I need some direction right now in my life could you some advice

Career wise I would like to be either an interviewer for actors, musicians, etc for a small entertainment company (like what you see on yahoo media) those small agencies that interview celebrities on camera and the interviewers AREN'T famous. Or give the public information on entertainment news on the radio or being a receptionist at a radio/TV studio. Or work for an LGBT news/entertainment network. Reason why I picked Communications is because you hardly use any math to get a degree in Communications. With the work that I would like to do I assume I should go for Mass Communications.?

Im not really a good student in school academically, because its pretty complicated, plus having a learning disability, but I realized that you can't go far in life without having an education. Even though I suck at school at least things like art psychology and political science is interesting. I don't like the fact that Im barley a freshman in college and Im 22 but Learning Support takes forever to get through so you can get on level and then start on level college core classes. To be honest my math class is the only thing thats taking me so long to complete. I graduated high school 2010 at 19, started college classes that fall and then in the year 2011 I took a year and half off of school (regret it but I took the risk) so now I went back to school in 2012 to now working part time and going to school part time. It just feels weird that most of my high school classmates are graduating college this year and living on their own and Im feeling left far
behind. With me probably graduating maybe at age 26-27 and thats old to me.
I just dont want to be a 30 year old on an entry level job!

The thing of it is Im still pretty stuck, I know that Ive said this
before but long story short Im still living with my devout jehovah witness parents and I still have to live by their rules. I dont want to be a jehovahs witness anymore. They know that I dont want to be a JW anymore but I dont think they will support me financially if I officially leave the congregation for good currently Im "inactive". I dont know anybody that I can move into I don't have a lot of friends.

Plus I dont know if I can afford college I only have close to $8,000 saved up at thats for my moving out money fund. I dont see how people my age do this, I see people my age traveling moving to cities living on their own with or without roommates either going to school by transferring or just living life. I dont know where they get the money or how they can afford it. At my job the store that I worked at has shut down for good but they transferred me and some of my employees to a store, but im only working part time as usual and getting paid $9.50 an hour.

What am I doing wrong? I want to move out of this house but Im scared
whats going to happen next, because I dont have a plan and what if I
have a plan and that goes wrong financially? I would be totally broke and "would have" to move back in with my parents and thats NOT an option its hard that you parents are JW its even tougher when you cant "be gay" in this household. No hanging out with LGBT people no gay bars/ clubs organizations no pride nothing.

Do I have to get a Bachelors or can I just get an Associates degree in
Mass Communications?
How can I get through school faster to get my degree quicker if I
should earn a Bachelors degree?
How can I afford college without borrowing money with student loans?
What steps do I need to take if I want to move out and be on my own?
What should I do for money if I need more income? lol should I strip? lol If Im going to move somewhere how can I make more income that im making now?

Im also scared if I do graduate with a Bachelors degree what if I dont find a job in my field? It wouldve been a waste financially rather than being a receptionist at a TV/Radio studio and work my way up without even going to college and getting a career that way?

 

Thank You for giving me advice Todd! With paying for college Im going to try to get all the grants/scholarships that I can. Im trying to decide if I should move out the state when transferring to another school or something. My biggest fear as far as for education is getting a degree and I wont get a job within that field. That would REALLY depress me.

With moving out with roommates which sites are safe for looking up roommates besides Craigslist. I saw a transitional housing for LGBT here in Atlanta for people ages 17-24 and Im 22. I qualify because of my age but for the rest to enter in I dont know if I would qualify.
Here is the website Summit Trail Apartment Community : CHRIS KIDS - Unlocking Potential
Im wondering if I should ask my therapist if it would be a good idea if I could stay there.

To respond to your G) My hours are pretty messed up now so its kind of unstable right now because of the closure of the store I worked at but they transferred me and some of my employees, but my hours had changed so I really dont know about my budget. I really actually dont know how to budget as sad as that is/sounds.
Wow 60k? Thats a lot I actually dont think I have the body for that Im skinny fat, you know how the LGBT can be superficial

But sadly fear has already paralyzed me thats why im getting help with the therapist im seeing however my therapist sees me like every 2 months with the issues I have I think I should see her more like at least once every 2 weeks.

Again thank you Todd for the advice I REALLY appreciate it! : )

 

So I like to interview people and I would like to interview people in the entertainment industry.
So youre saying that I should just find other ways to get up to that place where I want to be? Like what you said "life has a way of turning up all sorts of interesting options".?

I mean you do have people in the TV/Radio entertainment industry that went to college but got a degree in something unrelated to what they are doing now.

So how did your friend started the Fortune 100 company when her college degree was unrelated to what she is doing now?

