If he got into and graduated from an Ivy studying math, I expect that he’s had quite enough of the last 16 years of grinding nonstop at school. Just like your kids will, OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle class people and strivers are soooo boring because EVERY decision is about money. (I’m not saying that money isn’t important, but there’s no need to fixate on it; life is more colorful than money alone.) Consequently, they are not fun, witty, interesting, informative, or even friendly. Instead, they are highly practical, uptight, judgmental, and narrow-minded. If a kid can’t kayak at 22, when should he? According to the dopes on this thread: never.

Strivers? Please, you are being incredibly classist and elitist here.

And he can kayak on the weekends while he works a 9 to 5 or is in grad school.

Seriously, do you really think that most of the people who never had an extended adolescence kayaking in their twenties are “practical, uptight, judgmental, and narrow-minded?” You are clearly the judgmental one here.

A true “9-5” out of college really will be a crap job. All the well-regarded jobs out of college are absolutely brutal. Very smart to take a breather before jumping into one of those.

Not tech!

Yes also tech. Especially now that “warehousing” fake jobs have all been eliminated.

+1, party's over.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For fun and because they are not super career-focused. I know a few former elite college grads who became ski bums, rafting guides, or fishing guides immediately after college for a year or two - they were generally upper class kids who had it made.

But that’s the thing — this kid is not upper class.

Looks like he doesn’t have many loans so why not relax a little?

Because he is middle class, so he needs to save up for a downpayment and retirement ASAP.

Look, just admit that you’re wealthy and that you’ll never get it.

He’s 22! No he does not. I grew up the poor child of immigrants and I bummed around lost after college for a few years. I still managed to land in the DC suburbs with a boring tech job, a house, a husband and a couple of kids just like you.

Wtf kind of miserable world view do you have that a 22 yo has to jump on the hamster wheel asap or he’s doomed for life? He’s at a perfect age to spend a year kayaking if that’s what he wants to do.

Anonymous wrote:I know someone who did this. HYSP, rigorous STEM degree, middle class, after summer went to work for similar kind of job. Twenty years later, owns one of the most successful and well-regarded companies in the field, highly profitable, works about half the year doing outdoor stuff he loves and has a markedly better quality of life than all his grinder classmates who went to law school.

He will be fine OP.

For every entrepreneur like him who succeeds, there are ten who fail

I know someone who did this. HYSP, rigorous STEM degree, middle class, after summer went to work for similar kind of job. Twenty years later, owns one of the most successful and well-regarded companies in the field, highly profitable, works about half the year doing outdoor stuff he loves and has a markedly better quality of life than all his grinder classmates who went to law school.

He will be fine OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of middle class kids at state school or regional privates take a year or two off, working entry level jobs or doing something fun like going abroad as an au pair or working at state parks. At least this kid doesn't have any debt and has the HYP degree to back him up. This is why kids are so stressed; even the ones who get into Ivies have to fulfill further expectations like getting the right high-paying at the right time or be considered failures. Let the kid live a little.
- someone who grew up working class, took some less fun gap years in retail, and would 100 percent encourage my middle class kids to pursue something like this

OP here. The only people I know who have taken “fun” gap years like you’ve described are the children of the wealthy (except for this kid).

You probably didn't go to HYPS or another top school then. I actually think it is a fairly smart long-term decision too. Don't start a high pressure job already burned out after college! Lots of people do something like what you described before applying to grad school too. College kids coming off of 4 years of dorm life and dining halls don't need a lot of luxuries. Doing a job like that for a few years even helps them show need aid wise and is more unique than low level consulting or something like that.

Anonymous wrote:A lot of middle class kids at state school or regional privates take a year or two off, working entry level jobs or doing something fun like going abroad as an au pair or working at state parks. At least this kid doesn't have any debt and has the HYP degree to back him up. This is why kids are so stressed; even the ones who get into Ivies have to fulfill further expectations like getting the right high-paying at the right time or be considered failures. Let the kid live a little.
- someone who grew up working class, took some less fun gap years in retail, and would 100 percent encourage my middle class kids to pursue something like this

OP here. The only people I know who have taken “fun” gap years like you’ve described are the children of the wealthy (except for this kid).

