Scheduling woes
The main reason for this is that I only go to school three out of five weekdays. Mondays, we give progress reports and attend a seminar on mathematical methods at Theory. Wednesdays and Fridays, I have Bio 11 with a lecture class at 7 AM (!) and the corresponding laboratory class at 11:30 AM. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I only leave the house in the afternoons, after lunch, if at all, and then only to have coffee or something, hang around with Jeanne.
A week or two ago I tried to remedy this problem by creating a schedule for myself, incorporating all the things I wanted/needed to pursue this semester. Thesis, raket, writing (fiction, essays, etc., for fun), programming (learning Python), driving (practicing), exercise, etc. But although I managed to create what seemed to be a workable, balanced schedule with the more important things being allotted more time, it still didn't work.
I don't know if I should bother trying to revise the schedule or not. If I do, I think what I failed to take into account was how much energy each activity would actually require. I can't just jam my day full of different activities and expect myself to handle it every time. Possibly, I should put in coffee breaks, game/internet breaks, and so on.
It did meet with some success, I guess I should note here. By scheduling raket time on Tuesday/Thursday mornings, I managed to be a little more productive than usual, earning me something like 9k for the month of November. (Di ko papansinin ang mga hihirit ng "Libre, libre!" :P)
In almost everything else, though, I'm remaining/falling behind. Currently trying today to come up with some decent progress to report tomorrow. I don't know yet if I'll be successful, but I do have the entire rest of the day to work on my research, so there's hope yet. As for the other pursuits I set for myself, no progress at all.
(Pauses to get some apple juice. Yum.)
Karir Tots
I've also been thinking recently about my job options after graduation, but no real breakthroughs there yet. Perhaps I shouldn't be all that bothered by that yet, and focus on coming up with a thesis and fixing all the things I need to graduate, but one can't help but wonder.
Option 1: Article writing BS, este, raket
One option that could seriously be considered would be working full-time for this raket stuff that I'm already doing. I've thought about it out loud before, and basically I could end up earning nearly 17k a month just for writing a few articles per day. The stream of work from the guy I work for seems to be steady enough now to make it entirely possible to do it regularly.
Before, when he was just starting out, sometimes there'd be dry spells when he would have no jobs from clients, and so even if I wanted to I couldn't do any work myself. But now he's employing a dozen or more writers and everyone seems to have work all the time. He even has editors and quality control people now. Aside: I find it somewhat amusing/inspiring that this guy actually is (in his words) "bulakbol sa grammar", yet now he's running a growing SEO/Internet content provider.
Anyway, the appeal of this route lies in the fact that it's a home-based job that only takes up a few hours a day. The rest of the day could then be devoted to whatever else I might be interested in at the time. School, developing other skills, and so on. But as this semester seems to be showing, my time management skills and motivation aren't up to snuff.
Of course, the fact that this is boring, tedious, soulless work must be taken into consideration. Although to be fair it's only boring, tedious, and soulless for a few hours a day, and I get to be bored with this tedium and soullessness at home. A much more attractive option than holding down a similarly boring, tedious, and soulless 9-to-5 (like that Siemens call center gig I tried last summer).
Option 2: Corporate whoredom
Okay, so this isn't quite as well-defined an option as that first one. And the only step I've taken towards making this possible is a half-hearted application for the Unilever Management Trainee program. I don't have much hopes of getting accepted, but, hey, application just consisted of filling up a form and emailing it off, so, nothing much to lose, either.
As for working for other companies, I'm not so sure. Maybe some firm like Texas Instruments or Intel would have openings for technical positions such that my physics training wouldn't entirely go to waste.
Basically, I lump under this option all jobs that would require regular hours, that are for some medium to large company, and that come with relatively sizable salaries. The tradeoff here is free time (and sanity? dignity? etc.) for more money. I'm not too keen about this prospect, but at the same time I can't entirely rule it out yet, either. I suppose working at some corporate job for a few months would allow me to decide once and for all whether it's actually worth it or not. (Indications would seem to point towards not, but hey, who knows?)
Option 3a: Teaching
Okay, this is also rather hazy for me right now, but it seems to be one of the most natural paths for physics graduates, so it won't be so hard to get into, probably. This could involve becoming an instructor at the NIP, while also taking an MS.
Now, my only problem with this at the moment is that I'm not so sure I'm set on going into the academe, and I don't think I'm set on becoming a teacher full-time, either. I mean, I enjoy teaching and explaining stuff from time to time, but doing it for a living and as a career seems to require more patience and dedication than I'm capable of.
Teaching at Pisay could also be interesting, right?
Option 3b: Academe
Okay, this is another natural development of my undergraduate degree, and more or less goes with Option 2a. Like I've said before, it's not that I'm not interested in doing research. I do enjoy interacting with the Theorists that I've met so far, and on the whole they're all interesting, intelligent people who love what they're doing. In contrast, I'm a waffler who can't decide whether he should be trying to love or not.
So my beef with this path at the moment is simply my uncertainty. I don't know if it's a reasonable position, but I don't want to jump into the academe just yet, without being sure. Perhaps I feel this way because I can already see how it can swallow me up. If I end up finding out that I'm not cut out for the academe while I'm already inside, may the nonexistent gods help my nonexistent soul.
I would also want to be able to finance my way through education on my own. Mostly because I don't think my family sees the point in academic stuff, and I can't be bothered to try and explain. Eheh. So, even if I eventually end up choosing this path, I can't see how I can do it right away, after graduation.
Option 4: Okay, I'm all out of feasible options.
Working at the family business (brokerage)? Working odd jobs in some other country? Retreating to the mountains and a simple, rural life? Becoming a professional blogger/writer? Taking up law/medicine?
Summary, concluding remarks
Okay, so this has gotten a bit long and rambly, without really going anywhere, as usual. Basically, however, my current goal is to find some job that would still allow me enough time to at least keep other interests alive. Earn my first money, think hard about what I want to do with my life. Then go for it, after I muster the necessary money, courage, motivation, etc.
In this sense, the raket job seems perfect. But I'll have to see. It'd be rather hard to pitch to the family, for example. (They don't know about it. Eheh.)
If there were a job that would use my physics training, even just the problem-solving, analytical or mathematical part of it, that would also be a good choice. Keeping the old brain from dulling. Although I can also do some work on my own by studying further, no matter what job I end up getting (settling for? haha), anyway.
So, I guess, all in all, I'm not too worried. Part of it might just be a misplaced confidence in myself (that I'll manage somehow, that things'll work out), but at least it'll leave me free to worry about more immediate things. Like my progress report tomorrow. Should end this here and continue working.
To the future!
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