What's the Bright Thing to Do?

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Figuring out how to stand out in a tough market.

Am I crazy to even try to guess if a brick and mortar arts degree from 2+ more years of riding desks at University of Maine could in any way compare to a shoddy online degree in Transportation mgmt?

Well. I don't think I am. Well, I am totally crazy, but not for this.

Here's my thoughts: cost to finish school in maine- $24K, meanwhile I'm busting ass to get by- the result- an arts degree. In writing. wooh!!!!! Now I need a day job to pay off muh bills until writing something publishable. Oh, and at this stage i'd now be about 30-35 k in the hole.

Cost to finish with APUS: $15K, meanwhile, I'm on the road again, building my experience as a bus driver. In addition, the related degree wouldn't hurt on the way to becoming a transit manager or supervisor. I think they'd understand, only in this industry, what I did and why I did it. The downsides here are that this job is not all it's cracked up to be, has bothered me before, and doesn't allow for much variation in work.

If I did go this route, Then, further in my career, if I don't have something published, I'll just keep working on finishing it ;). Not starting I'm sure.

Either way it'd be started prior to graduation, and, ideally, published by that time.

I may feel like kind of a dunce being the bloke with the hat again; as shown; as a bus driver or supervisor of bus drivers, but the money's good, and it's nice to have a day job to keep you comfortable and give you fodder for art. After all, art imitates life. How can you generate any if you don't live? In the real world? Of course, figuring out how to pay for school is the real world, too....

At this stage of my life, it'd be tough to leave the college path, or to go back to life in classrooms. So, if I can have the best of both worlds, why not?

BTW, the major or school do not have to be at all having to do with transportation. That's not really what I want to study, and there are many state universities that would give me a degree in the arts or humanities, and not tell anyone I....went ahead and took all of the courses on the internet.... So that's a consideration too.


It's not what I set out to do, but when presented with a huge bill that I'm not sure whether or not will be magically taken care of by the Tao, I decided I'd have to look for options.

There's a nearby bus company that pays very well, and would be putting me back on the road with more enjoyable circumstances- I hope. That'd be okay with me to be a road scholar. Guess I've lowered my standards.

I've never liked traditional education or the thought of being another brick in the wall.
That's why I like the un-college movement: uncollege.org. Or just plain old fashioned entrepreneurism. Or, just following your heart, doing what you love.

Likely my path has nothing to do with "finishing my education" (you never really finish)
or any normal job, regular stuff.

I'm on this planet to have fun, but we all have a few expected responsibilities. I'm going to find out what they are and complete 'em. Otherwise, you're just going through the motions.

It's hard to tell.

On one hand, what you think are your goals, seem very close and very simple so why go through a bunch of distractions to arrive back where you are later? On the other hand, what seems like the windier path may be the shorter one. It's a matter of perspective and of personal goals, and what your spirit is trying to tell you, and will do with you. And if you watch the patterns in your life, you'll learn what that is.



In any case, all roads lead to Rome, as they say. One way or another, it'll turn out solid.
I've been proved that plenty of times in life, over and over again. I'm optimistic of that for all of us, actually. It can't get much worse. Only up from here.

All this stuff could apply to you to. Stay tuned to find out what the final verdict is, if that helps you at all to do your own planning / preparation, though I wouldn't use me as an example for advice.

Alternate Reality

It's simply amazing about the vivid "films" we receive when we sleep and dream. Our own personal movies, of which we are the stars, and can do anything. Defy gravity, go to other worlds, and all. Stuff so profound, no studio in the world could touch it.

To me this serves as evidence that we are all one, because I cannot imagine being able to create all those crazy, realistic movies myself, in my own mind. That's a lot of data. And if it is possible that our minds can do that, than our minds are really amazing, a lot more than we give them credit for.

Just zonk out, and tune in! Mind-o-vision: It's on.

Another thing dreams prove is that we all have vivid imaginations, and ARE able to visualize things, believe it or not. And you should. Because you can. You can visualize just as vividly in waking life.

Get tuned in to your subconscious (aka higher self!)

In It to Win It

So here, like an immigrant, and in fact an immigrant of some type, moving within one's own country, to a new location with unknown opportunities, I've landed here in the middle edge of Maine, to further my education. I've turned up the heat. It's on now. Get it done, and move forward. No more procrastinating the inevitable. I've let go of the fact that college is a required process for the recognition of employers. For a job that pays a good salary, and starts at 30K without working up the ladder. Don't laugh. I know that's not a lot of money, but the most I ever made in a year, and this is adjusted gross income, folks, has been around 25k. My choice and all that, I get it. But I've chosen to go the distance. Not for those employers. I hope never to need their job but to be successful on my own, and in the arts, and be able to tell all HR people to shove it. There certainly won't be an of those in my organization. Hiring will be done by myself or managers directly. Sorry, job dolers, I don't have a position for you at this time. Muhaha! Seriously. If you managed in human-resources or personnel, or anything of the like, do not seek employment with any future Kevin Soini ventures. There will not be any opportunities for you.

Ranting aside, I'm doing this for me. I want to be the best [I can be] at what I do. And what I do, as I've learned from interfacing with my higher self, is write, act, sometimes create visual art, speak, inspire, maybe teach at times as dreadful as it sounds at the moment; but not in an organized institution- and conceive job-building, totally green enterprises, projects and non-profit endeavors that will benefit their perspective communities. These are most of my responsibilities here on Earth, that I know so far. I'm sure there are many that I've not explored, and know nothing about yet. These are the voyages of Starship Enterprise....well I'm not sure why I brought that up. But you get the point.
Expansion. Change. Good karma. Leave this earth better than you found it. Just a common courtesy, you know? Camp-ship Earth. Take nothing, leave nothing.

With a baccalaureate education, as much as a pain in the pa-tut as it is to get one, you too can have the upper hand as an insider. And it's really not that hard, people. 120 credit hours for a B.A. You can start at a community college, and knock off half of it at night, after work. And right now, government money is putting people through school. What else is it good for? Gotta invest in your people if you want 'em to vote for you, true?

Now is college the only answer? You bet it's not! There's a whole world out there. And if you got any better idea, go with it! Unless I should make a mint in my own enterprises before I'd otherwise graduate, I, like many people, currently lack the strength, courage, or genius to move forward any other way. But there are ways, and there's a whole un-college movement to push people in that direction.

Me, I'm at the halfway point in this endeavor. I've got 2 more years to go. And it's about time to have that much. But it's 100% possible, (not 100% odds,) that I'll get rich before graduating and say "see ya later" to the halls of academia, as much as they have helped me become a better person and better enjoy life. And it's 100% possible for you, too.

You get out of life what you put into it. Start putting something into life, if you want to see results. It works every time. Guarantee it. As long as you have the attitude and take the initiative, there is no investment more sound than your goals.

Are you ready? Let's make some stuff happen, people of Planet Earth!