Help with my LIFE

General Discussion
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Since you all were so helpful wiht my egg, maybe you can help me here as well.

im sorry this isnt design related, but i need some feedback.

Im graduating college in 6 weeks, and have applied to graduate school, both in long beach california, and los angeles.

Im live in new york now. I want to surf more, we dont get waves often here, and i cant deal with the winters. the trade off is that i can always find waves to my self whenever i want, and will be able to for the rest of my life due to the winter temps.

I feel like when i get older (40…50…) i wont want to surf winters anymore, so ill only be surfing half the year. Although i will have a job enabeling me to travel and surf the whole world (teacher). Should i pack up and leave, headed to the most exploited land in the united states, and possibly the world, for consistent and crowed waves where i can surf my life away? its really rough here when its flat. When there are waves, its flat, then the next morning its head high barrels, and its flat the next day. the barrels are empty. It is possible for swells to last two or three days, but thats almost tops. rarely do they last any longer.

So i figure, i live at home right now rent free, with plenty of time to surf and no waves. i can live in california, pay my own rent and have to balance being a full time student and my own bills, and surf two or three times a week at least in good waves.

its been 2.5 weeks since my last surf, because we havent had anything. There was one day a few days ago with 50 mph gale force off/sideshores, temps in the 20’s and snow…i paddled out and had a few, then went home and praised the west coast.

tell me what you think.

thankyou.

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Florida isn’t too bad. May end up there myself. Trunks most of the year and Rincon, PR is a short hop away.

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florida is wayy too hot ,and the surf down there is worse then the surf up here, except for in the winter. i cant move somewhere where i can surf less.

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Do some traveling. A nice, long, camping road trip along the coasts of USA in summer, or hop some islands, visit someplace where you can’t read the writing, or cross the big pond Atlantic, are all great ways to end college and allow the Force to begin to draw you to where you need to be. Work your way if you have to. Open your mind and heart. Enjoy. I envy you your journey.

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no no,

that sounds great, but i need to go to graduate school and do something with my life.

i have been traveling since i was 15 years old. been to many places around the globe, for extended stays. i need to get a job where i can support myself, and graduate school will enable me to do that while doing something i appreciate, working with children.

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Do what you will, but don’t forget the Force. Hmmmmmm, wonder where a good grad school is that also has good surf…

Thought for the day. It is possible, and desireable, to do more than one thing with your life at the same time.

7

Since you’re possibly going to be in CA for a bit, guess you’ll be able to explore that part of the coast. Problem with some areas is the cost of living. Seems like a trip to the islands would be a good thing to do. My mom is a retired teacher who still substitutes and my sister also subs out there. They don’t surf, of course. They just keep a board around for when I visit.

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tiktokman your not really coherent at all. i actually dont have a damn clue as to what you said.

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i know how you feel. im a sophomore in college in ny and the winter surfing is brutal…but i have to stay in ny. in the summers i surf the jersey shore which is pretty good. check out LBI (long beach island), point pleasant, long branch, i know those are consisatant good spring summer breaks. what about far rockaway ny?

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China ,they will have all the money and buy a house now while they are cheap and every wants pop culture…south of shanghai on the coast

Titan one of jupiter’s moons should be opening up for development by the time youre ready to retire

tiktok man is really a threat to your coherence

only listen to him when you are about 62 and starting out a new adventure in life then he’ll make sense

he moved to the west coast as a young man this is what will happen to you

your east coast coherence will go southwest and when you return to the eastern source it will be a forign country…Long Beach…is really long Pier or LOng Jetty… You will love L.A.350 days of sunshine! Surf Tall Girls AndLiberal Education!!!..ambrose…born and bred to distain southern california,good luck,you may be there for the rest of your life

I think the curry brothers migrated arround cape horn in the later 1800’s from new york… your life path is not unique…

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OK. Then I have succeeded. Expecting concreteness and coherence may be too much to ask of me, but I will make another attempt at opacity. I am not making light of your decision process. More often than not, life plans us more than we plan it. Pursue your goals with vigor and determination, as you seem to do, but exercise your peripheral awareness to be open to other possibilities, and put your eggs in more than one basket. Goals change. Careers can come and go. But opportunities are endless. Gee, talking about life is like talking about your “egg” (metaphorically speaking), after all.

All I am saying is that if you want to pursue your passions for surfing and working with children, both noble causes, you do not have to choose between them, simply arrange to do both, and that along the way, if you are open, you may discover other things that move your spirit as much or more.

A man is what he dreams himself to be. Dream well.

And that’s enough of that. I’m goin surfin.

