Older fans especially, how do you contribute to society?

[GuillermoGage 246]

I am 21 years old, going to be 22 on December 20, and I still don't have a job but I am really cracking down on it. My family is having me do more than just submit applications online and wait for a response, but also use my newly-gained cell phone time and call back and impose myself on anything within a commute my sister can handle that is part of an industry that could use my service, typically manual labor, probably in the restaurant industry.

 

I also haven't had real-life friends in years as a result of being too poor to be able to do stuff outside or have a stable living quarters. But if a job is like an extension of school, then making my own money will certainly help.

 

How are your professional and social and personal lives like? Does it ever get frustrating?

Edited November 4, 2012 by GuillermoGage

[Titan Rising 2,156]

Your thread title and the question you're asking in the post are a little different

 

The only way I care to contribute to society is by being a role model for those younger and less experienced than me in anything. Especially for my nephew and younger cousins, I want to be the best I can be so that I can help encourage them to be the best they can be.

 

My social life is probably not what most people would call great, but I'm content with it. I try to make it a point not to do things for the sole purpose of making friends and getting people to like me, seems counterproductive to me to be honest. And professionally I'm waiting to join the US Navy. I turned 21 not to long ago. Situations have been frustrating at times but I also make it a point to remind myself that "impatience brings uneasiness and distracts the heart"

[Twiliscael 3,958]

I partake in community services around town such as food drives, readings for younger children at the public library, helping at a festival, etc. It feels good to know that you're doing something good and gaining the respect of those in your community.

[Evilshy 5,089]

I'm in school right now, but I have my old job back when I get home. I'll probably do a quarter of online classes so I can stay in school while still working.

 

I occasionally do some volunteering, but between school and work, I don't have as much time anymore; it was more of a way to occupy my time and be productive before I had a job.

[Mephala 2,633]

Well, of you compare me to the target audience, I'm definitely an older fan.

So I guess I still count! :3

 

I volunteer with the special needs community by running swim classes. Originally it was just for my required hours but I really find a passion in it and still do it~

I don't really see it as a contribution though

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

Your thread title and the question you're asking in the post are a little different

 

The only way I care to contribute to society is by being a role model for those younger and less experienced than me in anything. Especially for my nephew and younger cousins, I want to be the best I can be so that I can help encourage them to be the best they can be.

 

My social life is probably not what most people would call great, but I'm content with it. I try to make it a point not to do things for the sole purpose of making friends and getting people to like me, seems counterproductive to me to be honest. And professionally I'm waiting to join the US Navy. I turned 21 not to long ago. Situations have been frustrating at times but I also make it a point to remind myself that "impatience brings uneasiness and distracts the heart"

 

Please, be careful when going into the Navy. Be prepared to have yourself psychologically torn down in a way I consider to be quite horrific. I tried going into the Navy several years ago, to be a nuclear engineer. The results was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life and a year afterwards of barely being able to cope psychologically before I finally got the help I needed only after a major suicide attempt that landed me in the hospital. Boot camp is not going to be easy on you in the least--it's going to be rough in just about every way you can imagine.

 

As for the original posters question--and I do second Hollowshield in that the title implied something significantly different from the actual post within--right now I am finishing up my final semester of college to get an Associate of Applied Sciences degree in Water Quality Management, and then I intend on getting a job in that field. That means I will be working at either a drinking Water or Wastewater treatment plant, or possibly in the distribution system for drinking water, which as you might guess is extremely important for society. The nice thing about the field I'm going into is that it's impossible to outsource jobs for it, and water is something people need all the time regardless of the nature of the economy, so once I get a job within the field, so long as I don't mess up badly, I should be set in terms of keeping a job. While it wasn't what I necessarily might have wanted to study per se when I first started trying to go to college...I feel happy with myself that I'm completing something and will end up contributing greatly. I've been suffering from depression my whole life and have been fairly consistently underwhelming in my ability to do much of anything as a result. Being successful is...nice.

[Creamy Arty 6,251]

It can get frustrating, but more so soon after graduation. When people get out of high school or when they get out of college if they choose to go that route, life can be a bit disorienting. Most are accustomed to doing group activities in their free time and hanging out, but once school is done they find themselves alone more often than not. Eventually one gets used to it and learns to balance things.

 

You'll make money at your job but don't expect to make friends. Things vary from one place to another, but for the most part people don't form personal relationships with coworkers that extend beyond the workplace. That's not to say it doesn't happen and isn't possible, but you'll want to look elsewhere for companionship. It's not like school in that regard.

 

 

Professionally, things are interesting right now. Got laid off in September and I'm just waiting for a certain position to become available at a certain company. I pretty much have been given the job already, it just doesn't exist yet.