I think all I would like to do is interview people and travel why doing it too.


As regards to the budget Im going to try it, its kind of confusing because I have close to $8,000 but some people tell me thats enough to move out other say its not or that it will but it will last me 3 months max.

I dont know if I told you but the job that I worked at closed down and transferred me to another store and my hours got cut but at least I got a job. But the employees that I now work with, one said that she is trying to find another job as a (vet tech) and just this past thursday another employee said if the schedule doesn't have 40hrs then he is going to get another job. For me Im caught in a limbo state because I want to leave to make more money but I don't know if Im good enough since I suck at a lot of things. The pay that Im getting now as a cashier I can tell you most companies wont pay me that they would pay me lower then what Im earning right now as a cashier and that is $9.50 an hour. Most cashiers make $7.25 to $8.25 an hour. I though about being a receptionist because they get paid a little bit more and I think mostly get paid every week instead of bi-weekly.


What Im afraid of? Im afraid that Im going to fail out in the real world and would have to move back in with my jehovahs witness parents which I DON'T want to do. I am very sheltered, but my parents religion pretty much teaches the parents to shelter their kids. They have a scriptural saying to "not be part of the world"! Where the fear comes in is that, if you are raised in the jehovahs witness religion with your parents and you yourself don't want to be a jw, you will eventually live a double life, however depending on the person and their conscious, they will be nervous/afraid if they get caught of doing something they arent allowed to do. Sometimes the more you do things that a JW wouldnt do the more anxiety/ paranoia will start to kick in because you don't want to get caught by either your parents or people in the congregation because you can get in trouble esp if youre baptized. Anyways having all that fear of getting caught starts to build up like a snowball effect, and can get to the point that fear can "paralyze" you! Your nervous or scared of the most simplest things. As for me I don't practice the jw (jehovah witness) religion anymore and I don't believe in the doctrines anymore. However if someone who isn't a jehovahs witness says jehovah or jehovahs witness, either my stomach drops or my heart rate gets faster or both would happen at the same time if I hear that name. I believe this has to do with my subconscious mind.

This is why Im getting help with my therapist teaching me to not be scared. Its to the point where I want help but scared to reach where I really want to be in life. My therapist encourages me to find a small LGBT group to talk and get to know people, and I still haven't attempted to do that out of fear of my parents finding out, because its possible that I could get my dad in trouble because he is one of the elders and I still live in his house. Not to mention hiding my sexuality for a long time during my pre teen and teenage years and hearing talks (sermons) about gays and homosexuality. Every time when I heard the word homosexuality at the kingdom hall (church) I have that dropping feeling in my stomach.

 

oh okay

 

Wow I got a txt from an old high school friend of mines she texted me that there is a play and they are doing casting calls and this came out of the blue. IDK if this is a sign for me to go for this, even if I dont get a part in the play maybe I could ask the directors and Casting on advice about the entertainment industry and how to get in it. This is kind of weird it just happened out of nowhere. You said things could go anyway. IDK I think I might go for it this could be my only chance. This is just really weird what you said and now something like this appears, and most likely what I need to get to my dream career. I think Im going to go for this and txt my friend back.

I just don't know what Im going to do for school, at first my plan was just to complete my core classes and then find a internship at casting agency for TV/Film and work my way up. Then I hear that you really need to get a degree in something your interested in either with a Associates Degree or Bachelors which is in Communications or Theatre. Now since Im interested in interviewing and traveling and TV/Film. Im thinking that I should get a bachelors degree in Mass Communications.

I just don't know how I'm going to afford it and care for myself to survive at the same time. I just don't want to be in debt and not knowing the future of a job I would get to pay it off. ill try to get grants and scholarships, I do have ADHD and have documental proof and records that I have this disability and get income for disability. Also with my job only getting 9.50 an hour part time I guess I can apply for food stamps too, I don't like it but hey I guess I might be eligible!

I dont know what I should do, should even go to earn a bachelors, I mean people are graduating college and don't have a job to go to and are drowning in debt and have deadlines to pay for that and I don't want to end up like them but at the same time not having a degree can also be a lose/lose situation no one is really going to hire a non graduate from college. As for education in college is way different than how it was before 30 years ago hell 10 years ago.

What is a employment/temp agency? Do they give people jobs that they can do according to the person skills? I guess your right that I need to research it.

So is biweekly actually a good thing then? If it is I can kind of see why because you have a week that you don't get paid and so I guess you can prepare more and be more organize, however being paid bi weekly gas is a little tricky then because it depends on how many times you drive and or how far you go.


lol I understand that you wouldn't have anything nice to say I totally understand that but I wouldn't mind your opinion.

