I found out what I want to do for the rest of my life...

[nightair]

I want to study Chinese medicine. Accupuncture, accupressure, qi-gong,and the herbal stuff. Do you guys have any tips for me? I want to study at this one school inn Oakland..Its website is at www.acchs.edu (http://www.acchs.edu). But does anyone else know of any good schools in the bay area that are not graduate schools...? Your help is greatly apreciated.

---------------------------"uh oh, what is going to happen next?"

[Water Dragon]

Think real long and hard about it. I'm not sure if there's much money in it as there's not a big demand here in the U.S.

I think it can work, but I'd get a degree in western medicine as well so you can have good income.

My suggestion is to find a school youthink you would enjoy. Check out the campus. You don't need todecide what you want to do yet. Just find some where you would love to be for the next 5 years of your life.

[nightair]

Thanks. Im not worried about money.I'd rather be poor and happy then rich and live a meaningless life. As long as I have my heath, music and clothes on my back,and a roof over my head,I will be fine. Thanks for the advice.

---------------------------"uh oh, what is going to happen next?"

[Water Dragon]

I used to think like that. Things change a whole lot once you do end up poor, and especially when you have children. I had to basically dump my whole life and go back and finish what I should have done.

Whatever you do, get yourself a college degree if you have the oportunity. It's amaxing what that little piece of paper can do for you. If you really want to do TCM, do it. I think a western AND TCM doctor would have an excellant life.

OK, I'll quit playing Dad now.

[nightair]

It's ok, I take advice from wherever I can...Thanks.
I was raised poor so If it happens I probably wont mind it that much. But your are right everybody tells me that things change as you get older.

---------------------------"uh oh, what is going to happen next?"

[Shaolindynasty]

My sifu is a liscensed natruopath and makes a **** good living. I say go for it those kind of modalities are becomming more and more popular. You'll make good money and do somthing you'd like.


www.shaolindynasty.cjb.net (http://www.shaolindynasty.cjb.net)

[nightair]

Thanx for all the advice you all...It just seems like the thing I want to do.I can help people and learn something cool at the same time.

---------------------------"uh oh, what is going to happen next?"

[Sharky]

".I'd rather be poor and happy then rich and live a meaningless life."

heh, that is where we differ.

having money is f*ckign great. why do you think i'm doing a degree in comp sci? Do you think i enjoy learning about all that crap? Negative.

I know that i will get a **** off job if i finish the course. I will then have lots of money. This will allow me to do WHATEVER I WANT. Open a martial arts school? I'll have the money to do it. Go on holiday? Yup, that too. Buy a **** of car? Uh huh. Whatever.

Like water said, once you move out and have no money, it's hard to have that good a time. People will say otherwise, but the world doesn't revolve around love and happiness, it revolves around money.

Money is everything. It can buy happiness. The quicker you accept this the better for yourself.

=================================
What we really need is chicks with a whole new kinda orifice - Fish

Sharky, I should expect this level of immaturity from you after seeing your post titled "Hm." regarding the woman that lives next door to you. I think everyone who unfortuneatly read that post is a bit more ignorant now for doing so. - Spectre

All i wanted was some RICE CAKES! Now? WE MUST BATTLE.

[Water Dragon]

Yes, it's much better to have a job where you can screw off on KFO all day :D

[Polaris]

For all TCM schools you have to have two years undergrad. Although there is a school in LA where you can get an AA in Oriental Bodywork. If that is what you want to do then go for it. I decided years ago that I wanted to do that, although now I also want to be a pro fighter, so I don't what I'm going to do now. I'd like to study Ayurveda and TCM.

[shaolinboxer]

That's great that you have found some direction. See where it leads you!

[CanadianBadAss]

I think I'm going to study TCM in hong kong(and train with my sifus teacher) when I finish high school. And I don't know about you, but I don't plan on being a poor doctor of TMC. There are so many new age hippies out there right now, just waiting to give their money away...

|) /- | | |
| / |_| |__

[CanadianBadAss]

opps... TCM not TMC

|) /- | | |
| / |_| |__

[friday]

I think your point of view may change as u get older Sharky,

money is important but it isn't everything.
If the sole purpose that you see in doing your current degree is to make a lot of money you will probably question this when you start working in your 'great $$$ making job'.

Also you mentioned that you are completing a computer sci degree. Do you think it will be easy to look for a job in the current IT industry? I know a number of ppl who are currently having trouble in this area. Things might be different in the US.

Anyway good luck I hope things really do turn out the way you imagine right now...but they didn't for me.

