Reality Sucks!

[Germelli1]

Well the cold bitch that we call reality is setting in. I can't afford to finish college but more importantly I can't afford to homebrew :cross:. I'm taking a semester or few off to work at my job for a while to save up a little bit of money then it is time to reassess what to do with my life.

The no homebrewing doesn't really bother me much for a few reasons: I will have no choice but to be patient with anything that makes it into the fermenters because I won't have any reason to rush it for the next batch, I get absolutely OBSESSED with anything I don't fully understand so I will have plenty of time to read up and learn as much as I can without gain knowledge from experience, and I already have my next three batches entirely planed out including all the supplies saved in a vendors wishlist!

Time to read up on how to do a partial mash!

Don't really know why I posted, just wanted to vent a little.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

That sucks dude. Sorry to hear about the situation. Before I started brewing i read everything I could get my hands on so I know it will help to study up. My dad laughed at me when he saw my books and notes and said that if I would have studied that hard in school I would graduated at the top of my class! Learn all you can then go all grain! Good luck.

 

[passedpawn]

Yea, go all grain (skip PM). It's really not hard, and it will save you some serious dough.

 

[MW66]

What about going part time? It will only be harder to return to school, than to keep going in some capacity if you can afford it. Can you find a job that will pay for tuition? My father was one of the hardest working people that I knew, but it was manual labor and for what I consider very modest pay. However, it taught me a lesson and that is that higher education is the key to my future. What I gave up by going to school in no way would compare to a lifetime of trying to make ends meet. Not trying to preach, just trying to emphasize that education pays for itself compounded with interest for the rest of your life.

Well the cold bitch that we call reality is setting in. I can't afford to finish college but more importantly I can't afford to homebrew :cross:. I'm taking a semester or few off to work at my job for a while to save up a little bit of money then it is time to reassess what to do with my life.

The no homebrewing doesn't really bother me much for a few reasons: I will have no choice but to be patient with anything that makes it into the fermenters because I won't have any reason to rush it for the next batch, I get absolutely OBSESSED with anything I don't fully understand so I will have plenty of time to read up and learn as much as I can without gain knowledge from experience, and I already have my next three batches entirely planed out including all the supplies saved in a vendors wishlist!

Time to read up on how to do a partial mash!

Don't really know why I posted, just wanted to vent a little.

 

[Germelli1]

No need to worry about preaching...I am open to any and all feedback!

Even though I would love to, I don't want to go all grain yet for a handful of reasons:
1. Space: since I don't know where I will be living in the near future and don't want to burden my parents house with the equipment.
2. Cost of initial investment: I know it is cheaper in the long run, but I can't afford the equiptment right now. Also I may be going into the military as soon as january so I don't want to acquire all the equipment now then rarely use it.
3. Knowledge: I like taking a looooong time to learn every aspect about a hobby I am partaking in. I would rather absolutely master and perfect (even though perfection isn't really achievable) extract brewing before I step up

I have also considered part time, but part of the reason I am leaving is because I don't know what I want to study and part of it is the top 2 jobs I want don't really require a degree. So I decided to stop wasting my parents and my own money in college when I don't know what I want to study/lose interest in my classes

 

[mosquitocontrol]

Although others will probably tell you otherwise. I think you are doing a good thing by taking a semester off until you can afford it. So long as you ensure you go back and save hard for it in the mean time. Loans for school are not worth it

 

[Ringmaster]

Well the military will help pay for school or so i hear. You might want to work on your general ed req's in the meantime then.

It should transfer over to whatever you want to do, there's a reason the counselors try to focus on general ed.

 

[jppostKW]

figure out what you wanna do and go for it. if that means taking some time off than so be it. then only why you will be happy is doing something that you want to do.
I am 62 credits from a ME degree but ran outta money and decided to back to wrenching to keep a roof over my head and to get some in the field experience and i will eventually go back and finish but im just putting in time until then. So when i do graduate i have X years of hands on which I would think would help me land a decent job.