 

Socially, things are mild but very enjoyable. I only have two friends (whom I need to call tomorrow) and we don't get to see each other much, but I enjoy it whenever we're able to get together. Most of my socializing is done online and when I hang out with people it's normally during a meetup event. I've met a lot of great people through brony meetups and conventions. Anybody who doesn't have any friends and isn't sure where to start should consider using those as a means to establish some relationships. I'm very happy with the way things are right now.

 

Personally, I'm a bit conflicted. There are some issues I'm confronting, issues with resolutions long overdue. I'm getting through it though. Everything will be fine. Looking for some work to hold me over until the aforementioned position opens up and I'm trying to get this house in order. I moved a couple weeks ago.

[Cupcake Ice Cream 436]

As one of the older members here I am happy to say I have had a good life of giving back.

 

Currently I am 33. I was a paramedic for a few years and helped many people there. Afterwards I entered the US Air Force as 2W2 and then for a couple years as a 3M0. Finally, I got my masters in Clinical Psychology. During my internship I performed over 1000 hours of talk therapy in effort to make lives better. Now I am in my PhD in International Psychology. This I am doing to help make deserving countries more sustainable, cared for and whole.

 

I am damn proud of all I have done and I am not done giving until my hands, body and mind stop moving

[Croaks 251]

Sometimes, I replace everyone's garbage cans with recycling bins secretly. Then, after doing it to the entire neighborhood, I throw crushed up cans out the window, sometimes at people, without anyone seeing me. After a bit, pedestrians see these cans and they're like, "Where the hell did all these cans come from?"

They then want to dispose of them. Seeing no garbage cans, they put them in the recycling bins.

Yeah, recycling.

[Kapi 213]

Right now, I'm 22, but let me start earlier.

 

When I was 8, I volunteered at the local animal shelter, going in after school and taking care of the small animals, like cats and rabbits. I would occasionally take the smaller dogs out for walks. I was also being "trained" by the lifeguards at the pool, it wasn't official training, but it was a lot of fun!

 

When I was in Middle School, I was a library aide. I helped teach other kids, and even faculty, how to use the OPAC (Open Public Access Catalog) system, and if the computers were down, I was one of the few that knew how to look through the "Card Catalog" which was being discontinued, but still used just in case.

 

At 14, I was a paper carrier, making my own money for a change. I would easily make $100 every 2 weeks, not a lot, but a fortune to a 14 year old. When I was 16, I volunteered at a local thrift store. It was my first retail experience, and I asked them to treat me like an employee, so I'd learn what it was like to work in the real world. I accepted donations, wrote out tax receipts, stocked the shelves, cleaned, and did lots of other things every weekend, I was usually there 8-10 hours each day, it kept me busy and out of trouble.

 

Anyway, this Wednesday, I will have been working for Walmart for 3 years. Sometimes, you feel like walking out, but some days, it feels like the best job ever. I'm working on opening a community center for kids and teens that will maybe help keep them out of trouble, I'd lie to do things like trading card and video game tournaments, let them surf the web and do homework, etc, like a library, but without the library's restrictions.

 

So, there you go. Happeh?

 

EDIT: My social life sucks. I don't have many friends IRL, but if you count online life as social, pretty good, I guess.

Edited November 5, 2012 by Kapi

[Acoustic Cloud 2,202]

Well I hope nearly 17 counts as "older"; especially when compared with the target demographic.

Back to the topic at hand, as far as society goes, I try to just make my mark. I lost my last job (details were withheld), and I've applied to 35 local businesses; none of which were hiring. That being said, I really just contribute as in food drives, and children's programs. Sometimes I also donate blood, but other than that-- I stay out of the way.

[AegisReflector 886]

Right now I'm in school to get my Master of Fine Arts and Master of Humanities and Social Sciences Degrees, and let me tell you, college is a real bitch when it comes to finances, which I'm sure every college pony here can attest to. I used to have a job at an old game place but now I'm virtually dependent on my dad for finances, which kind of sucks seeing as how I have sent in many scholarship forms to my school and I only got like 2, which added up to a sum of $500, barely even enough to pay my books.

 

It sucks, because I wish I can do more to better future myself and not rely on other people for help, but in the state that I'm in, I have no income coming in and I don't even have my own car yet. I sometimes feel like I'm just mooching off people, even if I always say "Thank you very much!" I know family is there to help you, but I'm starting to feel less independent. I just wish there was a way for me to truly begin my life and finally get a job but like I said, I have no car or bicycle so it's really impossible (I live in the suburbs too, so no public busing either). *sigh*

 

But, I'll get there eventually. I always have a plan. That's how I got into college the first place. Might as well finish what I started, no matter what manner or fashion I do it in. I'll do it for all the ponies in Equestria who themselves have triumphed over their own struggles with social and friendship problems!

[Sugarcube 213]

I work anywhere from 25 to 30 hours a week, I go to college 15 hours a week and if everything goes right I will graduate in May. I commute over 6 hours total weekly to.go to class.