888

[straight blast]

Money sucks a**. It is not the be all and end all. I'm leaving my good job with good money, promotion, etc to study Wing Chun full time. Trust me Nightair, it is far better to be poor & happy. Follow your dreams. If you don't want to flip burgers for a living, then don't! You only get one shot at life on this world and you might as well have a go at enjoying it. I've had enough of being a mindless wageslave & I'm bailing out to do what I was meant to do.
Some good martial arts dude once said something along the lines of: "People can go to a gym, lift weights, do MA's, and become stronger, better more focused people. Yet the vast majority of them cannot even summon the courage to move on from a job that they hate." Why?
Go for it, & God bless! :cool:

"Forfeit the game
Before somebody else takes you out of the frame
And puts your name to shame
Cover up your face
You can't run the race
The pace is too fast,
You just won't last!"

[LEGEND]

The thing is most peeps work to pay BILLs or cause they have kids...I don't know many that are happy being poor...LOL. I was poor once and it was very very stressful. Sharky...with the decline of the IT industry...it's very very difficult to get a job and will prob. be like this forawhile until a boom hits again...when that happens...take all the money and saveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! At age 18 while in COLLEGE I was making 40000...I didn't save a penny...I just kept spending spending spending...now with the IT decline...I'm only making 30000 and indebt $7000...looking for a part time job...my credit is messed up...and still trying to finish my college degree. The key is to find a medium that gives u fullfillment and money. KIDS=more bling bling!

A

[Aramus]

Listen to what you want to do first, tempered by what other people say. Don't listen to everyone, that won't lead you to where you want to be.

I used to make really good money as a restaurant manager, but I had no life outside of that. I could buy nice things for my family, but I couldn't spend time with them. I moved to a call center and now I have time for my family and friends (wow). I don't make as much, but I'm definately happy and make enough to keep everything going.

Some ideas of professions that could be back ups...insurance (take a class, get a license and work for a company as a fall back if need be, keep your license updated), accounting (REALLY busy near the end of the year...after that, depends on you), 4-year degree so you can be a substitute teacher (in Columbus, Ohio...there is a LARGE demand for substitiutes), landscaping, Qi Gong teacher, Yoga instructor, physical thearapy, trainer (all can be part time jobs to suppliment your career at gyms and such), some web companies have flexible schedules (but could go out of business)...I'm out of ideas for now...sorry.

Good Luck.
Today is good day, enjoy it. Tommorrow will be a special day, just like all days to follow...keep it that way.

[Sharky]

"with the decline of the IT industry"

uh.. dunno bout the usa, but there is a massive want for programmers and generally " people with comp sci degrees " here in the uk.

baddaboom baddabing.

i'm gonna be rich lalaaalalalaaa...

=================================
What we really need is chicks with a whole new kinda orifice - Fish

Sharky, I should expect this level of immaturity from you after seeing your post titled "Hm." regarding the woman that lives next door to you. I think everyone who unfortuneatly read that post is a bit more ignorant now for doing so. - Spectre

All i wanted was some RICE CAKES! Now? WE MUST BATTLE.

[Sharky]

"Money sucks a**. It is not the be all and end all"

That's what rich people say. Try being me eh you'll love it.

=================================
What we really need is chicks with a whole new kinda orifice - Fish

Sharky, I should expect this level of immaturity from you after seeing your post titled "Hm." regarding the woman that lives next door to you. I think everyone who unfortuneatly read that post is a bit more ignorant now for doing so. - Spectre

All i wanted was some RICE CAKES! Now? WE MUST BATTLE.

[SantaClaus]

computor science? Everybody is doing computor science to get rich. I knew a girl that was sooo happy because her boyfriend was a comp sci major and gonna be sooo rich, well he's delivering Pizzas and can't find a job because the market is flooded with comp sci guys.

HO HO HO
http://thumb-2.image.altavista.com/image/100933751

[Water Dragon]

Try fighting constantly with your wife because your trying to decide if you would rather have you water or electric turned off because you can't pay both bills.

Try explaining to your 3 year old son why he can't have any toys for his birthday because all you could afford was a $ 20.00 cake.

Then come back and tell me how unimportant money is.

[Aramus]

Water Dragon...having to make those decisions and say those things sucks to the extreme. I've been there too.

You do need some money to live one...no doubts there. Money doesn't suck, the desire for only money sucks and will hurt anyone in the long run. The desire for money to provide what you need for yourself and others and a little more is OK...maybe even really good. Money is a byproduct for the things you need and want. It shouldn't be the end result. Just a thought.

