Well, I haven't had or made the time to get back on here to put my thoughts down in a while and figured it's about time to stop back.
For the past few weeks, I have had my head clouded with heavy thoughts. Mostly related to one underlying issue. I generally try to be a pretty optimistic guy, but its just this one rather big problem that continues to irk me. I finished my Bachelor's of Science in Architecture degree in December of 2008, and promptly found myself laid off from the firm I had been working for just 4 days later. I immediately began searching for another firm to work for, even with help from my boss that laid me off calling in a good word for me with some of his friendly competitors. After 6 months of trying, I gave up and started searching for ANY job I could get to support myself. This landed me at a local RV dealership as a parts and accessories clerk. It is now February of 2010 and I still find myself stuck working at this miserable establishment and loathe getting out of bed to come to work everyday. I have continued to farm out resumes and even re-apply to firms that had said no back in 2009, still with no sign of light at the end of the tunnel. I've considered going back to school, but due to it being so long ago that I finished, I have no material to submit a portfolio for acceptance into a graduate architecture program.
The part of my situation that really grinds my gears, is that a simple deviation of 2-3yrs would have netted me FAR different results. My generation very honestly has gotten the short end of the stick thanks to the economy crash. If I was 2-3 yrs younger and went the same route, I would just now be finishing up my bachelor's and be able to go straight into the graduate program. I wish that were the case, as seeing the economy still not promising anything, it would buy me another 2 yrs before having to search seriously for a career position.
If I were 2-3 years older, I would have already had at least 1.5yrs experience in the field before the economy collapsed, and therefore have more to work with in applying for other jobs, or at the very least be that much closer to being licensed and able to practice on my own.
As I stated I have done my best not to dwell on this, but it has been 14 months and I have not done a single thing related to a degree I put so much effort into. I had hopes of being in a financially stable position at this point where I could be looking at owning a home for myself and start getting serious about life, but instead I moved back with my parents and live basically paycheck to paycheck with no real ability to create or build a savings. It seems my options are greatly limited now, and I really do not want to be at this RV job any longer. It seems I either must go to a different school for some specialized training in an applicable area to my field, or go back and repeat some of my classes to freshen up on skills, and then possibly take the higher levels of those courses for more experience or to keep up on the skills to stay on the ball until I find something.
I hate that this is so heavy on my mind, but I find it hard to deviate from constantly thinking about what the hell I can do about it, and it has caused close friends and family to notice a difference in my dimeanor. It would just be nice to have a normal 9-5 professional job so that I can enjoy weekends off to socialize with friends, instead I work some strange hours that always change week to week and have to work weekends.
Well, there isn't much I can do, and I know I'm not alone in this situation. I guess all I can do is try to keep myself occupied with my hobbies. So hopefully this summer nets me a new job, or at least maybe I can get a good start on my "locost" caterham/seven roadster kitcar project, and put some miles on my 1975 cafe racer CB550.......
Cheers 'til next time