Well they call you a lot and ask for you but if you still don't return nothing really happens but if its been awhile they will have your status as inactive. Otherwise they will leave you alone, however you do have a lot of elders who would drive around your house to see whats going on or sometimes they will want to stop by but that hasn't happened to me yet.

No they cant send people to drag you back in, but in their minds think that you will eventually come back and sometimes a lot of people do which is sad! And if that person who wanted to adventure out in the real world and was in big trouble or something really bad happened to them they go back home to their parents or go back home to their place and if they go back to the kingdom hall (church) the elders and brothers and sisters would have that mentality "I told you so" attitude.


For me I was pretty much agnostic but now I believe again but I would claim myself as more spiritual than religious. If I had to be religious or follow a religion it wouldnt mix because my beliefs are a mix of everything (Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Wiccan) so I would fit in most religious which is fine for me.

I thought about going to another denomination United Church of Christ that denomination is the most liberal denominations of Christianity them and I believe the Episcopalians.

I was thinking of other churches however thats pretty much out of the question now since i live in this house! Why? Well I went on the website of the United Church of Christ to the online store they have books for LGBT I ordered them and had it sent to the house when I was going to be out home but my dad got a hold of it and he saw the United Church of Christ logo and he totally flipped out. So I cant imagine if I went to a church!
I guess you and my therapist are right that I need to go to a small LGBT support group but its easier said than done, and I believe its me that stopping myself because of my conscious, and this could be a possibility it might be possible that I might meet a future roommate at support group, I don't know.

 

I found out that the play its pretty much a gospel play I started to think twice but you never know where gospel takes you. At least the my friend from high school is who is helping directing this play already knows that Im gay and she's accepting too.
I hope I have a lot of opportunities for my sake.
IDK why I feel old even though Im 22, but then again its probably because how I've been raised with my parents in the sense I haven't really "lived" and did what people and their late teens were doing. Plus it seems like the people who are around my age are maturing with all the experience that they've had in their lives and me not exploring which is honestly my fault.




Thank You so much for giving me that link! : ) However I'm starting to think if I should really go to college to get a degree now and just intern at the places that are listed on the website you've given me.

I have notice that they have filmed a lot of movies here Tyler Perry productions is here also they are filming Dumb Dumber 2 here in ATL also they are filming the next Hunger Games here right now as we're typing right now.

I guess you're about the college debt thing and going to college and that its not the end of the world because at the end of the day the economy goes up and down and can change forms once its okay but the economy always finds its way back.

For me I would like to live my dream and that is to live comfortably and when I say that I would be happy with me having a good job that I love or at least interested in, living in a studio or 1 bedroom apartment, a car that I can depend on, paying my bills on time, go on a vacation once in a while and finally to be my true self thats all I want. Its just Im trying to get out of the hole (living here with my parents) and Im trying to figure out the first step towards what I want, I don't know where to start from.


With the agencies that is what I need because to take test and to see what my skills are its kind of hard not knowing what your good at and what your personality is.
Wow so if the my job at the grocery store is going to close again, I will consider doing this so I can find a better job. : )

With the whole public transportation thing, I would but I live way out in the suburbs I would take public transportation if I lived in the city though. I really don't have a problem with taking public transportation sometimes you need a brake behind the wheel! If I lived in NYC or Chicago I would take the train or bus.

With my parents raising me and sheltering me to the MAXIMUM, Im wondering are there any books on what to expect in the real world like financial books ect on how to live in the real world?

With the elders I dont care what they think but it seems that I need to disassociate myself from the religion so mentally I can be a more free and depart from the religion in my control and not just stop going because to me it seems like im a coward and not facing them and for once Im doing something for me instead of following somebody else. This is just me finally expressing myself. I plan on disassociating myself from the religion next year but I still wont able to afford to live on my own if I move out so Im still stuck, thats why I really need to figure out how much I really need to move out.

Who knows maybe I really need to quit my job at the grocery store and go to the employment agency that could give me a better job that I can easily do and not get fired from and make more money so I can save up quicker and move out in a shorter time or to move out now and start living my life. Plus at the store I work at had cut down on everyones hours. Its just scary if I do quit because you never know the future what if Im better right now then what I might consider by quitting the job at the grocery store.

You know what I think you're right with the church and again by going to a church that supports LGBT could somehow change my life and living situation. : )

The reason I said its easier said than done you guessed it , it does make me nervous to think of doing it because I really never really participated in anything LGBT like support groups or clubs and pride.

Hopefully I would have enough confidence in myself so finally make a move!