 

With all that on my plate I contribute to society by not ripping my hair out and being a sobbing mess all of the time.

 

I also am out from my parents roof and I live with my boyfriend and our roommate.

 

Oh as for my social life, i have friends just some.of.them I don't get to see very often because of.my schedule. I stay busy which is sometimes detrimental to my mental.state but whateves

Edited November 5, 2012 by Sugarcube

[Sunny Fox 5,934]

I'm 30. I've been a teacher since I finished university. My basic Bachelors degree is Computer Science and Information Technology, with Honours and a one-year Post-grad teaching certificate. After 6 years of working as a teacher, I joined the JET (Japanese Exchange and Teaching) Programme so I have been living and working as a ALT in Japan for the past year and 3 months. I occasionally do volunteer work, mostly singing in an amateur choir to raise money for charities for sick kids and people displaced by the March 11 tsunami.

 

As a JET, I have quite a good circle of friends (from many different countries) and a rather more active social life than I had when I was in South Africa. Although even then, I had friends I made through the Methodist church I attended. I find that I can make acquaintances easily, but I pick my friends with care.

 

I used to be really frustrated with my job, but now on JET, life's pretty awesome.

[Guest]

I'm 18, and I work as a custodian in a bank 3 hours a day every week day after I get out of school. I volunteer through school usually, although I might be volunteering at the local library soon.

 

I'll be heading off to college next year, and I would like to become some sort of psychologist, possibly specializing in psychoanalytical psychology. I'd like to do research and teach in a university setting if I can, maybe running a clinic on the side if I would be able to do so.

 

I have big plans to shake up the field if I can, and if my for now put off research holds true.

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,694]

I'm 27. What do I do to contribute to society? Not a whole lot, I guess. Sometimes I donate a little money to good causes, like the relief efforts in Haiti and Japan. In college I was an English tutor for some high school kids. I work a full-time job at Wal-Mart, if that counts as giving. I try to do a good job, but I have fantasies of walking out almost every day. The work would be fine if not for the other people there. I don't really like most of them. I don't feel totally comfortable in any place with people in it, though (except online). Unless they're relatives or others I trust. I don't give anyone else a chance, I just drift along without getting to know anybody. I moved to this city more than a year ago and I still haven't seen most of it. If I'm not shopping, working or visiting my grandparents, I'm at home because it's the only place where I can relax.

 

So I don't get out enough or earn enough money to contribute a lot. Low self-esteem and bouts of depression have a way of draining your motivation. -_- But I take a little comfort in something George Carlin said: "Motivation is overrated. If you ask me, this country could use a little less motivation. The people who are motivated are the ones who are causing all the trouble! Stock swindlers, serial killers, child molesters, Christian conservatives...these people are highly motivated. You show me a lazy prick who's lying around all day watching game shows and occasionally getting up to piss, and I'll show you a guy who's not causing any ***ing trouble."

Edited November 5, 2012 by TailsAlone

[Sugarcube 213]

Right now I'm in school to get my Master of Fine Arts and Master of Humanities and Social Sciences Degrees, and let me tell you, college is a real bitch when it comes to finances, which I'm sure every college pony here can attest to. I used to have a job at an old game place but now I'm virtually dependent on my dad for finances, which kind of sucks seeing as how I have sent in many scholarship forms to my school and I only got like 2, which added up to a sum of $500, barely even enough to pay my books.

 

It sucks, because I wish I can do more to better future myself and not rely on other people for help, but in the state that I'm in, I have no income coming in and I don't even have my own car yet. I sometimes feel like I'm just mooching off people, even if I always say "Thank you very much!" I know family is there to help you, but I'm starting to feel less independent. I just wish there was a way for me to truly begin my life and finally get a job but like I said, I have no car or bicycle so it's really impossible (I live in the suburbs too, so no public busing either). *sigh*

 

But, I'll get there eventually. I always have a plan. That's how I got into college the first place. Might as well finish what I started, no matter what manner or fashion I do it in. I'll do it for all the ponies in Equestria who themselves have triumphed over their own struggles with social and friendship problems!

 

I understand completely Aegis, I am financially dependent on my boyfriend and my parents (they take care of phone and health insurance). It gets frustrating and I get really upset about it sometimes, the only thing I contribute is my own gas money for getting.to class and groceries for everyone in the apartment. It is nothing compared to what my boyfriend does.

 

I am going to say I know it sucks but it does get better, and focus on your studies, and if you need to vent just send me a message

[Winona the Dog 1,981]

Im 17 right now so i dont really do any "big time" jobs i just have a part-time job at Wendy's while attending college so nothing special.

