$30,000 Note Pad

I had attended this little college back in the early 1980's and could not get a job in my field upon graduation, or even so much as a job interview. It really is who you know and not what you know when looking for that first opportunity, but I did not know anybody, at least anybody in corporate America. I eventually went to work for my Father's company, but he was not of the philosophy that I should be paid very much, and that position eventually petered out, after my surviving five years or so. Three-plus decades later my first college is sending me little gifts, asking for donations to the school, which I am, unfortunately, unable to provide.

Here is their latest gift, a little note pad. Since I blew about $30,000 on that education, I figure this is a $30,000 note pad. Here it is:

$30,000 Note Pad

Graduating Class Wealth

I received my yearly request for donations from the little college I had attended for two years, before transferring to a Mega-University on an athletic scholarship, back in the early 1980's and, naturally, I still couldn't make any meaningful monetary contribution, due to various bad career decisions and countless other economic obstacles through the years.

I did find it interesting however, to compare the top five contributing classes and their rank, assuming this was a reflection on their relative financial success since graduation, as compared to other graduating years in the continuum.

Here are the current rankings:

First place was class of '68. No surprise here. They've had a lot of time to earn the big bucks and saw great benefits from the industrial boom era.

Second place was the class of '78. 1978 was the best year ever actually, according to this article: 

Why 1978 was the best year ever

Third place was the class of '73. Very good.

In fourth was the class of 1988, just in time for the economic recovery from the recession of the early 1980's.

Fifth place was my class, 1983, which does not surprise me. I know of very few in my class who went anywhere, really. We came after the industrial and baby booms and before the tech boom. A lost generation.

Wasted Time?

Time-consuming hobbies, endeavors and diversions that, surprisingly, led nowhere.......

Photography: Since 1978, I have indulged in photography, taking thousands of pictures of wildlife, travel shots, landscapes, party shots and portraits, and it never paid a dime. I even pushed wedding photography for a couple of years, buying a state of the art SLR camera, expensive lenses, a website and all, but never elicited any interest from a clientele. I think this is a business where location is crucial, and I've always been stuck out in some poverty-stricken backwater, where everyone is related, excluding Your's Truly and perfectly happy with pictures taken by drunk Uncle Ned with a disposable camera he got for twelve bucks at Walgreens, or more recently, with their own smartphone cameras. Regardless, not a waste because I would do it for free, and I have!

Destin, FL Sunrise

The Internet: Since 2000. Interesting with plenty of information at my fingertips, in fact, information overload, but what a colossal waste of time.

College: Closed down my lucrative lawn business and bike rental business at the beach and went off to college. Graduated. Business degree. Wait a sec, don't you learn business by being in business? Oh that's right, I was doing that already before college and doing fine. Starving ever since. College. An amazing waste of precious time, especially if you don't have a plan.

Sports: Twelve seasons of wrestling up through college. Unless you wanted to be a wrestling coach, complete dead-end. None of those guys ever became millionaires, or even wealthy. I take that back. I do know of one consistent millionaire, but that was after another four years of school for a professional degree. Leave it to the MMA guys to finally show everybody how to make that hard work pay off in dollars and cents for the investment of time and energy.

Fastest-Growing Jobs in America

Despite the current administration, there are some areas that are still hot for job growth. Here's the top ten, according to 247wallst.com:

10. Skin Car Specialists

9.  Personal Care Aids

8.  Personal Financial Advisors

7.  Coaches and Scouts

6.  Human Resources Specialists

5.  Massage Therapists

4.  Interpreters and Translators

3. Music Directors and Composers

2. Petroleum Engineers

1. Service Unit Operators, Oil, Gas and Mining

That's marvelous, but please remember the most important job characteristic is that you actually enjoy the work, because this list can and will change over time. Don't waste your life doing something you hate.

The College Ripoff

Is a college degree worthless?