VectorWega

You have a very "woe is me attitude." If you want something, you gotta go out and get it. If you wanna get paid, then start doing things to make it happen. I have a buddy who graduated with a high GPA with a more far more worthless major than you (psychology). He then worked for a lawyer doing meaningles crap like scanning documents. He then went on to do market research for a real estate consulting company...getting paid not that well. He then took the GMAT, scored very high, got into a top 20 university, and is now all but assured of a 6 figure income upon graduation.

In regards to construction, my brother just quit his 6 figure job (2nd time) and is now doing construction (for a buddy's firm). However, my brother's end goal is to handle all of his rental properties, and I'm assuming he is just doing the construction work to gain more experience in that area so that he can handle any problems that may arise. Going into construction is fine but hopefully you would want to parlay it into something else.

BTW, it seems to me like a 9 to 5 IT job is more your style...one where you can surf the web all day and take 2 hr lunches. Far easier than doing construction work.

mcim

Well after reading Moire's response about not wanting to get married, having no kids, and sleeping all day, it seems to me that he's just a depressed lonely guy. The sleeping all day and the apparent lack of motivation just clinch it for me.

I'm not a doctor so this is just a guess so..
See your physician for medication, it might be the kick start you need to get out of the hole you've found yourself in and apparently think you dug yourself by going to college for math. If you don't believe in medicating(or just want to get better faster and be able to get off the meds), then get some supportive friends, join a group/church, or just get out there and do something that's socialable and fun. I don't know what area you live in, so I can't make any suggestions that are helpful.

Moire

I am 100% certain I am not depressed. I'm unconventional, that's all.

Nothing like hanging out with people who hang out with you only because they fear divine retribution and/or eternal damnation if they dare deny their friendship to a poor, lonely soul. I'm not too hot about hanging out with that type of people. I want to hang out with people who like me for who I am.

Why? It is true that I could do better with a higher salary and a more rewarding job, but I'm otherwise satisfied with my chosen lifestyle.

SkyGirl

Well Moire seems to be lacking self-confidence I think. But everyone here are just trying to help you Moire!!
Environmental factors, the people around u might be some of the reasons.
I used to put myself down a lot when I was 15. But I realized my mistake when a teacher pointed out that I don't realize my potential.
Moire, do this. Get a piece of paper and list all the qualities you possess and all the stuff u achieved including tht Math degree. You gonna have a long list so don't mop around

Moire

I was all the opposite when I was 15. I had a healthy vision of my own potential which I stubbornly and foolishly/wisely maintained in spite of many of my teachers' repeated unsuccessful attempts to put me down and/or lower my self-esteem.

mcim

I just mentioned group/church because the people in it usually have something in common, be it religion, same interests or even same problems. Often times people will like you for you, but there is no reason/setting for them to get to know you well; a group/church is an easy solution. I've got bad hearing so its tough for me to get to know folks well at a party since I can hardly hear what they've got to say, I kinda find it embarassing to keep saying "WHAT?" I joined a martial arts club, did some non-credit gym classes, and did intermural sports and made some friends that way in college.

FYI, I don't believe in god or anything, but I had a roommate who was annoying as heck but he found his niche in a church group of his. I figure that although it might not be something I'd join, others may have other opinions, and in fact even religious groups can interesting activities, I've gone to a poker night of my college christian center once or twice, and the issue of god or religious never really came up and I had a fun time.

I gotta ask though, what are your goals and aspirations? Or what were they? Was there a reason you went to college and majored in math? What would your dream job be, no matter how realistic or not?

I just don't think that when you graduated HS, you thought to yourself that you'd want to be a construction worker one day, live a sparse life, and retire when you're 40 without a wife or kids(do you at least date or want to date)?

CollectivSynergy

Wrong, Moire, doors don't simply "open up" for ivy grads. You have an advantage, sure, over the guy who goes to Podunk U, but by no means do people run around giving you offers. You have to look for them yourself. And you're kidding me if the "old boys network" is automatically handed to you on a silver platter either. Again, you need to WORK for that. This means making and maintaining strong relationships with other people, something you seem to be poor at. Nobody's going to be your friend or help you out just because you have the same alma mater.

Your response to a nothing but helpful DougBetsy again shows how much you need an attitude adjustment. Whatever, go work in construction. The day you get laid off because you wrenched your back and can't do heavy lifting anymore don't come back and cry here. You have no appreciation for the gift of education you were able to receive and no appreciation for the opportunities and doors that DID open for you. You're the pinnacle of what's wrong with this generation. You're always complaining about what you don't have instead of enjoying what you do. Why do you DESERVE to go to Princeton? You don't. By the way, I know of a dozen math majors making 6 and 7 figures (family acquaintances). They didn't go to an ivy. They were immigrants. What about that old boy's network huh!