Nightair, keep Water Dragon's comments in mind if you have a child (children), a wife, or a steady girlfriend (or boyfriend...no harm intended). They will play a factor in your life. Good luck.

[Water Dragon]

True, true. But ya gotta have that padding there. I'm not rich yet by any means, but ******!!! I got to take my boy to see Harry Potter last weekend and I can get the whole family Christmas gifts now. That makes me feel good.

[Daniel Madar]

****, I've been so poor that all I could afford to eat was a single piece of bread with peanut butter on it, every two days.

It SUCKED.

I used to ascribe to the follow your dreams model. It can work, but there's one big catch. You better be **** sure you love what you are gonna do, cuz otherwise you will be poor and hating life extra hard with only your dumb decision to blame. The problem with dreams is if they come to life, they can die, and if they die, they become big stinky rotting corpses.

Now, since I've been there and done that, my recommendation is do it while you in between 18-24 and single. That way you only screw yourself up, and you have time to get **** together before you get married or something.

To be honest, I never thought I'd ever get married, but it's much cooler than I thought, and it makes me much happier than anything else I've ever done.

Can't wait to start knocking out the future students...

Merciless is Mercy.

[Sharky]

my brother can secure me a high paying job. I am gonna be rich lalalaalalaaaa

=================================
What we really need is chicks with a whole new kinda orifice - Fish

Sharky, I should expect this level of immaturity from you after seeing your post titled "Hm." regarding the woman that lives next door to you. I think everyone who unfortuneatly read that post is a bit more ignorant now for doing so. - Spectre

All i wanted was some RICE CAKES! Now? WE MUST BATTLE.

[joedoe]

Things don't always turn out as you might wish. Don't forget there are thousands of your fellow students out there doing computer science with a view to making big bucks and getting rich. In X years time when you graduate, all those people are going to graduate at the same time, and that is a lot of competition.

Good for your if your brother can guarantee you a high paying job. Will that still be the case when you graduate?

Two more things to consider:
1) You seem to hate programming etc. now. Imagine what it would be like if you had to do it for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. If you do not enjoy it, it will become a drag real quick.
2) Like any industry, if you want the big bucks you have to work for them. That means that not only do you have to be really good at what you do, you also have to be willing to put in the hard work. And believe me, the work can be extremely hard at times.

Don't get me wrong. I wish you all the best in your quest for wealth. Just a bit of realistic advice from someone in the industry.

cxxx[]:::::::::::>
You're fu(king up my chi

[Sharky]

i'm going to be rich laalalalalallalaaa

=================================
What we really need is chicks with a whole new kinda orifice - Fish

Sharky, I should expect this level of immaturity from you after seeing your post titled "Hm." regarding the woman that lives next door to you. I think everyone who unfortuneatly read that post is a bit more ignorant now for doing so. - Spectre

All i wanted was some RICE CAKES! Now? WE MUST BATTLE.

[joedoe]

When you get rich, can you give me some for advising you? :D

cxxx[]:::::::::::>
You're fu(king up my chi

[Xebsball]

Sharky is gonna be rich, lalalalalalaaalaa

----------------------------
You brake my elbow i put your face in s.hit! HA HA HA, how about that, HA HA!
http://www.systemofadown.com/images/blurb3.jpg

[nightair]

no no no, I didn't say that I wanted to be poor...I want to be able to travel and go on vacation a lot. And there are a lot of hippies into it nowadays.I meant that if I became poor it would be nothing new to me. :) I plan to be wealthy not rich...It's just that money changes people a lot.I want to be the same innocent, sincere guy. Not a cuthroat out for the cash...

---------------------------"uh oh, what is going to happen next?"

[Sharky]

when i am rich, i will allow you to sell my crack and speed to small children.

=================================
What we really need is chicks with a whole new kinda orifice - Fish

Sharky, I should expect this level of immaturity from you after seeing your post titled "Hm." regarding the woman that lives next door to you. I think everyone who unfortuneatly read that post is a bit more ignorant now for doing so. - Spectre

All i wanted was some RICE CAKES! Now? WE MUST BATTLE.

[nightair]

I was so poor, that our family had to eat cereal with a fork so that we could pass the milk around. :rolleyes: :D

---------------------------"uh oh, what is going to happen next?"

[Nexus]

I sit around programming for 8-10 hours a day, 3 days a week :eek:, and it doesn't get old fast as long as you find a higher meaning for your programming and find some interesting ways of attacking the problems set before you. You learn a lot more from your IT jobs then you do from your college education to and after a few years in the work field you have many more possibilities extended to you for technical work with other companies.

