Don’t you hate it when…
...there is one decision/piece of information that the make up of the next year of your life hinges on, but it keeps getting put further and further back, and you can’t organise or withdraw from anything until you get this vital piece of information…
I feel like I am sitting on the train tracks in a broken down car, and only my car starting will determine whether I get off the tracks or not…doesn’t matter how many times I try and start the car, the only thing that everything hinges on is the car actually starting
Except the reality of this analogy is getting off the tracks is getting an internship here, and if they LET ME KNOW FAST ENOUGH going to the snow here for a week, and staying on the tracks is (not dying 
) going to canada to work for 6 months the second I finish uni…which I had already organised a lot of before SACA rang back about the internship I thought I wasn’t going to get…and obviously the car starting is SACA letting me know what the outcome is…
I feel oddly out of control of my life at the moment and I don’t really like it to be honest…
Sorry all, just needed to vent a bit and put what I am thinking at the moment down in words…feel free to interpret the title and respond in your own way, and turn this thread into what it should be, and not about me complaining 
Can you take a year off?
I’m currently in a similar position. I’ve finished all my theory studies at uni last year, but still have another 6ish months of practical + a big prac exam at the conclusion. After finishing my theory, I started working full time in a dead end job that gets me $900ish a week. Im going OS in Oct to asia for 3 months + another 3 months in Big white.
When I get back I’ll finish my studies and then start in the workforce in my field. The bonus is by taking a year off you’ll be more mature and know your goals, so the determination to do well will be far higher.
You’re only young once. Travel while you can.
Not for the internship I can’t, it is only for final year students in Sports Science degrees (which I am studying at the moment ), and being my last semester I was going to be taking the “travel while you are young” approach and going to Canada for 6 months at the end of the year to work/play/etc…
The annoying thing is I applied for the internship back in Mid-April, and the position was supposed to begin during June. After consistantly bombarding the overseer of the position for information etc I figured that the later I left organising Canada the harder and more expensive it was going to get, so I bit the bullet towards the end of June and went and organised my Canadian working holiday shiz, figuring that I would still have an exit plan (which I still do) should the internship people ring me ever, but that if they didn’t I wouldn’t be left with nothing…
So of course as Murphy’s law would have it, the second you make a big decision and spend any money, it comes back to bite you on the ass, as it did last Monday, when as I was happily working the Strength and Conditioning manager from SACA rings up and asks if I am willing to come in for an interview on Wednesday for the Internship position…so of course because it is a great, door-opening opportunity career-wise, I go in and have the interview, goes alright, and they say they have a couple of other people to interview and they will let me know hopefully by the end of the week, if not early next week…
So I leave it…and wait…and wait some more…until today I ring up, and what do you know they still have one more person to interview which will hopefully be done by the end of THIS week now…which is annoying in itself because I want to see some snow this year and I don’t really care where, but given that next week is the last week of my holidays that was the week I was planning to go if I did get the position…but if I’m not finding out until potentially next Monday (given their track record) that is getting harder and harder to do…accommodation should be fine because I know a few people, and I can in the worst case drive up (from Adelaide…) but yeah…annoying/frustrating/all of the above…
Anyway sorry for the second rant…don’t really know whether it explained my situation any more but yeah…good luck with your travel and finishing your prac homework (haha just read that again )
I feel oddly out of control of my life at the moment and I don’t really like it to be honest…
A nice thing about this topic is that if someone here doesnt understand what you’re talking about - they soon will.
May of us have been in similar situations.
You may find comfort in knowing that you’re not the only one who feels (or who has felt) this way.
I learned long ago that in certain situations it helps to learn what you HAVE control over and what you DONT HAVE control over. Write it down if you have to.
Weight the options. make a decision.
If it turns out that you really dont have ANY CONTROL. then relax and be satisfied that you just CANT do anything about it… for now.
You can spend your time deciding how you will respond to the situation if it turns out in one way vs another vs another.
(if ‘A’ happens, then you will _____, if ‘B’ happens then you will _____, etc.)
Speculating on all the various options can indeed get to be stressful so know when enough is enough. It helps to talk to various people too, dont just get your advice from one person during this time.
Also, when it comes down to decision time - say you get the internship and you have to decide to accept or reject the offer.
