Future Plans / What You Do

Amadeo

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Mar 29, 2018
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UK, North West, Lancashire
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Sherbert (Male Cockateil, Grey with Emerald/Olive),
Moth (Female Budgerigar, Pied),
Melia (Female Budgerigar, Dilute)
I thought I would make a little post to describe what I do currently and what sort of plans I have for the future.
I'd love to hear about what other users here do or plan in doing.

I currently live in North West England with my parents and older sisters' family, who recently moved in at the start of the year, on a dairy farm.
For as long as I can remember I've been surrounded by animals, which is to be expected on a farm but also because we've never had a length of time without pets. Naturally I'm quite the animal lover and enthusiast.
Currently I work for Greggs, a bakery food retailer, and spend free time on art, learning on my own and being a bit of a procrastinator (that in no way means I'm not a hard worker though, I just need motivation some times '^^).

This year I would like to go back to college and start on animal studies, because I would love to work with animals.
I've actually already been to college, originally when I left high school, to do a year in horticulture and then two years in software development. They have very little to do with each other and, looking back, I really had no idea of what I really wanted to do when I was in high school.
After a few life experiences after leaving college and a chance to grow, think and experience the real world it has opened my eyes/mind and helped me understand that, honestly, the people back in high school definitely pushed me into decisions I didn't like.
(I think this is true for most school leavers. How do they expect 16 year olds to know what they want to do without experiencing the world.)
When I mentioned my plans to my Mum she presented me with a rather large thick book, blacks' veterinary dictionary. :grey: (I find it funny how there is a book called greys' anatomy for humans, and now a black veterinary dictionary for animals.)

Sometimes I get a bit to carried away with what I'm writing, I think that happened here. But if anyone here works with animals I'd love to hear about it.
 

itzjbean

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Jan 27, 2017
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Goof for you for going back to college!

I got a Bachelor's degree in Animal Science with a major in Biology. I love animals with a passion! But I have yet to find a job working directly with animals. Unfortunately for me if you want to work with animals for a living in Iowa you are either going to have to go to school to be a veterinarian or you get to work on either a cow farm or a kill floor. Vet technicians do get to work with animals but you need a technical degree here for that only 2 years but don't get paid very much. Zoos are an option but there are usually SO MANY applications that you need to have an in or have TONS of exotic animal experience.

The closest I have gotten to working with animals/biology that paid decent was working at an ethanol plant. Ha! I did work in college on a beef farm but it was for grad studies and mostly hard labor, working in fields and hardly any interaction with the cows. Not exactly what I went to school for...

Still, my passion for animals runs deep. Especially birds. I will likely end up being a bird breeder in the coming years -- it is something I am learning more about and becoming very passionate about. And since I have a progressing eye condition and will likely lose my driver's license in a few years it is okay because I can just ooh and ahh at all my baby birds and be my own boss!


We all have a path, it may not be the one we envisioned but I believe everything happens for a reason! Thanks for sharing!
 
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DiscoDuck

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Rudy - Hybrid Ruby Macaw Born 6/6/15 Scarlet Mother/Green Wing Father - Oliver BFA RIP 3/15/15 @ 34yo. Without you, I would not have Rudy. Thank you!
sorry to be snide but. I been there - done that. He with the most toys does not win. I'm going the polar opposite. I want to do as little as possible and make nothing of it.
 
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Amadeo

Amadeo

New member
Mar 29, 2018
199
58
UK, North West, Lancashire
Parrots
Sherbert (Male Cockateil, Grey with Emerald/Olive),
Moth (Female Budgerigar, Pied),
Melia (Female Budgerigar, Dilute)
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sorry to be snide but. I been there - done that. He with the most toys does not win. I'm going the polar opposite. I want to do as little as possible and make nothing of it.


I'm just tired of having no path. Around where I live there are very few opportunities if you don't have some kind of education or experience. I've been out in the world with no qualifications, looking for work and the best I've gotten after applying for 50-100 applications is serving customers in food retail.
I don't want to get stuck doing that for the rest of my life, I don't actually like talking to people let alone strangers.
 
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Amadeo

Amadeo

New member
Mar 29, 2018
199
58
UK, North West, Lancashire
Parrots
Sherbert (Male Cockateil, Grey with Emerald/Olive),
Moth (Female Budgerigar, Pied),
Melia (Female Budgerigar, Dilute)
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  • Thread starter
  • #5
We all have a path, it may not be the one we envisioned but I believe everything happens for a reason! Thanks for sharing!

