4, 2003 I graduated from High School with my 2 year Associates degree and went straight to the Uni. After a year I realized I wasn't really feeling it. I love the university life but hated going to classes. So I took some time off to work...which turned into taking some time off to snowboard. I haven't quite made it back yet In the technology field it isn't really all that important to have a degree (unless you are a programmer). I did a stint at Microsoft and they couldn't have cared less. Sounds like it matters more if you want a job in Japan. Anyone over there have a scanner? Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted January 5, 2003 Share Posted January 5, 2003 Quote: Originally posted by zwelgen: And db whats this shit.... see my post at 10.51pm on the same day. I despise equally the roles that are imposed on both men and women by society. An earlier post played up the expected function of men in society and in the post that you quoted I did the same for the expected role of women. You have been conditioned by society such that when you hear a man says what I did, you actually think that I believe it to be so. Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted January 5, 2003 Share Posted January 5, 2003 I went to Uni straight after school doing Arts/Music, but dropped out after 6 months due to lack of interest. Never looked back. Did all kinds of crazy jobs on the road to being full-time muso. I worked in a record shop, did quite a lot of temping in offices, taught music when I had to, was on a government funded job helping build a bush walking track in the Blue Mountains, had another goverment grant job as a film/TV sound recordist for 9 months, worked as a typesetter in an ad agency. It took quite awhile to be able to make my sole living from music, but it's been well worth it and a degree wouldn't have helped it happen any quicker (probably only would have delayed it!) The only time I've had to 'justify' not having a degree was for my visa in Japan, where I had to write what they call a "letter of explanation" stating why I didn't have a degree. Naturally I wrote that one doesn't need a degree to be a professional musician. However, to get the visa without a degree I had to prove I'd been working in my field for 10 years. But back on topic, I say go and do whichever choice is more interesting to you. My personal opinion is that this is what will give you the best life experience - whether that means working or volunteering. Link to post Share on other sites
jared 0 Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 the answer you want is this (or you wouldent have posted it on SNOWjapan) you need to go skiing/boarding full time for a while. if you have plenty of money you can do it the easy way and if not you may have to work nights to fund it. you finish school in may so you can still get to canada or the usa for a month or two of spring skiing - then in june you can do a summer camp on a glacer somewhere and practice halfpipe etc.. Then july will see you going to NZ or south america or OZ if your desperate for more of the same till October when, if your in NZ you will shift from the south island to the north island for terrain park fun till mid-late november when you can come back to the northen hemisphere someware to begin the cycle again. - do it - Link to post Share on other sites
MalcomB 0 Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 Hey jared I'm sure I read that one of your ny resolutions was to stop using forums? broken that one already hey ) Link to post Share on other sites
nekobi 0 Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 depending on your financial situation, i think you should travel. if you dont have the money, then work for a bit doing a shit job to make what you need for the travelling. i started college right after hs and was directionless and unmotivated to actually study so my first year was a waste. my friends who either travelled or volunteered for a year seemed much more focused because they made the conscious decision that it was time for college and learning rather than just following the hs to college herd. since youve seen a bit of asia, why not bum around europe on a eurail pass? Link to post Share on other sites
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