<p>Hang in there, patient! Patience IS a virtue...</p>
<p>patient,</p>
<p>I think my kid and yours are in a contest for last to work. D has comfortably (for her) settled into the house, did a review of the want ads on craigs list etc. and found that the posters wanted (1.) somebody for longer than the summer (2) someone with direct experience in retailing) or (3) had already filled the spot. To her great surprise, she found that most places that hire for the summer did so before mid - June. (she still has not figured out that work is actually a priority for some kids.). She had one two day gig cleaning outdoor furniture and learned that "work" is called that for a reason. I think she also saw, perhaps for the first time, why mental work is preferred by many over physical labor. </p>
<p>So, she has decided to "pay us back" for our giving her room and board. She now cooks for us on occasion. Of course, buying exotic expensive ingredients for curious results would not have been my first choice of dining experiences, but what the heck...</p>
<p>The truth is Mom, Dad and dog are all enjoying her return. How long this will last I do not know.</p>
<p>newmassdad, major LOL and thanks for raising my spirits! The irony is that both my teenage girls, recent high school grads, are making good money, albeit in entry-level jobs, right now! And cooking dinner would be a definite plus!</p>
<p>ellemenope, congrats to you and all the others whose children have found good jobs :) and/or grad school, and thanks for the kind and encouraging words. (Patience is a virtue and so is finding a job :D)</p>
<p>I do have the firm belief that all will work out in the end. These are great kids and all of them sooner or later will find their direction, I know.</p>
<p>Daughter graduated in June from Stanford with a B.A. in English and with great uncertainty about the "next step." She had some great journalism internships during her summers, but isn't sure that she wants to pursue journalism as a career; she's thinking teaching or public relations. Plus, she wants to stay in the Bay Area, at least for now. After a couple of months of angst, and resumes submitted for a variety of internships/jobs, she put together three different part-time jobs/paid internships beginning in Sept.: a position with a local newspaper, a marketing/P.R. internship with an internet travel start-up, and a teaching job with an SAT prep company. Each of these represents a career she's interested in, and I'm excited that she's figured out a way to try things out before settling on what she really wants to do.</p>
<p>Woo hoo for filo895!</p>
<p>great to hear about other members of the class of 2008 across the country!</p>
<p>I just graduated from W&M in May with a BA in International Relations, and no fancy honors. I went backpacking in Europe for a month May 23 - June 23, which was an awesome time. I am in contact with multiple Americorps programs working with schools in Virginia, and hopefully I will be doing that for a year, starting Sept/Oct/Jan, depending on the program. I did nothing in July, and now I am teaching at high school marching band camp again (4th year, 3rd year paid), and will probably try to get certified to substitute teach. After Americorps, I will probably try to go to grad school for something along the lines of International Relations.</p>
<p>congrats to all the parents! And to those that have kids that haven't quite found their thing yet... don't worry, they will get there!</p>
<p>Hi everyone. Just checking in to see how our 26-27 year olds are doing… Any updates??</p>
<p>Jym, I suspect you know about the meandering path my son (the worm) has taken. He’ll be a4th y grad student, about to start a 3-month internship at Google. Had it been up to me, I would have encouraged him to do college internships in Silicon Valley, and head straight there after college. </p>
<p>I hope others check in.</p>
<p>Mine is finishing up a dual Ph.D. in musicology and Italian studies at Princeton, and living in a pink palace in Venice.</p>
<p>[Guided</a> tours | Fondazione Giorgio Cini Onlus](<a href=“http://www.cini.it/en/visite-guidate]Guided”>http://www.cini.it/en/visite-guidate)</p>
<p>I’m from the HS class of 2004/college class of 2008. I’m going into my sixth and final year of a PhD in sociomedical sciences and psychology at Columbia. I’m turning 27 this summer.</p>
<p>bookworm has made an interesting comment. I would not recommend that anyone go into a PhD program directly out of college, and I say that as someone who was 100% sure I wanted a career as a researcher since the end of my sophomore year and intended to do a PhD since the beginning of my junior year. You just don’t know what’s out there when you’re in college; you’re not exposed to the vast array of fields and careers. Something else may be your bliss, and I think one should only really spend 5-7 years getting a PhD if that’s their true and first bliss. I love research but it’s really because I love data management and analysis, and I could do that in a variety of fields…with an MS. So if I could go back in time, I’d have traveled around the world for a year or two and then gotten an MS in statistics or a related field, and worked.</p>
<p>BUT. I don’t regret my choices, because I’ve had a good time and have learned, and am learning, so much. Still, I advise the undergrads I teach to take time off and be sure. It’s harder to leave grad school than it is to wait to enter.</p>
<p>Off the top of my head: </p>
<p>TheDad’s D is getting a Ph.D. in economics.</p>
<p>NewMassDad’s D won a very prestigious award.</p>
<p>FountainSiren is writing for The Atlantic, among other publications. (Was she an '04 HS grad?)</p>
<p>I lost touch with WildButterfly (I think that was her screen name - she went to Trinity).</p>
<p>My S was HS Class of 2005, now 26. We discovered CC when after he was accepted into a math/science summer program at MIT as a rising senior. He was always pretty focused kid and has “stayed the course” since then. SB in '09 (classmate of Marite’s S) and now four years into his PhD program, on course to finish next year. And recently engaged to his college sweetheart. :)</p>
<p>Yay-- found one of the other old college class of 2008 ( HS 2004) threads!</p>
<p>Just found this thread. Wonderful to hear the updates. :)</p>
<p>Nice to read the updates :)</p>
<p>Our daughter is pursuing her goal in broadcast journalism. From 2008-2012, she was a reporter and anchor in a small market in the desert southwest. Since 2013, she’s been a reporter in a mid-level market in western New York state. Glad to have her in the same time zone!!</p>
<p>Newmassdaughter is finishing up a DPhil in Medical Anthro at Oxford. Her defense is in a few weeks. Her thesis research was on use of information among scientists in an emerging aspect of personalized medicine, so she hits some interesting buttons. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, she’s started a term research position at Exeter in SW England. She wants to stay in academia. We’ll see how that goes!</p>
<p>Someday she’ll be back in the US permanently, we just don’t know when. At least that’s the plan. Meanwhile, it’s so odd to have a kid who flies down to the south of France for a long weekend. Of course, I then realize it’s not much further than flying from Boston to DC, and much cheaper!</p>
<p>Update: Newmassdaughter is now Dr. Newmassdaughter! She finished her dissertation and passed her viva (Oxfordspeak for defense) with flying colors. </p>
<p>Juillet, your advice is good, but consider your alternative. How many folks live with regret because they put something off to be “more practical” only to never find the chance to pursue that dream? I know quite a few. Better, I think for some, to try your dream, such as a PhD, and quit if it’s not the direction you want or need. </p>
<p>The need to reinvent oneself is lifelong for many of us. I think back to people I’ve known and marvel at how few are doing something they even thought of when they were in college or grad school. Attorneys became teachers. Docs became finance guys. A PhD in physics working on wall street. Folks who wandered, sometimes for years, heading to grad school and careers as academics.</p>