An Introduction
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Dave. I am a 31-year-old guy and have absolutely no clue what I want out of life. I’m writing this blog to document my journey of self-discovery. As of right now, I have absolutely no clue what topics I’ll talk about or where this blog will go. Much like my life, it is a work in progress.
The Past
So, here’s a little about me. I was born in New York and moved to Florida when I was eight because a family member became very ill. I had a very eclectic group of friends when I first moved down. There were basically two groups that intermingled at times. In high school these two groups began to seriously diverge. One group became interested in drugs and alcohol, the other group ended up being the top 5 percent of their respective graduating classes. I was fortunate and ended up with the latter.
I was always a smart kid, but while I was in school I never connected the dots between hard work and success, it took a lot of struggling before I put that together. I went to a private school when I was in New York and was nearly kicked out for not doing my homework… and this was when I was in the second grade. It didn’t get better in high school as my friends were smart enough that they didn’t have to do any homework to ace their classes. I still remember my freshman year science class. I got a C+, not because I didn’t understand the material (my average on the tests was over 100%) but because I only did half of my homework assignments. I would say that the most important thing I learned from high school, though, was not necessarily How To Skate By, but How To Communicate. I had a history teacher and an English teacher who both had very distinct tastes in what they looked for in a writing assignment. Through them I found my own voice. The English teacher put a comment on one of my assignments that summed up my writing style and, really, my entire high school career. It was an essay that I just was not in the mood to write. In fact, I begged her not to have us write an essay in class that day, but she made us anyway. When she returned the paper to me the next day, she scrawled the following on the top of the paper in red ink, “Grade: B – Doesn’t say much, but says it with style.” I ended up finishing high school a single person outside of the top ten percent of my graduating class. Close, but no cigar.
My study habits continued into college. That was not a good thing. My grades and test scores coming out of high school were solid enough to land me a spot at the University of Florida. I started college majoring in both English and Education with the plan of becoming an English teacher. That only lasted one semester until I switched to Advertising. I just thought it would be more fun. I ended up landing on academic probation a few times. While all my friends were able to make the switch from breezing through classes in high school to working their asses off in college, I ended up just trying to breeze through. It didn’t work out so well. Between spending time trying to figure out what kind of person I wanted to be "when I grew up" and mentally missing an entire semester while my mother bravely battled cancer, going to class never became my priority. I did excel in the classes I enjoyed, though. When it came to my psychology classes and my core Advertising classes, I loved the material so much that the work I did in those classes didn't seem like work. The only reason I got my degree is because the dean of my college got tired of seeing me at the end of every semester trying to get out of academic probation. I used those communication skills I learned so well in high school and crafted a deal with him: One class, senior level. I get an A and I get my degree, I don’t get an A and I leave. With that kind of pressure, I aced the class.
Since college, I’ve spent most of my time working in retail. I stuck around in a college town because of a girl and took the first job I could find with Bed Bath and Beyond. I worked there for a year or two, then switched to an office job and realized that I missed the fast pace of retail. I applied to work at my favorite store and was actually hired the same day I applied. That was seven years ago and I’m still with the company. Over the years with my current company, I’ve been very successful in each role I’ve held. The teams I have been in charge of have won countless contests and in the four years I was a supervisor there was only one month in which I did not bonus.
The Present Situation
About a year ago I was given the opportunity for a promotion. There was a catch, though. I required moving to Alabama. To a small town in which I didn’t know a soul. A small town I didn’t even know existed until they asked me to move there. I jumped on the opportunity, imagining myself whisking in, saving the store and whisking back home. Things did not work out as planned. As a stranger in a strange land, I never adjusted to life in Alabama. I wasn’t happy there. It didn’t help that the cards were slightly stacked against me in the new role. Either one of those factors, alone, would not have been a problem. Together, they killed me. I took the first opportunity I could to come back home. In order to do so, though, I stepped down within my current company.
I took a 50% pay cut and currently rent a room from a nice old Jewish woman because I can’t afford a place on my own. Fortunately, the place is so cheap that I can still afford to enjoy myself with my friends. I’m not exactly poor, but I do have a little bit of credit card debt that I’m working on paying down. My retirement savings are just OK. A little over $30,000 or so. Right now I should be pumping money in to those accounts, though, and I just can’t afford to save as much as I’d like. While I’m still putting away seven percent of my income into my 401k, I have completely stopped any sort of short-term savings.
The Future
I need to get my life back in gear. I need a better job. I need a better source of income. Do I stay with my current company? Do I stay in retail? Do I attempt to utilize my degree and try to fight to get a job in Advertising with no experience in the field over the last ten years?
And those are just the questions about my financial situation… I haven’t even gotten started on the relationship side of my life…
