Thursday, August 6, 2009

Ah, Life Decisions

So not even 3 weeks ago, my feelings for my future went exactly like this:

Graduate from school in October, use my internship experience and knowledge of the industry to get a job at a smaller station back home, work up some credibility in the business (hopefully), and then after 2-3 years at MOST living at home, and hopefully having paid off most of my student loans and debt to my parents, I'd be able to move away, nearly or completely debt free, and at the humble age of 25 or 26, start my life on my total own. Looks pretty reasonable, doesn't it? I mean, living at home until you're 25 isn't ideal, but I wouldn't hate myself for it, especially with my dad's condition, and the fact that I'm not even a little bit close to a relationship.

Well, since then, a few things have happened that have made me consider other options.

1. I suddenly don't feel like I want to go home. It's not a feeling that I want to stay in Cincinnati (even though I probably would), but I'm just not totally ready to move back home yet. Granted, I've got a few months, so that could change again.
2. I suddenly have 2 other job opportunities for part time jobs that I would LOVE to work at, especially full time after school ends and then I'd maybe continue interning or work weekends at a radio station, or something like that, but I've applied at Spin Again (a music, movies, and video games store) and I have an interview Saturday, and I've applied at the Lego store in the mall, and I'm going to be getting a call when kids start leaving for school. Both those places are PERFECT places for me to part-time or full-time until radio is something I can officially land a gig in. However, with 3 months left until I leave, this puts me in a pickle as far as working there for an extended pickle. That brings me to number 3.
3. I suddenly want to live somewhere with roommates. I want the experience of moving in with 1-4 people who I've never met but would potentially have a blast with, specifically people my age (college students immediately come to mind), and just having a great time, and living it up, but still doing my business stuff, too, because since I never went to college, I never got that experience, and I really want it, even for a year or a semester.
4. I suddenly am planning on creating a sports podcast with Jeremy (The Lance & T-Funk Show), and if that actually GOES somewhere, what happens in 3 months when my lease ends and I'm done with school? Does it suddenly END? Do we Skype our podcasts? What happens? I feel like if the podcast actually catches on, it's going to need more than 3 months to establish a fanbase outside of our friends and family, and by leaving Cincinnati, I kill that, and I would love to see the potential for this actually go somewhere.
5. I suddenly like a girl from down here. Sort of. Not really, though. It's one of those puppy love type things, where it doesn't feel like anything more than on the surface attraction, but who knows, it could actually make some leaps and bounds, but it's nothing I'm going to push on the off chance I don't stay here.

I don't know how all of these things will materialize, but I'm hoping I can make more sense of them in the next month or 2 and figure out the difference between what I really WANT to do and what I really NEED to do.