Make a decision and stick with it! be confident in that decision and move forward with it FULLY. Dont do it half way, if it is chasing snow in your youth, then do it and be happy (dont sulk or whine about how you should have started school), and if you do the school thing dont sit and whine about not going snowboarding for a year… Be confident in your decision…. The worst is to choose one option, with your “foot in the door” for the other option, and you’ll never be happy about your decision. Decide and stick with it.
Have a plan of when to start your other plan.
If you decide you will go snowboarding for a season then return to school… do it.
If you decide you will school for now and ride later, then do it!
Can you take a year off?
You’re only young once. Travel while you can.
Slightly off bangabain’s topic, but re: travel, I agree PROVIDED you can afford it! I hope your trip isn’t funded by credit cards. 6 months overseas on credit cards would lead to a pretty painful repayment plan.
I worked throughout my uni degree and saved pretty hard. When I finished I headed to Whistler for 3 months where I was just a snow bum (ie. no work, just snowboard). Lived off my savings and spent a fortune. Had I done it on credit cards, I would still be paying it back 10 years later. I have heard some real horror stories of people getting into ridiculous credit card debt….just scares me when people tell me they are travelling and funding it purely on the plastic.
Just my 2 cents.
snowslider gives good advice. Don’t stress over things out of your control. Whichever way it turns out, it seems like there are a lot of positives to come out of it. You either get the internship you really want, or you go snowboarding.
In my opinion good opportunities always present themselves. As one opportunity disappears, another one appears. As one door shuts, another one opens etc… Don’t pin all your hopes onto the internship. Have confidence in knowing you will be a success no matter what happens. You either gain an internship, or you gain life experience travelling the globe snowboarding.
If you get the internship, great. There will be more opportunities to travel and go snowboarding. Personally I would take a year off after completing the internship to work and travel, but that’s another story. If you don’t get the internship, whatever. You are young and there will be countless opportunities in the future to make positive steps in your career. Forget about it, go snowboarding and have the time of your life.
Don’t stress over things out of your control… just let it happen. Either way you’re a winner. 
I feel oddly out of control of my life at the moment and I don’t really like it to be honest…
A nice thing about this topic is that if someone here doesnt understand what you’re talking about - they soon will.
May of us have been in similar situations.
You may find comfort in knowing that you’re not the only one who feels (or who has felt) this way.I learned long ago that in certain situations it helps to learn what you HAVE control over and what you DONT HAVE control over. Write it down if you have to.
Weight the options. make a decision.
If it turns out that you really dont have ANY CONTROL. then relax and be satisfied that you just CANT do anything about it… for now.
You can spend your time deciding how you will respond to the situation if it turns out in one way vs another vs another.
(if ‘A’ happens, then you will _____, if ‘B’ happens then you will _____, etc.)
Speculating on all the various options can indeed get to be stressful so know when enough is enough. It helps to talk to various people too, dont just get your advice from one person during this time.Also, when it comes down to decision time - say you get the internship and you have to decide to accept or reject the offer.
Make a decision and stick with it! be confident in that decision and move forward with it FULLY. Dont do it half way, if it is chasing snow in your youth, then do it and be happy (dont sulk or whine about how you should have started school), and if you do the school thing dont sit and whine about not going snowboarding for a year… Be confident in your decision…. The worst is to choose one option, with your “foot in the door” for the other option, and you’ll never be happy about your decision. Decide and stick with it.Have a plan of when to start your other plan.
If you decide you will go snowboarding for a season then return to school… do it.
If you decide you will school for now and ride later, then do it!
