u/Roarii_04

Hi all,

If you don’t want to read everything, the question is as straightforward as the title. Should I become an apprentice? But if you’d prefer more context to my personal situation, here goes.

I’m 18F, only graduated high school a few months ago. I’ve considered the trades before, but what’s happened recently in my life has pushed me towards going to college out of necessity. Due to familial conflicts I moved out of my Dad’s house, and my biological mom is moving out of state within the next few months. I’m unwilling to move states because my little brother is here, and he’s too young to keep up a relationship that far. Since moving out I’ve been staying at a friends house. I’m going to college because I need the university housing, since I don’t have the financial means to prove I can provide rent for an apartment or any of the necessary documentation really. Essentially, I’m relying on financial aid and loans and university housing to coast me by.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not against college and that’s the pathway I’ve thought I’d go down for most of my life. But with the rise of AI escalating so quickly, there’s very few careers now that seem to offer short education, financial stability, and safety from AI. Combined with how going to college has become more so for the housing stability, it’s made me reconsider. I mean, there’s only so long I can rely on loans and FAFSA and the dorming. Dorms themselves are a financial hole, if I could’ve gotten an apartment I would’ve. That being said, I really have no idea what I want to do career wise and I just want something that will keep me stable and offer the funds to be able to have experiences in life outside of just surviving at this point.

I have no prior knowledge of the trades or any experience. To be quite frank the hardest labor I ever had was moving hay bales around a ranch. I was very much a home body, so I don’t really know if I could keep up. But becoming an electrician apprentice seems to be the most lucrative recommendation I’ve gotten as far as short education (meaning no longer than the ~4 years for uni), no possibility of AI, and providing financial stability. If I were to become an apprentice, I’d want to seek out an IBEW apprenticeship after my research, and I’d be unwilling to drop college because quite frankly I’m leeching off of the FAFSA money. So if I were to seek out an apprenticeship I’d maybe drop college to part time and switch my major to business, so maybe after gaining some experience as an electrician I could start my own business.

All in all, should I become an electrician apprentice? Could I develop the physicality to keep up over time? Can I do college part time and pursue a business major while doing the apprenticeship? What is the likelihood of landing an IBEW apprenticeship with no prior experience? I’m willing to learn, study, and work hard. Ultimately, I just really want some stability after spending a majority of my youth in financial and familial instability.

For additional helpful info, I’m in CA. I’ve heard which IBEW union you’re near makes a difference sometimes. I’ve heard location can impact aspects of apprenticeship too.

Hi all,

So I’m in an embarrassing predicament. I’m too scared to talk to my own mother about this, so of course like the average person I’m instead choosing to broadcast this invasive and highly embarrassing concern to hundreds more people on the internet. 🧍‍♀️

Essentially, I don’t have the resources for safe sex toys at the moment. I only recently turned eighteen, and don’t have much in my bank account other than enough to pay my phone bill. I was desperate, so…I used a hair curler for penetrating masturbation. I think I may have inserted it too far, or maybe the sharper ridges were scraping up against something, because there was a slight pain during said act.

After completing the deed, I noticed there was a fair amount of blood on it. I mean, not enough for me to be worried I’m bleeding out. But, enough to make me question whether or not I just got my period and had a jelly fish slip out? Anyway, now I’m sitting here and overthinking whether or not I just cracked my vagina in half or something. I’m not feeling any pain really, it’s just stinging a bit now and this is…moments after the act? I’m just worried and this seemed to be the place to consult whether or not I should be seriously concerned. What do I do?

Hi all,

I apologize if I didn’t flair this right or if this post is somehow against any rules. I’ve posted a similar question in r/AskDocs, and following that this community was recommended as another place to post my question. I’ve had a lot of things going on with me health wise recently, and I have no idea what it could be. I feel crazy describing my symptoms because none of them seem to connect, but I swear they all started around the same time period. When I describe my symptoms, the doctors I’ve been to don’t understand what I’m getting at, and neither do my family. I don’t really know what more I could say or how I could emphasize the discomfort any more so, and I’m really just seeking clarification on what it all may be so I don’t feel like I’m going insane.

I am a recently turned 18F, with no prior health issues besides some inflammation around my right knee due to a muscular imbalance. I’ve only ever drank or smoked weed a couple times, just experimenting. I am 5’3, and weigh 150 pounds. As much as I can remember, all of the following issues began early last year, but may have had signs of starting even before that.

The first and most significant thing are these bouts of seemingly random stabbing or pinching pains I get? These stabbing or pinching pains typically happen along my back, hands, and sometimes my legs. They are often so bad I have to take a moment to recuperate. It’s especially bad with my hands, because I’ll lose my grip on things as a result. It just is very uncomfortable to keep my hand in the position of holding something when these stabbing pains happen? Notably, these stabbing pains seem to happen more often during periods of time where I’m stressed, and weirdly enough when it’s colder outside? These stabbing pains seem to frequently correlate with this burning sensation as well, often also around my back and legs.

