Things You Won't Miss

[Gaijin Punch]

I wont miss:

- Working Monday to Friday

- Conference calls

- Writing meeting agendas for my boss

- 20 to 30 emails waiting for me in my inbox

- Driving 30 km. each way for work

- Paying ridiculous amounts of money for gas

I will miss:

- Steady income

- My family and friends

- My home gym

- My big screen TV and HDTV

- Vancouver Canucks hockey

- Fresh seafood + great sushi

- Mild winters

- Traveling for work

I feel that I'm leaving a lot behind by going from Vancouver to Toronto. Hopefully chasing my dream is worth it in the end!

Edited March 8, 2011 by Gaijin Punch

[ck03yh]

This is a great thread idea!

hmmm the thing is...I actually really like my life right now...there are several things I WILL miss, and I just know I'm making a worthwhile sacrifice

I will miss my boyfriend (practically common law husband) I will miss our lil 1 bedroom apartment that we've shared for over 7 years...

I will miss my cat.

I will miss my family and friends (I'm from Toronto, Canada and heading to the states for my MFA)

I will actually miss my current Job- I work as a metal shop TA in an art school- ...it's an awesome job!

The only reason I'm leaving it is because I know I have to get further accreditation if I want to teach art in the future...and I'm looking forward to focusing on my work.

I guess I WON'T miss getting passed over for positions I would really like to hold, but have been told 'I need a masters..'!

I WON'T miss not having a studio space to work out my ideas.!!

All and all, I'm giving up alot...but it's all part of a bigger plan I have for myself

[TransnationalHistory]

Won't Miss:

-Feeling aimless/ Parents consistently worrying over what I'm doing with my life.

-Having to do jobs that are not intellectually challenging or connected to anything I value.

-Worrying that, to quote Lisa Simpson, that "I'm dumbening"

-Feeling too poor to travel.

Will Miss:

-Brooklyn, NY

-Apartment: I have a huge room with my own bathroom, in a cool old house, for less than 500 a month....I doubt I'll be able to find something comparable anytime soon.

-And most of all, friends.

[michpc]

I'm 26, almost 5 years out of undergrad, so I DO miss undergrad, and I WON'T miss:

- the job I hated (they did me the favor of 'terminating' me back in December, wahoo!!)

- the job I hated

- the job I hated

(sorry, had to repeat that a few times)

- working in the financial sector; it's gross and made me feel dirty. It's all about making the rich richer and ruining the lives of those who are not rich (jaded?)

- 9-5

- just all of it

what I will miss:

- Boston and Cambridge, but I am ready to try somewhere new!

- Cambridge mostly...it's so beautiful here

- the bonuses

- yeah, mostly just the money!

I had a minor crisis when I was fired, but now that I have acceptances, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and I can't freakin' wait!

[Herbie]

I won't miss the entire, friggin' state of GA. I intentionally applied to non-GA schools. I'll neither miss I-75 nor the smog-ridden orange-ish brown skyline of Atlanta. I won't miss the yearly construction work in a state where no one uses a turn signal. I won't miss the increasing crime rate. I won't miss a city defined by how many retail corporations it can fit on Peachtree Street or Piedmont!

I won't miss working at a grocery store. I won't miss the customers who think you're completely illiterate because you're scanning groceries. I won't miss those customers who come into work with a baggage of shit to make you feel like shit. I won't miss the time clock machine, because I won't be clocking in anymore!

I won't miss staying at home with my mother. I'll miss my mom, but I introduced her to Skype. I need to feel less of 23-year old child, and more of a 23-year old adventurous woman because now I don't *need* a car where I'm going.

I won't miss the lazy ass mailman who plays at the strings of my heart when he shows up 11AM one day, and 5PM the other.

I will miss the awesome diversity and community between blacks, indians, asians and hispanics in certain areas. Willing segregation will continue, but I don't go to those parts.

I'll also miss the Atlanta Cheesecake Factory, but I believe there's potential in replacing future emptiness.

[morug]

I used to work in food service and hated it when people would ask for "extra" ranch dressing, mayo, whatever (in quotations because their food came with neither, as they were paying for neither), because it involved digging the gigantic bucket of dressing out of the walk-in fridge and sticking my entire [gloved] hand down in there to reach the stuff with the scoop. Inevitably those who demanded free portions of dressing would then stand around whining about how "she's really taking her time in there" and about how we should really just have free portions of dressing sitting out ready for people to take.