^^ very middle class family.

Anonymous wrote:Why do highly credentialed HYPS grads accept crap jobs after graduation?

My neighbor’s son is a senior at a HYPS right now, and she told me that her son just accepted a job offer after graduation. When I asked her what the job is, she told me that her son is moving to Oregon to be a full-time whitewater kayaking instructor.

I was bewildered by this. With a math degree from HYPS, I would assume he’d get a great job offer at graduation.

Oh and for the record, it’s not like he is a rich kid who can rely on his parents — he is solidly middle class and went to his college on a good amount of financial aid.

We know a kid that specialized in finance and decided to try his luck at professional golf. He never really made it big and his source of income during that time (6+ years) was as as a golf instructor. Once he decided to move on from that, he got a job as a PM at a big tech company in SV, no doubt through one of his HYPS buddies. Smart, confident kids with connections can do this and get away with it, especially when young.

A lot of middle class kids at state school or regional privates take a year or two off, working entry level jobs or doing something fun like going abroad as an au pair or working at state parks. At least this kid doesn't have any debt and has the HYP degree to back him up. This is why kids are so stressed; even the ones who get into Ivies have to fulfill further expectations like getting the right high-paying at the right time or be considered failures. Let the kid live a little.
- someone who grew up working class, took some less fun gap years in retail, and would 100 percent encourage my middle class kids to pursue something like this

Congratulations to him not buying into the rat race and enjoying life! A kid as smart as that will surely have a great career, especially after taking some time to find himself after graduation. Remember guys, you only life once, and you can't take money to the grave.

Someone whom my child went to HS with who took a year off (not 20-21) in college at a HYPSM school to go work a “fun” job like that out west. Is graduating a year late.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For fun and because they are not super career-focused. I know a few former elite college grads who became ski bums, rafting guides, or fishing guides immediately after college for a year or two - they were generally upper class kids who had it made.

But that’s the thing — this kid is not upper class.

Looks like he doesn’t have many loans so why not relax a little?

Because he is middle class, so he needs to save up for a downpayment and retirement ASAP.

Look, just admit that you’re wealthy and that you’ll never get it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For fun and because they are not super career-focused. I know a few former elite college grads who became ski bums, rafting guides, or fishing guides immediately after college for a year or two - they were generally upper class kids who had it made.

But that’s the thing — this kid is not upper class.

Looks like he doesn’t have many loans so why not relax a little?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[mastodon]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle class people and strivers are soooo boring because EVERY decision is about money. (I’m not saying that money isn’t important, but there’s no need to fixate on it; life is more colorful than money alone.) Consequently, they are not fun, witty, interesting, informative, or even friendly. Instead, they are highly practical, uptight, judgmental, and narrow-minded. If a kid can’t kayak at 22, when should he? According to the dopes on this thread: never.

Strivers? Please, you are being incredibly classist and elitist here.

And he can kayak on the weekends while he works a 9 to 5 or is in grad school.

Seriously, do you really think that most of the people who never had an extended adolescence kayaking in their twenties are “practical, uptight, judgmental, and narrow-minded?” You are clearly the judgmental one here.

As long as he’s paying his own bills and taxes I don’t think taking an unusual job counts as an extended adolescence. Weird that you think office jobs are the only valid career path. Maybe he’ll decide to launch his own kayak related business in a few years. Maybe he will decide office work provides more stability and decide it’s better to kayak on weekends after all. Maybe he’ll pivot into something totally different. But it sounds like he’s found a job that suits him for now and that seems to me a fair adult choice — much better than having family support while he finds an “appropriate” job in this crap economy.

Yes, taking a job kayaking instead of going to grad school or getting a career job (which isn’t that hard with an HYPS degree in Math) is indeed extending your adolescence. It’s not like being an adult at all.

This was actually a plot point on the Cosby Show. Oldest daughter Sonya and her husband Elvin, both Princeton grads, open up a camping store. Cliff was apoplectic.

Sorry, it was Sondra.