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i applied to Pepperdine because making malibu my home would be heaven on earth, but i don’t think i’m going to go…surfing malibu non-stop wouldn’t leave me much time for school, and i’d probably flunk out. besides, Pepperdine is a little too conservative for my taste. so i’m better off not going to Pepperdine…choose a grad school based on the grad school…not the closest surf break. you seem to have your longterm goals pretty well laid out…follow those first. and by the way…florida’s not so bad.

or just pick whichever school is offering you the most money (that’s my backup plan).

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I feel your pain bro. I live on LI, moving to either NC, FL, or Hawaii for school. can’t take the winters anymore…Going to miss family and friends but I don’t surf winters, my surfing buddy has bad ashma and his lungs liek close up and my other friends surf Lond Beach and I can’t make the trek often, my dad bus out when I go to surf alone. Life with out surfing just isn’t the same…Probably be going to chaminade university in Honoulouh…should be interesting haha

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I take it you like city life as well as surfing. I don’t like city life so it’s hard for me to recommend to anybody to go to LA. What about universities in San Diego or Santa Barbara. San Francisco has even better waves and the water isn’t bad compared to NY.

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I live in so cal, the OC, and would gladly trade the crowds for a little less consistency. Besides we get “dry spells” too!

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Lets tackle these in some sort of order. I spent 13 years in college, one way or another, so mebbe I can shed a little light -

Lots of things you should take into consideration with a grad school. Local surf isn’t one of them.

What should ya think about? Wayull -

The best financial ride ya can get…or else you will be spending summers and school vacations working the desk in a Wal-Mart to help pay off the student loans.

What kind of TA/RA gigs are available. Means, essentially, they pay you some to go to school if you get one of those. Plus lots of perks, plus teaching experience. Bear in mind that for every teaching job in a nice little seaside town there are six guys in line for said job who are banging nails or banging nails and subbing a few days a month for chump change a day. You want all your ducks lined up. And all the references you could possibly have. A good record as a TA is up there.

Besides, what makes you think you’ll have time to surf while in grad school? Friend of mine is going for her PhD, lives within rock throwing distance of the water and is constantly noting that she’d love to go but she has papers to correct.

‘when you get older, you won’t want to surf winters any more’ - ah hah, riiiiight. Worked at a surf camp for a bit, and school vacations were brutal. Not kids out on break, teachers out on break. What will keep you from surfing winters won’t be age, it’ll be the lovely Mrs. poser516 and then poser516-a, poser516-b and of course the twins, poser516-c-1 and poser516-c-2.

When ya get older, you can afford to hop a plane to where the water is warm.

College students, and especially grad students with some smarts, they find out about student deals. Such as student airfare and hostels. You could fly outta NYC, hit Biarritz for the morning tide and eat and surf your way to Gibraltar. Same deal goes for teachers, by the way, except if you can organise you can do it so it’s a ‘high school summer school cultural trip’ or some such BS and ya get paid to go, all you gotta do is avoid major diplomatic incidents.

anyhow, a few thoughts on th subject

hope that’s of use

doc…

17

Tiktoman advises balance, equivalency, priority. Listen up!

You’ll get alot of time off as a teacher…I’ve met quite a contented group of couples on my solo June/July CR trips. Wanna hear stories of winter, spring CR, PR adventures and NE US winter surf? Not a bad surfing life on the East Coast,or PAC N or S, if you’re a rubber fetishist. If you’re looking for ideality, try Hawaii, and be prepared for 2nd class status. Welcome to reality.

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Well, maybe you can get a job anywhere you want as a teacher. Doubtful. But, can you afford to live where ever you want on a teacher’s salary. No way. Sorry bro. A teacher’s salary does not go very far in Calif. Teach because it’s important. You are doing some good. It has social value. Why LA? There are other places in Calif. with grad schools with a better life style and surf than LA. Good luck. Mike

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Woah/"(jeepzea)2 Just got back from my annual paddle from Newport Beach to Mainland Mexico where I had beached my 22’ paddleboard and trekked inland to pick some peyote in the moonlight then my swiss army wristwatch ding ding alarm told me it was time to crawl in the cave shake my gourd in time to the heartbeat of the planetoid motion blur and ingest to the tune of “Smoke on the Water” digital gps iPod point of origin that hung from my nylon weight belt beamed at the speed of sensation at my groin while I ingested the mortar pestle fluid of my future tense past participle.

Take the road trip, the older the car, the better. Stop in every state you can and TALK to everyone you can. Smile broadly. Southern California is just a place you’ll use as your base of operations. The real/rest (of) world isn’t like this place. More experience equals more reality to draw from. Take your egg with you…

Huntington Beach, yesterday - North side pier - ONE PERSON OUT (The little black speck in the top photo)! Where is everybody?

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thankyou all.