I won't miss living far away from my family and many of my friends. I'm moving closer to home this time.

I have to say, you are a bad employee.

It is your job to get extra ranch/mayo/whatever.

Who are they supposed to ask?

You, as the low level employee.

Your problem is that you think you are too good for this kind of work, which is why you are going to graduate school.

This is my problem as well.

In order to really emphasize my point, I'll restate it: It is your job to serve the customers. You are the bottom level employee.

[2017 Applicant]

I have to say, you are a bad employee.

It is your job to get extra ranch/mayo/whatever.

Who are they supposed to ask?

You, as the low level employee.

Your problem is that you think you are too good for this kind of work, which is why you are going to graduate school.

This is my problem as well.

In order to really emphasize my point, I'll restate it: It is your job to serve the customers. You are the bottom level employee.

Lol.

It seems to me that lots of these posts mention not missing being around "20 somethings." Am I missing something, or aren't graduate students mostly people aged 20 through 29? Is it odd for people to go right from undergrad to grad school?

[The Dudester]

1. I wont miss defending myself for being a communication major

Reminds me of the Simpsons episode about the big football game. The star player gets injured, and Dr. Hibbert says, "You can fall back on your degree in...Communications!" And the player says, "I know, is phony major! I learn nothing!"

I know it isn't true, but I agree that it is one of the disciplines that gets unfairly tagged as being easy.

[123infinity]

I will NOT miss:

- My Long commute to school

- Pre-Med students in my classes whining about grades and crying in order to get higher ones

- Tests that are multiple choice and are straight up memorization.

- Paper thin walls

- Waitressing every weekend

- Drama at work and how it seems to consume every shift. I'm tired of being stuck in the middle because really I DO NOT CARE.

- Florida. I'm tired of being hot and sweaty and uncomfortable walking across campus almost all year round.

- Having to explain my low GPA because of one semester

I'm excited for:

- Living in an area with all four seasons

- Getting paid to go to school

- Doing what I love

- A clean slate.

[seeuthere]

I highly reccommend this book for new college graduates when it comes to managing finances

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/061539082X

[psycholinguist]

I feel that I'm leaving a lot behind by going from Vancouver to Toronto. Hopefully chasing my dream is worth it in the end!

I moved here from B.C. as well (albeit with a four-year detour through upstate New York for a BA). And I'll always be a West Coast girl at heart, but I love Toronto. I find it much easier to get around than Vancouver (having a car out here is almost a disadvantage if you live in or near downtown), and feel a lot safer here than I do there (particularly after dark). Most of the time the city doesn't seem nearly as large as it is. And the arts-and-entertainment-and-culture-and-such scene is fantastic. It's also nice to be so well-connected to everything out East.

[Trin]

Things I won't miss:

1. Having EVERY major course I take be full of non-majors fulfilling breadth requirements, especially when they brag about how little they read/learn/retain in the classes.It's hard when there are only 2 or 3 majors in your department.

2. A two hour commute (each way) to class.

3. Classmates who whine about having to read 15 pages a week for a class. Seriously, you consider 15 pages to be an unreasonably heavy reading load? Wimps.

Things I will miss:

1. My SO.

2. Bay area weather.

3. The Pacific Ocean

4. San Francisco style burritos

[Amalia222]

Things I will not miss:

*living with my parents. I love them ...but.

*hopeless job interviews for minimum wage jobs where they won't even hire me because I'm "overqualified".

*the 'burbs.

*the relatives/friends who told me to be realistic about my chances of acceptance

*the GRE (NEVER AGAIN!!! HALLELUJAH!!!!)

*thinking about applications 24/7

Edited March 19, 2011 by Amalia222

[Matilda_Tone]

I can't really say that life is too terrible right now, but there are a few things I will be happy to leave behind...

1. Some of the co-workers at my current job. Perhaps the worst thing about life right now. If I never see them again, that will be too soon.

2. The daily commute...after six years of taking the bloody subway, I can't WAIT to live downtown.

But, that said, I will miss some aspects of my job- especially the kids that always make my day fun. Leaving them is going to suck. Big time.

[amanda lauren]

Things I won't miss:

-My undergrad university. I definitely made the wrong choice when I picked my school, and I never transferred to a different one because I was scared of starting over as a transfer student. I have had some really great experiences through this school (ie. an amazing internship, my semester studying abroad) but none of them have been while I was physically at my school, and I'm glad to finally be getting out of here.