That's certainly true. I thought I'd do well in software but it didn't go well. I got a good chance whilst studying too, I was recommended by my tutor to a company running servers in the next city over.
I'd much rather work with animals, even if it's for less money. ^^
 

DiscoDuck

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Rudy - Hybrid Ruby Macaw Born 6/6/15 Scarlet Mother/Green Wing Father - Oliver BFA RIP 3/15/15 @ 34yo. Without you, I would not have Rudy. Thank you!
I don't want to get stuck doing that for the rest of my life, I don't actually like talking to people let alone strangers.

hmmm.. someone cleans offices at night. Find out what they are paying someone else to do and undercut the price. That will free you up to explore any and every day or sleep all day and do nothing else except hang out at a zoo.. your choice.

oh wait. England.. uh. ok sorry.. oh wait, just get a one way ticket to the states and overstay your VISA.. best of luck
 

DiscoDuck

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Rudy - Hybrid Ruby Macaw Born 6/6/15 Scarlet Mother/Green Wing Father - Oliver BFA RIP 3/15/15 @ 34yo. Without you, I would not have Rudy. Thank you!

Scott

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RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
sorry to be snide but. I been there - done that. He with the most toys does not win. I'm going the polar opposite. I want to do as little as possible and make nothing of it.


I'm just tired of having no path. Around where I live there are very few opportunities if you don't have some kind of education or experience. I've been out in the world with no qualifications, looking for work and the best I've gotten after applying for 50-100 applications is serving customers in food retail.
I don't want to get stuck doing that for the rest of my life, I don't actually like talking to people let alone strangers.

We all have a path, it may not be the one we envisioned but I believe everything happens for a reason! Thanks for sharing!

That's certainly true. I thought I'd do well in software but it didn't go well. I got a good chance whilst studying too, I was recommended by my tutor to a company running servers in the next city over.
I'd much rather work with animals, even if it's for less money. ^^

Sometimes you need to experiment with a few endeavors before settling on a grand compromise. Money vs happiness, and the cliches are endless. Some folks will toil in misery for decades with the hope of enjoying the "golden years." Don't know your age, but my hunch is the younger generations will bias towards a blended approach.

I've been lucky as my core interests have been fulfilled by career. Now considering an early retirement with more emphasis on caring for animals, in and out of my home.
 

marrmarr

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Feb 15, 2018
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Bird the budge
perhaps become an entrepreneur. save some money and invest in yourself. create projects that YOU want to do. buy some land build a farm or sanctuary. I refuse to accept that the only way to become someone in life is to get a degree, just seems way too narrow. watch youtubers that have built their owns projects and are living off it.
 

bill_e

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I'd much rather work with animals, even if it's for less money. ^^
Hmm, wouldn't we all want that but you know that's much easier to say when you're living with your parents.

Others may criticize me for saying this but you need money to live. The better your salary the more comfortable your life is. The better your salary the more likely you will be able to enjoy doing what you want to do....be that volunteering at an animal shelter or rescuing animals yourself or whatever.

If you want to someday actually work with animals and make a decent living from it you need to go back to school. My recommendation would be major in business and eventually get an MBA. Sounds boring I know, but with that business degree and MBA you'll be able you'll go to a bank and get a loan to open your dream business. Even if you decide to work for someone else the MBA is a great tool.

My daughter went to college to become a vet, couldn't get through organic chemistry and eventually changed her major to English with a minor in journalism. Worked for many years in retail (Store managers) and at veterinary clinics as receptionist, non certified vet tech etc. Nothing paid well enough to give her disposable income. Eventually she got an MBA by going to school at night and now she is a Practice Manager at a Vet clinic with three Vets. She is the highest paid employee aside from the doctors. She get's to work with animals, observe surgeries and help out as a tech. She is happy.

If you put yourself in a mindset that you're willing to "settle" for less, you've lost before you've begun. Get back to school!
 

GaleriaGila

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Life is long... hopefully! Time for lots of growing and learning. I got the Rb when I was in grad school, and I still have him now that I'm retired.
In the meantime and in-between times, I've lived in many states and worked in many environments, most recently my home, finally indulging my heart's desire as a portrait artist.
My point is, you don't have to make a comprehensive decision NOW, or at any given moment. Life's very fluid.
You sound like a very sincere and open-minded individual. I hope you stay that way. :)
Lots of great ideas above.
Good luck to you.
 

Kentuckienne

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Oct 9, 2016
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Have done a ton of different things in my life. College isn’t for everybody, but it’s invaluable for others. I didn’t really have any strong pull when I went to college, so I eventually walked out with degrees in chemistry, German, and linguistics. Chemistry is good for getting some kind of lab job any time you want. Linguistics actually turned out to be great for computer programming, back when nobody had degrees in it. But if you found something you love and you need the degree, go for it! Being a vet seems like a rewarding career, you will get bit/kicked etc. all the time. Can you volunteer in a vet practice, maybe at least one day a week, to see if it’s something that calls to you? Finding something you love, getting the training to do it well, spending your career doing something rewarding, something that helps people and animals...sounds great to me.
 