Besides that, I just feel so heavily fatigued all of the time. I’m often so exhausted that it feels hard to be out of bed more than a few hours, and as a result I excessively sleep due to napping throughout the day. It makes it hard to live out my days and get the things I want to do done. This is despite the fact generally I have a good sleep schedule, going to bed around 9-10PM and waking up around 6-7AM. Though, I’ve had sleep trackers note I don’t usually reach deep sleep, only light sleep.

Atop that, around the same time all of these issues began happening my stomach has become angry at absolutely everything. It wasn’t always like this, and I’ve never had a poor diet. The most I can say is I’ve had a bit too much caffeine at times, and because my family is low income I’ve had a fair amount of instant ramen. But my stomach is upset at anything spicy, greasy, caffeinated, or even just mildly heavy now a days. It doesn’t even have to be all that bad anymore for my stomach to get upset.

The final thing is this terrible stiffness in my joints. Doctors previously thought it might have been some sort of arthritis, but all of those were ruled out. But I often just feel so stiff, it makes it hard to comfortably move. It’s most bad with my jaw, which has been so stiff to the point of frequently clicking, slanting, or locking when I open my mouth. It once locked up so bad I had to put a warm cloth against my face and massage it for 15 minutes straight until it finally let go.

I just feel crazy. I try to describe these symptoms, but no one understands it and don’t see any correlation. I’ve gone to a doctor so many times and have had so many things ruled out at this point and they still can’t place a finger on it. They’ve prescribed me multiple medications such as steroids to help with the pains, or muscle relaxers. These helped minimally with the aches I suppose, but not with much else. It doesn’t help it’s hard to place exactly when these symptoms happen or when it all exactly started because of some memory issues I’ve had for a while now due to depression and anxiety. I’m just really seeking any possible answers.

Hi,

As I write this out, please excuse any awkward wording. I am fairly new to Reddit (18/F), so I am only adjusting now to the lingo and organization of things. I come to this reddit with doubts about pursuing journalism, and am seeking advice on whether or not I should and or how one succeeds in the field.

I just graduated from high school a couple months ago, and am going to be attending CSUF (Cal State University Fullerton), as I’ve heard good things about their communications program. I will be majoring in communications with a concentration in journalism! But, with the start of college getting closer I’m much more doubtful about going into the field. So many people have advised me against it due to the instability of the job, and of course how expensive attending university is. (In relation to this, I’ve thought about attending community college first, but due to familial conflicts I’m dependent on university housing. I’ve also considered teaching alongside journalism to get some more stability, but many on r/AskTeachers advised me I should choose one or the other to avoid burnout.)

So with all of this in mind, what is the outlook for new journalists? Obviously, I’m aware there’s a lot of hustle involved and succeeding in the field requires hard work. But is it possible to become a successful journalist, at all? My ultimate dream would be to work up from being in news networks, to gaining a name for myself and becoming independent, and maybe even establishing my own unbiased network someday. I know it’s so idealistic, but one can hope?

Hi,

As I write this out, please excuse any awkward wording. I am fairly new to Reddit (18/F), so I am only adjusting now to the lingo and organization of things. I come to this reddit with doubts about pursuing journalism, and am seeking advice on whether or not I should and or how one succeeds in the field.

I just graduated from high school a couple months ago, and am going to be attending CSUF (Cal State University Fullerton), as I’ve heard good things about their communications program. I will be majoring in communications with a concentration in journalism! But, with the start of college getting closer I’m much more doubtful about going into the field. So many people have advised me against it due to the instability of the job, and of course how expensive attending university is. (In relation to this, I’ve thought about attending community college first, but due to familial conflicts I’m dependent on university housing. I’ve also considered teaching alongside journalism to get some more stability, but many on r/AskTeachers advised me I should choose one or the other to avoid burnout.)

So with all of this in mind, what is the outlook for new journalists? Obviously, I’m aware there’s a lot of hustle involved and succeeding in the field requires hard work. But is it possible to become a successful journalist, at all? My ultimate dream would be to work up from being in news networks, to gaining a name for myself and becoming independent, and maybe even establishing my own unbiased network someday. I know it’s so idealistic, but one can hope?

Hi,

As I write this out please forgive any awkward wording, I am fairly new to Reddit so I’m only adjusting to the lingo now. Anyway, I am 18/F, and have just recently graduated high school! I am now going off to a public in state university, but in doing so have faced a lot of doubts regarding career aspirations, and of course the cost of it all.

Originally, I had wanted to be a journalist. However, of course this job doesn’t offer much stability. So I researched teaching and found there’s a lot of grants and loan forgiveness programs available to teachers! Of course, there’s also a high need for teachers. I still wish to pursue journalism, but I’ve been considering double majoring so that I may earn a teaching credential as well.

With this in mind, I’ve been wondering about which direction I should go? I hope to work as a teacher and journalist simultaneously, being a teacher during the day and taking night shifts at a more local news network before moving onwards. I am aware this will be very tiring, so I’ve been wondering whether or not elementary teaching or high school teaching is best suited for this? Which one is more flexible, offers stability, more prep, less overall tiring, etcetera? Also, would being a journalist cause any issues? Please let me know!