-New England weather!!! GOODBYE ICE AGE WINTERS!!

-Being part of a huge university and department where I feel more like a number than a person

-The ridiculously high costs of living here

-Core requirements and all the "101" classes with over 300 students

-Not being able to have a car because of the price of a parking sticker!

-95% of people here automatically judge you if you're from New York

Things I will miss:

-Awesome public transportation!

....yeah, that's about it! I can't wait to move and start grad school!

[beanbagchairs]

Things I wont miss:

- Colleagues that thinks that I'll never get into a good graduate school (WRONG!!). I got to one of my top choices, which is ranked 7th in the nation.

- Colleagues that questions why I dont apply to straight-up CS programs?

- Colleagues that questions why I only got 3 interviews out of the many programs I applied

- Colleagues that would not believe I got an interview from a top-notch program b/c it is a joint program (with another less prestigious university)? That does not make a program less competitive

I guess, you all got the idea: I wont miss colleagues that were not supportive during the whole hellish application season.

[awvish]

Won't miss:

1. Tsetse flies. Not at all. Not even a little bit, no matter what.

2. Feeling like a bit of a freak for liking to think about things/read a lot.

3. Feeling bored/unproductive because I'm not learning very much or accomplishing very much.

4. Tropical climate.

Will miss:

1. The whimsical language that is Pulaar.

2. Getting to count a day in which I go on a long biking trip through bush trails and/or swimming under a waterfall as a work day (because I've done a training or otherwise been borderline useful).

Think I won't miss but will probably miss a lot, at least occasionally:

1. Having neither a timeline nor many enforceable expectations.

Edited March 21, 2011 by awvish

[noxrosa]

1. Staring at a computer screen 10 hours a day. Sure, I'll need a computer in Grad School, but I'll also need to look at books, and professors, and students.

2. Having to pretend to friends and strangers that I really love my job, because it's a good job, in a hard to break into industry, and I can't risk burning bridges within my field.

3. Having the exact same schedule every single weekday of the year. Hallelujah for the quarter system, where my schedule will change every 3 months!

[Roccoriel]

I will not miss getting up at 6:30 to get the train by 7:45 to get to work (which is technically my Master's thesis) by 9 so that I can leave at 4-5 to get to class by 6. I don't get home until 11PM, at which time I still have to eat dinner. I do this 4 days a week. The other days, I rush to do homework, papers, etc while doing all the other errands I can't do when I am pulling a 10-15 hour day. Nope, won't miss that! While I know that my PhD will be lots of work, it's closer to where I live and I won't waste 2.5 hours a day trapped on the train! I expect to maybe even make it home by 8 most nights I also will not miss taking out loans!

I will miss working on my Master's thesis. I love it! On the bright side, my advisers at the University where I am working on my PhD may have come up with a plan where I could consult my current adviser, which would be excellent

[wook]

Things I won't miss:

1) The snobby New England attitude

2) Working with people who don't know the difference between Penn State and UPenn (both great schools, but come on, they're not the same place!!!)

3) People constantly making fun of my "southern" accent

4) 9-5.

5) Commuting 40 miles every day

6) Long New England winters

Things I will miss:

1) The wonderful friends I've made in my 2 years of post-bac

2) Relaxation

3) All of the cute family-owned restaurants Little Rhody has to offer

[faton4paws]

---I will NOT miss a long 40+ hour work week on my feet. While I know grad school will be a TON of work, it is the kind of work I enjoy--- a steady, comforting work, not a job that requires me to kiss peoples' asses on a regular basis.

---I will not miss the area I live in. I grew up here, and I'm really ready to leave and grow up a little bit.

---I will not miss having to answer the question: "So, what are you going to do with an English major? Teach?" Yes, I am, but at the college level and I will be a superstar professor, thank you very much!

I will miss my family, a little bit. And free time! But, thankfully, LOST is ending before grad school, so that cuts out a lot of my TV time...

I totally agree with you on the work-week and English thing. I, too, will NOT miss kissing people's asses. And I, too, will be done with the "English, really?" questions. Or even worse, the "Medieval English, really?" questions.

[hopefulwoolfian]

Repeats of what many people have already said, but I will not miss:

-My soul-sucking job (and having people look down on me both for taking the soul-sucking job because it was cushy and for complaining about the soul-sucking job. In this economy, I know I was lucky to find work, but it didn't change the fact that I disliked my job).