[Shankveld 4,945]

I'm in university for business economics on my way to becoming a CFA. My husband is in med school, he wants to become a psychiatrist, but that's still 8 years away. We both work full time, and go to school full time. I'm a customer service rep for the largest phone/internet/tv company in Canada, and my husband repairs cellphones for my companies' largest competitor. Both of our families are MIA, so we completely support ourselves and my sister little. After housing, food, clothes, tv, cell phones, and my sister's medication we are able to save roughly 1.5k a month. We also fortunately live in a city and a year long bus pass is included with tuition costs.

 

As far as a social life, well were able to coordinate our schedules so every week we always have weekends off to spend time together. since we hardly see eachother during the week. It's come home and fall asleep. For about an hour or two on the weekend we'll go out and have dinner or lunch with one of our friend groups. Luckily with today's technology, texting and fb, make it easy for us to keep in touch.

 

We clearly don't have time to volunteer, or really 'contribute'. I'm a 19 year old forced to live as a 30 or 40 year old, I don't feel as I owe society anything. They have done crap all for me, everything I have I earned myself.

 

~

[Champion RD92 8,654]

Well lets see...

 

I'm currently attending a university and right now my plan is to major in Business, but I still have to decide on a concentration to major in. I don't have a job right now but I have been applying for jobs so I hope to get a part-time job sometime soon. As far as a social life, I have a close group of friends that I try to hang out with at least a couple times a month. I also have a few friends I talk to on Xbox mostly every night.

[Colt 555]

Im part of a young and rising software company. We have develop some proyects for social development. Right now one of them showcases enterprising projects of college students to organizations, possible investors, possible partners and all kind of people involved in the world of entrepreneur, From small concept restaurants to full scale clean energy ideas. For now thats it =D

[Jinx 2,292]

I don't really help the community, I'd rather help someone I know who is struggling rather than someone I've never spoken to. I've been in college for 3 years now, but I take the summers off and I try to find work. I worked this last summer 6 days a week, and brought in about $3,000. Other than that I haven't really been able to find any other stable summer work.

[GuillermoGage 246]

I'm in university for business economics on my way to becoming a CFA. My husband is in med school, he wants to become a psychiatrist, but that's still 8 years away. We both work full time, and go to school full time. I'm a customer service rep for the largest phone/internet/tv company in Canada, and my husband repairs cellphones for my companies' largest competitor. Both of our families are MIA, so we completely support ourselves and my sister little. After housing, food, clothes, tv, cell phones, and my sister's medication we are able to save roughly 1.5k a month. We also fortunately live in a city and a year long bus pass is included with tuition costs.

 

As far as a social life, well were able to coordinate our schedules so every week we always have weekends off to spend time together. since we hardly see eachother during the week. It's come home and fall asleep. For about an hour or two on the weekend we'll go out and have dinner or lunch with one of our friend groups. Luckily with today's technology, texting and fb, make it easy for us to keep in touch.

 

We clearly don't have time to volunteer, or really 'contribute'. I'm a 19 year old forced to live as a 30 or 40 year old, I don't feel as I owe society anything. They have done crap all for me, everything I have I earned myself.

~

 

You work for a living. That's what you do for a living. You contribute to some business or place.

 

You are married and very busy at a --for our modern times-- rather young age! How does that even happen? I've seen a photo, he sure is a handsome young feller. You have him as a committed man already?

[Shankveld 4,945]

You work for a living. That's what you do for a living. You contribute to some business or place.

 

You are married and very busy at a --for our modern times-- rather young age! How does that even happen? I've seen a photo, he sure is a handsome young feller. You have him as a committed man already?

 

Yep, boobs will do that.

 

Lmao, well it that counts as contributing than I contribute ;p

Like I noted. My mom is dead and my dad just kind of walked out on us and never came back,

so I was sort of forced into this situation,

I didn't choose the thug life, the thug life chose me.

And he loves me in a way I didn't even know was possible.

I don't know how it happened really, he lost all sane-credibility when he said he wanted to spend everyday with me.

haha ;p

~

[GuillermoGage 246]

Yep, boobs will do that.

 

Lmao, well it that counts as contributing than I contribute ;p

Like I noted. My mom is dead and my dad just kind of walked out on us and never came back,

so I was sort of forced into this situation,

I didn't choose the thug life, the thug life chose me.

And he loves me in a way I didn't even know was possible.

I don't know how it happened really, he lost all sane-credibility when he said he wanted to spend everyday with me.

haha ;p

~

 

"Yeah, boobs will do that"

I don't get how that will make him permanently marry you. And that doesn't even sound classy. When I use refer to other men as "handsome fellers" in the direction of a female, it is charming and rustic, kind of like when Belle's father mentioned Gaston, except even more appropriate.

 

I am generally a fan of using old-timey phrases to compliment people who I am not jealous of. I like the trope of ratty old ladies doling out matchmaker advice. "Cackle cackle! That's a strapping young buck you have your heart set on!"