The Comeback Trail

[Elok]

Awesomeness.

For anyone else stuck with a bachelor's degree and no prospects, try substitute teaching. It's actually significantly less degrading and miserable than fast food or retail, in addition to paying much better and allowing flexible hours.

[DaShi]

I wouldn't say significantly less.

[PLATO]

Yeah, congrats. I know many with similar experiences that haven't ever made the comeback.

I have a lot of friends that have given up and left the business. I guess I am just a bit more "Galaxy Quest" than they are.

[kentonio]

Nice to hear things are picking up man.

[Buster Crabbe's Uncle]

For anyone else stuck with a bachelor's degree and no prospects, try substitute teaching. It's actually significantly less degrading and miserable than fast food or retail, in addition to paying much better and allowing flexible hours.

Agreed. I ended up being an emergency last resort guy for a middle school a few times one year a long time ago, and man, the people who worked at the school were so pathetically glad to see me whenever I was called in - the money sucked a little, and although I get along with kids well, 30 of other people's kids at a time were a little hard to take, but the work was easy babysitting, and again, the only job I've ever had where my co-workers repeated thanked me for showing up. Public school teaching is for masochists, but substituting can be sweet.

[Elok]

I wouldn't say significantly less.

Have you tried both? Subbing is rough at first, but it gets easier. It's just a matter of understanding your role, and not trying to be either a real teacher or one of the kids. Once you get that down, the job gets a lot more fun, especially if you like the kids you're working with and you know how to hustle for jobs. I like the junior high kids, personally; teenagers have a strong sense of the absurd, and that appeals to me. I used to hate subbing high schools--the kids tend to view subs as an obstacle to get around, or at best furniture to be ignored--but I've been doing it long enough that my old middle-school kids recognize me at high school, and our old relationship carries over. It's great watching them grow up.

The other day I ran into my favorite student from my first year of subbing; I remembered her as this funny, squeaky little kid who ran all over the place, but was always very bright and eager. I wouldn't have recognized her as a fifteen-year-old, if not for her name on the roster. She's happy, healthy, interested in art, and after a second she remembered me too. After three years, she remembered me.

There's nothing comparable to that in retail. If you're lucky in retail, you get a stream of polite but distant customers and steady, competent coworkers. If you're unlucky, you have to work with dope-heads and the customers shriek because there wasn't enough meat in their salad. With subbing, you get a little of everything, but you get to know which teachers and classes are trouble, you can always decline an assignment, and if you want to work with smart, funny people, well, the teachers of honors classes need subs just as often as the rest.

[DaShi]

Sorry, I was just being facetious.

[Elok]

Ah. Ten-four. I'm sometimes not clear enough on that myself, no worries.

[pchang]

Congratulations on the comeback. I would recommend renting for about a year in your new location. It will give you a better feel of where you really want to live if you want to buy again. More and more loans will have to be kept on the bank's own books. Have you looked into Wells Fargo?

[Ben Kenobi]

For anyone else stuck with a bachelor's degree and no prospects, try substitute teaching. It's actually significantly less degrading and miserable than fast food or retail, in addition to paying much better and allowing flexible hours.

It sucks cold donkey tits at the start, yes, but it does get better. Glad to hear you're having some success with it. Did it for years up in soviet Canuckistan.

Tutoring is not bad, but it's hard to build up a clientele to make enough money on it. The bonus and the payoff is just plain working with folks and helping them succeed in learning stuff.

[Ben Kenobi]

Also, congrats to Plato. We were a bit concerned when you just up and left awhile back. Glad to hear things have turned a corner.

[Sava]

nice

[DaShi]

Also, congrats to Plato. We were a bit concerned when you just up and left awhile back. Glad to hear things have turned a corner.

Plato, Ben didn't mention you once while you were gone. Don't believe his lies!

[Dinner]

Good for you, Plato.

[PLATO]

Congratulations on the comeback. I would recommend renting for about a year in your new location. It will give you a better feel of where you really want to live if you want to buy again. More and more loans will have to be kept on the bank's own books. Have you looked into Wells Fargo?

Definitely going to rent. It will be at least two more years before I buy anything. Little gun shy about my industry still. Wells is good, but most of the meaningful jobs with them are west coast (not all, but most) and I don't think the west coast is for me.