 

[MW66]

There are a couple of ways to look at a career. Choose one with stability that pays well or choose one that you absolutely love so it doesn't feel like work. Ideally, maybe you could find one that meets both requirements. I started off in school in something that I thought that I would love, wildlife biology. As I got closer I found that the research jobs were simply not there. I ended up switching curriculums into a field that was much more stabile ( materials science). Then I eventually went on to get my master's degree after I had a full time job and my company paid for it. For me, it worked out very well and I've been extremely fortunate. It was a trade-off, but I chose financial stability over a career that I thought would have been my dream job. Good luck to you. Remember one thing, if something is really worth attaining in life, then it is typicalyl hard to attain......but the reward far outweighs the time and effort applied.

No need to worry about preaching...I am open to any and all feedback!

Even though I would love to, I don't want to go all grain yet for a handful of reasons:
1. Space: since I don't know where I will be living in the near future and don't want to burden my parents house with the equipment.
2. Cost of initial investment: I know it is cheaper in the long run, but I can't afford the equiptment right now. Also I may be going into the military as soon as january so I don't want to acquire all the equipment now then rarely use it.
3. Knowledge: I like taking a looooong time to learn every aspect about a hobby I am partaking in. I would rather absolutely master and perfect (even though perfection isn't really achievable) extract brewing before I step up

I have also considered part time, but part of the reason I am leaving is because I don't know what I want to study and part of it is the top 2 jobs I want don't really require a degree. So I decided to stop wasting my parents and my own money in college when I don't know what I want to study/lose interest in my classes

 

[Germelli1]

I have 103 credits completed, mostly towards Mechanical engineering, but I HATED mechanical engineering. The only reason I stayed in it was because I absolutely loved my minor, Nuclear Engineering. It took the last two years of acing nuclear coursed and failing ME coursed to make me reconsider

 

[triethylborane]

a semester away . . . 17 credits.

If you need dosh, I would check with the military. If you like NE, I would talk to a Navy recruiter and he probably could hook you into Navy Reserves or something. Pay for college, deal with shipboard nuclear propulsion units, pretty cool.

 

[MW66]

103 credits ...... good Lord, you are almost done! It's 120 credits, right? If you got that far through ME, you have the aptitude. Engineering is about enduring, not necessarily acing, but you have to find what you like. You could switch into chemical, electrical, civil, materials, etc. Just getting through the first two years of any engineering curriculum deserves a congratulations. Sadly, it means nothing if you don't get that piece of paper at the end.

I have 103 credits completed, mostly towards Mechanical engineering, but I HATED mechanical engineering. The only reason I stayed in it was because I absolutely loved my minor, Nuclear Engineering. It took the last two years of acing nuclear coursed and failing ME coursed to make me reconsider

 

[Germelli1]

You need 136 to graduate with a BS in engineering. Not all of those credits were towards ME (I took a few semesters of Arabic and loved it). I would have about 4 more semesters left in ME makinf 5 years total. That is because your senior design project has to be Fall->Spring semesters, meaning it can't be Spring->Fall. I just absoultely hated the ME cirriculum. Even classes I thought I would love like dynamics, thermodynamics/heat&mass transfer and fluid ended up being almost entirely theoretical, thus killing my interest and motivation.

Funny thing is the semester I failed thermodynamics, I comprehended the aspects covered of it in my Nuclear class 100%. Its just frustrating.

I considered doing the Navy's NUPOC program but decided against it because I would need to finish ME and it is also really hard to get on an air craft carrier (I'm 6'4 so subs would suck haha)

I would be going into my (first) senior year this fall

 

[Germelli1]

The ****tiest part is my girlfriend will be at school and I have to devote a full week of pay to my rent in an apartment I wont be living in til at least january

 

[Teromous]

As others have said, going all grain is the way to go. Your beer tastes better and it's cheaper to make...win win! Find an igloo cooler with a spout you can convert into a mash tun. You can get an old propane burner somewhere, and the most expensive part is buying the kettle. If you're lucky you can do some DIY work on a keg or something else. Check out craigs list and other classifieds, or ebay. I'm always buying crap new and finding it for half price a week later in a classified listing.