Xanatos

How is it not 100% obvious that this guy is a troll?

Moire

I never had any concrete goal or aspiration. I liked math when I was in high school, and by the time I got to college I decided I was going to pursue a degree in that field of study. But my interest in math slowly ebbed after I realized that my math skills were not quite up to par with those of people who got paid to do math. For a period of time I doubted myself, and reasoned I was being too hard on myself, but I decided I was going to complete my math major anyway.

I never pictured myself with a wife, kids, or living past a certain age. I saw myself locked up in a basement doing what I enjoyed doing, math, day or night and with no sense of time.

I've never dated and I don't believe I want to go through the trouble of dating even if the opportunity presented itself.

I didn't take DougBetsy's advice seriously because I was unsure he wasn't being sarcastic. Here's his input:

"If you want to use your bachelors in math, consider FBI or NSA. You sound perfect for them."

I was intrigued, so I inquired further. This is what he answered:

"You sound like someone who thinks you deserve "better." The feds usually have "better.""

"Not all agents are in the field. They have very nice desk jobs that would probably appeal to your level of motivation."

In other words, DougBetsy thinks that I should consider the FBI or the NSA because I resemble the profile of the people who, according to him, work at those places: unmotivated college graduates with a false sense of entitlement.

embroglio

Maybe you could consider taking a year off, going to a foreign country...

Such a new experience (although a costly one) could allow you to remove yourself from your surroundings and think about ways to achieve what you want and enjoy the things in life that you do.

You do not have to change your mindset, but I think you need to find a pathway that makes you happy.

If not a year, take off a semester....

4321234

okay... so you don't want wife and kids and a life... all you want to do is sleep and have enough to get by. well, you know what, with those standards, $16/hour isn't bad, and you can get by with that. i don't know why you're complaining then.

Moire

Well, I don't really want to sleep all day . I just wanna stay at home and not have to worry about anything. I would, of course, keep myself entertained with my geekish hobbies. Who knows, I might even open my old math books and start solving undergraduate level math problems just for fun. If that goes well, I'll graduate to solving graduate level math problems just for fun.

PS: I won't be able to retire by the age of 40 on a $16/hour salary.

mcim

If you do want to take a year off and go to a different country, one idea is to teach english(or American as I like to call it) in another country if you don't have the means to do it or are just interested. Korea in particular has a high desire for many teachers and I was thinking of doing this myself(was about to have an interview) until I recently got accepted to a Masters program. The good thing was that they'd give free housing, cost of living is significantly lower, salary is something like 30k, health benefits, and you don't need any experience, just a bachelor's degree in anything(I've got one in engineering). You can also teach in other countries in Asia, but Korea is the best value I've seen. If I've got some inbetween time from Masters to PhD, I'd definitely consider this again(of course, I'm interested in other cultures/languages/writing system, you might not be).
PM me if you want more details, lots of people fresh out of college actually do this sort of thing.

It seems to me that you feel your life has little meaning, you are underappreciated and/or your job is unfulfilling. Changing things up might give you a perspective on life that'll swing things into gear, hence why you'd be interested in construction, something that has solid results that you can see are the fruit of your labor.

Of course if you are just plain serious that you think you would've made more money in construction(you've already said you've got no aspirations so I don't really see why you are interested in construction in particular...) and that your degree has just put you in debt, I'd suggest getting a license to drive trucks(CDL?) as they usually make a decent amount of cash, UPS drivers make 70k(I worked as a driver's helper at UPS[$14/hr], so I talked to them about this sort of thing) and since you've got a degree, you work as a driver for a couple years, get into management, then you're making 6 figures. Before you start driving though, you've probably got to work on assembly line for 3-6 months, work your way up the ladder(that's what I was told).

All in all, you aren't satisfied with your job, look into another job or getting promoted to a job you want. I'd start immediately if I were you.

Moire

Teaching English in South Korea would be an interesting experience, simply because I'd have the opportunity to live in a foreign country for a relatively short period of time. But I don't want to get ahead of myself here, and say that I am going to get a teaching job in some foreign country, because I do not know if I possess the social and communicational skills required to hold such position. My guess is I don't, but since the job will be located in South Korea, my potential employers might incorrectly attribute my inelegance to cultural differences and not think much of it. Teaching is not something that I want to do, but teaching in a foreign country for a short period of time might be good for a change. You said they offered free housing. Do they also pay for the plane tickets to South Korea? What about commuting expenses?

Wneckid99

i know some construction workers who make upwards of 1 million a year- they own their own business in a very wealthy new england town so yes construction can make u lots of money- its jst not appealing to me personally