Cardinal

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Jul 1, 2014
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Currently I have none, but I have the capacity to adopt a minimum and maximum of two budgies - preferably a bonded pair or two males.
Hi Amadeo

Planning a career is a very serious thing. 16 to 19 is the ideal age to get started .
Here you have to identify two things
1. What you are passionate about
2. What you are really good at.

These two may be the same or they may be different. You may be gifted in Mathematics and Computer programming but passionate about animals. My advice would be to not give up on what you are good at to pursue your passion.

Also working with animals may involve many aspects and they all may require a different skill and mindset.

1. Working as a vet would require putting up with cranky animals and their even more cranky human companions. Also having to deal with "yucky" stuff like blood, stools , doing necropsy etc. Do you have that in you?

2. You way want to spend time in the wild watching wild animals; that would involve a lot of patience and hardwork.

3. Animal husbandry, zoo keeping etc. requires patience and may not be monetarily rewarding.

So it would be good to identify what exactly you want out of life.
Psychometric tests like MBTI may be of help but only partly.

So best of luck in planning your future.

cheers

Avin:red1::greenyellow::yellow1:
 
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Amadeo

Amadeo

New member
Mar 29, 2018
199
58
UK, North West, Lancashire
Parrots
Sherbert (Male Cockateil, Grey with Emerald/Olive),
Moth (Female Budgerigar, Pied),
Melia (Female Budgerigar, Dilute)
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  • #14
I appreciate others advice. It's good to hear some genuinely good advice concerning building a career and getting somewhere, mixed in with some somewhat snide remarks from a couple of people. Especially referring to living with parents, being OK with less income (because I live with parents) and supposedly being happy with settling with less in life. I barly mentioned my current situation and no one actually knows my current age, so some of those remarks kind of sting.

The most important thing to me is my own health and well-being, wealth isn't close to the top of the list. I'm struggling with health issues, going to threpy and trying to get my life back on track after it spiraled out of control whilst doing what I want to do, not what others dictate like I did when I was in school, following the words of everyone else without stopping to think what I wanted.


This tread wasn't actually for life advice anyway, I was just interested in what other users do and what everyone else had plans for in the future. Hense the title "Future Plans/ What You Do"

Still, many thanks for some of the good advice. Having others point out things I may have missed whole thinking about what I'd like to do.
 

itzjbean

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Jan 27, 2017
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I appreciate others advice. It's good to hear some genuinely good advice concerning building a career and getting somewhere, mixed in with some somewhat snide remarks from a couple of people. Especially referring to living with parents, being OK with less income (because I live with parents) and supposedly being happy with settling with less in life. I barly mentioned my current situation and no one actually knows my current age, so some of those remarks kind of sting.

The most important thing to me is my own health and well-being, wealth isn't close to the top of the list. I'm struggling with health issues, going to threpy and trying to get my life back on track after it spiraled out of control whilst doing what I want to do, not what others dictate like I did when I was in school, following the words of everyone else without stopping to think what I wanted.


This tread wasn't actually for life advice anyway, I was just interested in what other users do and what everyone else had plans for in the future. Hense the title "Future Plans/ What You Do"

Still, many thanks for some of the good advice. Having others point out things I may have missed whole thinking about what I'd like to do.


I am sorry you feel that these were rude/snide comments but realistically in the real world many of us do not get the luxury of getting to do what we want to do because it simply comes down to providing for our family. Many, many people do not like the work they do but must do it, sacrifice for their families. I know it is not something you want to hear, but it is undoubtedly what many of us have to do to get by. I'm currently a receptionist at a car dealership, do I want to do this? Not really I'd rather stay at home and breed my birds but I hae to pay the bills somehow!
 

DiscoDuck

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Rudy - Hybrid Ruby Macaw Born 6/6/15 Scarlet Mother/Green Wing Father - Oliver BFA RIP 3/15/15 @ 34yo. Without you, I would not have Rudy. Thank you!
Hense the title "Future Plans/ What You Do"

I am sorry you feel that these were rude/snide comments



My future is planned everyday to do what I realistically want to do.

In my mind, it is that simple. I don't follow what others think I should do. I listen, I respect, however I am not a robot. Now on the other hand, I have told my kids many times, if it is important to you to compete or match or follow others, then do that!

The most important thing is, whatever makes you happy, do that!:57:
 

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