Cheers snowslider, its good to know that what I have been doing over the last few days (figuring out what I have and don’t have control over, fully planning my responses to what the information is so that when I get it I can move straight away to initiate it) is normal enough and not just me being anal retentive, and it is also comforting to look and see that no, I’m not the only one who is and will ever be in a situation like this, and if I look at what I have decided to do in each situation, I feel I will manage to get a positive outcome either way…
So while the coin is spinning at the moment the two sides are:
FUN/EXPERIENCE - Don’t get the internship - Canada at the end of November to work for 6+ months (Kort great advice on the credit card point too - I don’t subscribe to them at all, so all of the money that will get me over there and keep me going is hard-saved money, followed by what I will earn working over there…), perhaps playing cricket over there in the Canadian summer for a few months, then coming back here and (depending on a few more factors that don’t need to be worried about until then) perhaps do a year of honours study in 2011…
OR
CAREER - Get the internship - Go to the snow here for 4-5 days (which was hopefully going to be next week but now that’s getting harder…but there are other options that I don’t need to bore you with here), Stay here doing the internship until March next year, and working hopefully a lot over the summer holidays, then maybe do honours next year, or perhaps get a full time job in the Sports Science industry out of the internship, and then perhaps (and this is a long way away mind you) go with the same Canada plan as this year, starting November 2010…
IN BOTH CASES
- I will still finish my degree this November, honours is only a side-option at the moment that isn’t weighing too much in to any decision I will be making, as either way I can still do it at some stage if I choose to…
- I still will see some snow at some stage this year, just the length of time and where are the variables.
- I will get a snowboard at some stage this year too - if I go to Canada I will buy a board there, but if I don’t I will buy one here…due to being boardless at the moment…
God I can rant sometimes…sorry to you helpful folk for destroying your eyes, thanks so much for bouncing ideas back and forth and helping me get down/out what I need to which is helping a lot for both filling time and confirming my self-talk that whichever way the decision goes it is a positive…thanks guys
My random thoughts:
Given what the OP wrote, given that he’s probably still a young chap, go to Canada.
Sometimes that “experience” presents itself just once in your life, and you have to take it. In my case, I don’t want to wait until I’m 65 to see the world, and don’t want to be stuck in an office for the next decades with no opportunities to get out there. Heck, who knows if I’ll even make it to 65? If I want to go, and if my finances allow me, I go for it.
Example: back in January right after arriving back in Europe from the Xmas holidays, I saw a reasonable fare to Marrakesh, checked the weather report, which was a chilly 3 C in the city, and on two days notice, I plunked down the $$$ and flew there and rode powder in Africa. No regrets, money well-spent, boss didn’t like it, but it was a memorable life experience very few people get to do.
Interesting topic. I’m sort of in a similar situation. I took the career option and I think it was the right decision. Ive been working straight out of uni in my profession for 3 and a half years. Ive also wanted to do the work/play in the canadian snow. Actually I originally started looking at it like three years ago. I still really want to go (before I get too old 
) and this year was a possibility but didnt work out (due to other commitments). My mission is to make it happen next year! I also want to travel other parts of the world with my girlfriend, so fingers crossed it finally happens. a positive with working a couple years out of uni before travelling (besides the money) is it gives you a strong platform careerwise. With that platform set I’m of the mind that a year off is now much deserved and that much has been achieved to get to this point. Of course, as others have mentioned both options have there positives…. The obvious threat I can see is that the longer I put travelling off the more chance further commitments stop it from happening…. I hope my experience is of some sort of help
Banga,
Sounds like you are in a Win-Win situation. (just like Jeremy said)
You’re future is bright and either way will be a great thing!
Dont stress.
Keep us posted as this develops.
WEEKLY(ISH) UPDATE…for those following
Still no word regarding the internship, so given that I was told I would be told 2 weeks ago, my hopes aren’t all that high to be honest…although given their track record…*rolls eyes*
HOWEVER, given that I had already gone a fair way through the going to Canada procedure before I got an interview for the internship, I had already applied for my visa, and wound up getting that yesterday…so that was good news…
So basically, I am (not officially, because I know what happens when I try and claim something as officially, Mr Murphy and his lovely law decides to pop up indefinitely ) going to Canada at the end of the year…pending the obtaining of a job at the job interviews in Melbourne on the 10th of August…so if there is no word from teh Internship before then, the officiality of the Canada trip will be confirmed…
Feeling a bit better about the whole control thing, but still the air of uncertainty is is hovering around a bit ah well…better than sitting around home doing nothing for a year after I graduate
Cheers again for the responses, I find it helpful to get things out that I am thinking about…so thanks for listening
All good dude. Keep us posted on any updates. Do you know where you want to go in Canada? Which mountain is your interview with?
wow, do we need a smiley filter! lol.
haha yeah…smiley filtering and conciseness lessons…they would make a killing off me in those after work time computer lesson thingies that seem all the rage at community centres and tafes haha and there we go again…