-Feeling like a failure because I didn't get into grad school (I'm a second-rounder. And I don't say this to imply that not getting into graduate school is something that should affect one's self-worth, but it did affect mine, even though I knew it shouldn't).

-Being semi-LDR with my boyfriend after I lost my soul-sucking job and had to move back in with my parents.

-Only feeling intellectually stimulated very rarely.

-The uncertainty of not knowing what the hell I'm doing (I expect this to make a healthy return partway through graduate school ).

I will miss:

-Time to read whatever I want to read.

-My friends and family being close.

-My current location, especially the beautiful weather.

-Working at my internship in publishing, even though it's unpaid.

[Brandt]

I will not miss the bone-numbing, soul-crushing cold winters. Michigan drivers who are shocked to see snow and ice. Bland food.

[Mal83]

Oh man I've only been thinking about the things I will HAPPILY leave behind as I start my new journey of advanced academia, productivity, and professional experience.

Things I'm already NOT missing:

-my job sucking the life out of me, I work at a preschool which is not even remotely related to my field and literally just a paycheck, but despite that a preschool should be a nice environment to work in at least for the time being...it's not, I hate it, I'm already checked out. I had done it before years ago and liked it while I was an undergrad, this is different. Everyday I'm pissed that I'm making almost no money while cleaning up after kids all day long and dealing with the absurdity of management who thinks so highly of themselves as to declare that they "set the industry standard." It's a crock of B.S. if I've ever heard. I'm tired of pretending for management that I'm into it and committed and going along with their ever growing expectations, they don't know that I'm done and out the end of next month. The mind numbing expectations from parents are just too much to bare..."you didn't wash out my kid's sippy cup, now I have to do it when I get home." GET OUT OF MY FACE! Working with kids in general is a job that you have to love with every fiber of your being, and I like kids a lot, but the extreme desire to be in my field, the stress of the app process, and cleaning up the sludge underneath the picnic tables after 35 four year olds have eaten lunch has completely deadened the tolerance I had for the job when I first started. I was just so relieved to have a job and it's a comfortable environment, but holy god, enough already. My life has been on hold since I returned from the Peace Corps a year and a half ago because I thought I'd get a job in my field, which I didn't and then first had to start the grad school process all the while running out of money and living with my parents in Arizona where they retired to while I was abroad. I used to be in NJ where I had some major cities at my finger tips....needless to say any more that most of my situation will NOT BE MISSED at all whatsoever. Phew...sorry I feel like I just purged up all the crap I've been dealing with...actually I could go on and on...but won't.

-Living with my parents in Arizona, I'm an east coast girl all the way and have been dreaming of the day I'll be in DC with a career and a life...thanks grad school...you're my hero as you will make all of the above go away...and I'd like to give a shout out to student loans as well.

-not being intellectually engaged in the happenings of my field, I read, but I'm ready to produce work with people who care about the same things I do.

-getting hit, kicked, and dirty from little kids everyday, changing poopy clothes and diapers, dealing with kid attitudes and their weird little issues.

-having no hope of starting a career in my field in a place so far away from where I need to be, yes, I'm particularly tired of this one.

-seeing on Faceboook people that I served in the Peace Corps with getting on with their lives in DC in grad school or jobs...now that will be me too!

-the awful process that is applying to grad school

I WILL definitely miss:

-My parents

-the lack of humidity

-A few of my colleagues with whom I've had a blast bitching about the absurdity of our jobs

-the sight of the mountains outside our house, but the sight of the White House and Capitol Building will be at least just as majestic.

[GardeningGrad]

Ah, I've been making a mental list for months. I will not miss:

- a forty-five minute commute through small towns, behind school busses, and through far too many stop signs

- spending $50 a week on gas

- dreading Mondays. the week is so much more fluid at school.

- being a receptionist. I'm counting down the days until I can hang up my high heels and relearn how to answer a landline without saying, "Thank you for calling (my company name), how may I direct your call?"

- being in transition

I admit, the onward march of time is bittersweet... Though I am excited to be paid to learn things I find fascinating, I will miss much from this season of life. I love leaving work at work, having time to train for a triathlon, paying cheap rent, and most of all, movie nights with my beloved best friend and roommate of seven years. The bittersweet changes are the richest, though.