At a Crossroad

While only having been a member of this forum for about a week, I already feel as though it has changed my life in a positive way. As I posted in the Midwest forum, I recently graduated from Truman State University here in Missouri (graduation was actually Friday), and I am now pursuing a career. Thanks to posters on this forum, I learned that the company I was pursuing a sales postion with (Daniel Schmitt & Co.) was a dishonest dealership who has tried to sell less than perfect vehicles to many members on this site. My initial hope to work with amazing machines from Ferrari, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and others could never outweigh knowing that I would be cheating honest, hard working people of their money.

The St. Louis paper has an ad for a receptionist at Bentley St. Louis for nights and weekends, but 15 hours a week will not cut it for this recent college grad with a wedding date of May 19, 2007. So for now I am back at home, hunting through the paper, Monster, and the Careerbuilder website. Although my degree is in health science, with minors in biology and psychology, I'm unsure if this is the route I want to follow. My father has worked at and been successful in sales for many years, and while the rewards are pleasurable, I have seen the harm that long hours and high stress situations can place upon a hard working man's shoulders.

The various threads about your vehicles, pools, garages, and homes serve as a reminder of what the future could hold and why I need to stay focused on succeeding regardless of what task I am performing. While some of you are my age or even younger, there are many others who are far more experienced who may be able to offer some insight to a "brand new vehicle making its way off the trailer and onto the unknowing path of the streets ahead." (Sorry the car analogy seemed better in my mind.)

While I would love owning a Ferrari, heck even an Infiniti would be better than my Ford Focus, the most important thing is being able to provide for my family and securing a safe and happy life for my future wife and myself. To end this long and probably boring post, I would simply like to ask what kind of job paths you folks started in and what have you found the most rewarding (not necessarily monetarily)?

Thanks for reading this and my apologies to anyone who suffers through this and then wants his 2 minutes back, all I can offer are some Ramen and Maccaroni and Cheese meals I took with me when I left my college apartment!

 

Thank you for the responses. I have seen my house change from a place of fun and friends to a place where I simply sleep due to clutter and maintenance needs after my dad left us. We have a pool that has gone from neighborhood play place to a scummy mosquito breeding ground. My purcahse of a Mitsubishi Eclipse turned from "great investment with lots of potential" to hunk of junk sitting in the driveway on a jackstand. I am well aware that material items are meant to be enjoyed as a part of life, not to provide the only joy in your life. My fiance is currently working as a receptionist at a health fitness facility because it was the best opportunity she could find in St. Louis that let her get involved in the activities she enjoys (personal training, developing workout plans, etc.). She works from 4:445 AM to 1 PM which is wreaking havoc on our ability to spend time together as well as her ability to get any sleep. She is also making less than 25,000 a year, but its what she wants to do and she enjoys it and thats more important to me than her suffering through a job she hates so I can see her a little bit more.

Does anyone have any experience with starting their own company? Again, thanks for any insight you can provide!