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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (630603)	10/6/2011 1:19:15 PM
From: Tenchusatsu	2 Recommendations Respond to of 1586096

Brumar, in the light of Steve Jobs passing away, let me share the story of a close friend of mine. Like my wife, he built up a lot of student loans, went to pharmacy school, and became a pharmacist. But he couldn't stand being a very well-paid drug store clerk, so he worked his ass off to get a different kind of pharmacist job. That eventually led him to work for a hospital, then later at a health insurance company. But he still hated being a pharmacist, so five years after becoming one, he finally quit. This didn't seem like a smart decision at the time, since he was married and had to support a family. Plus he was nowhere near paying off his student loans. So he had to rely on his wife for financial support while he took a year and a half to switch careers. And it was damn difficult for the family. Long story short, he is now in a career in the health care industry that he not only enjoys, but also has the potential to pay more than the pharmacy profession could ever promise. Why do I share this story? Because of various reasons: - Steve Jobs said in his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford to always follow your passion. If you haven't found your passion yet, keep looking until you do. Once you do, every day you spend at work won't feel like "work." - My friend built up a ton of student loans, yet at the time of his career change, he hadn't paid them off. That may sound like folly, both the fact that he accumulated the loans in the first place and the fact that he tried changing careers in the middle. But he firmly believes in the value of his education, and that allowed him to make the career change in the first place. It's more than just a way to get a well-paying job. It really broadens the mind. (This goes along with why Steve Jobs said he dropped out of Reed College after one semester, even though Jobs reached the opposite conclusion at the time.) - This friend of mine owned his own career. Unlike the printer repairman, he didn't ask for the government for help. He didn't feel entitled to the public largesse. All of that stuff helped, of course, but the ultimate responsibility of building his own support network and going through an extremely risky career change lay with him. This is a real-life example of "Think Different." And every conservative and every liberal on this thread might want to take note before repeating whatever slogan their thought leaders tell them to utter. Tenchusatsu