Sharky may very well end up being rich, but he isn't rich now, he is only attached to his desire to be rich in the future which will be frustrating if that desire is not possible to achieve for instance he loses both arms in a car wreck and can no longer type on a keyboard without taping a chopstick from Wan Ton's Chinese Buffet to his forhead using duct tape.

- Nexus

[SevenStar]

Nothing wrong with a comp sci degree. main thing is make sure you are **** good at what you do. And if what you do is windows administration, then change to something else, as win admins are a dime a dozen. Also, adminning is a strange field in an educational sense, as many employers now are placing greater emphasis on certs than they are on college degrees. If you are in the programming field though, get a degree. Learn all you can. practice on your own, same as you would with MA and you'll be okay.

As far as being poor goes, it sucks. I pretty much agree with what WD said on the subject.

just my 1/50th of a dollar

"Just because I joke around sometimes doesn't mean I'm serious about kung-fu.
" - nightair

[LEGEND]

SEVENSTAR...I have to disagree with you...most IT companies put an emphasis on college degrees...not certifications. In the early 90's there was an actual shortage...Nowadayz...there is no shortage...only layoffs! The certifications are pretty useless nowadayz...unless u get a high level certification with some sort of experience...without actual experience u're screwed! And it is a catch 22 for students to get certified and get a degree without experience...interns or volunteer projects can gain u experience and employers will look for that! The IT companies OVERPAID there peeps and now paying for it with numerous companies going UNDER...and with the RECESSION it will be a few years to get a BOOM again. I think the days of paying employers $50000 off the bat is GONE! The only secure jobs are in the GOV. SECTORs...but everyone hates working for the GOV. Also ignore false advertisment by companies saying there will still be a shortage blah blah blah...this is BS design by the IT companies to justify hiring outside the US...cheap labor based on VISA laws...that time due to SEPT 11th is over also.

A

[SevenStar]

not here. If you are an admin here, certs are the way to go. Programmers definitely benefit more from the degree though.

"Just because I joke around sometimes doesn't mean I'm serious about kung-fu.
" - nightair

[SevenStar]

"without actual experience u're screwed! And it is a catch 22 for students to get certified and get a degree without experience...interns or volunteer projects can gain u experience and employers will look for that! The IT companies OVERPAID there peeps..."

That I agree with completely. Some schools will help you in that area though. When I was a student, I went to our job placement center, and that's how I got my first position. It only paid $11 an hour, but I was living at home, so It was like I was rich.

I think part of the cert thing is that companies were assuming that since you had one you did have the necessary experience. They are now finding out that that's not always the case

"Just because I joke around sometimes doesn't mean I'm serious about kung-fu.
" - nightair

[joedoe]

Programming is great - I do it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and I love the challenge. However, if you don't like to program then I think you would learn to hate it if you were doing it 8x5.

You have to be good to do Windows admin? :D It is pretty simple stuff.

Personally when I am looking to recruit programmers, the qualifications (degrees) are the first thing I look at, then I see if they can do what they say they can. Usually I ignore certifications. Main thing to me is that a) they are capable and b) they fit into the team.

In Australia there is definitely a slow-down in the technology sector. People are losing jobs everywhere, and business is a little slow because no one wants to spend money right now.

cxxx[]:::::::::::>
You're fu(king up my chi

[ewallace]

Programming is a very satisfying job but it is not for everyone. I have also found that actual experience is a perfectly fine substitue for not having a degree. In fact, about two years ago VB programmer's journal did a study and found that VB programmers with 2 years of experience and no degree actually had a higher salary than those with a degree and two years of experience. Not that this is somthing to make a good judgement on though. Alot of people say that school is useless because by the time your done with your degree that info is obsolete. Don't by that. You still need a good foundation in order to think like a programmer, no matter what language you will be coding in. I personally think Java is the way to go for the next few years. Just my .02

Victory goes to he who makes the next-to-last mistake.

[Sharky]

another thread well hijacked by me

good work guys.

=================================
What we really need is chicks with a whole new kinda orifice - Fish

Sharky, I should expect this level of immaturity from you after seeing your post titled "Hm." regarding the woman that lives next door to you. I think everyone who unfortuneatly read that post is a bit more ignorant now for doing so. - Spectre

All i wanted was some RICE CAKES! Now? WE MUST BATTLE.

[Fish of Fury]

Sharky the Thread Terrorist :D

__________________________________________________ _________________________ "I'm just trying to lull you into a genuine sense of security!"