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Does this three-year life-plan sound somewhat sensible?

Asked by Hobbes (7368points) December 8th, 2013

Hey, fellow folks of Fluther! Could you give me some advice, please? Also, feel free to share your own plans for your nearish future.

The future (both personal and general) is so unpredictable and unstable right now that even this is probably a naively optimistic exercise, yet the mice and me keep laying plans.

I’m 23 right now, currently finishing up my first semester of an interdisciplinary liberal arts graduate program at San Diego State (yes, I know how impractical that sounds, and yes, I am using this question to procrastinate). I’m working as a T.A. in the English department, but over the Summer of next year, I’m planning to do an internship in LA which promises a way to get my foot in the door of the entertainment industry (I mostly want to get into the acting biz, but am also very interested in directing, writing, and editing). The credit I’d get from the internship should also allow me to graduate a semester early from SDSU, getting an M.A. by the end of next year.

Now, here’s my dilemma: part of me wants to move to LA immediately after I get my diploma, but I’ll still have my undergraduate student debt and basically no money. What I’m considering is taking six months to a year to teach English abroad, probably in South Korea, since from what I hear, they have the best benefits and pay. This would let me save up money to pay off my debt and get started in LA, plus maybe travel a little first.

Or, I could move back into my parents’ house and live there for a few months, save up some money (possibly also teaching and/or tutoring English), and move to LA directly. I realize this is a much riskier option. The previous one even has the added benefit of allowing me to teach or tutor people in LA who want to learn or improve their English, which could be a solid source of income while finding other opportunities. I hear Koreatown is a very vibrant neighborhood and I’m sure living in Korea for a year would come in handy if I wanted to live there. But I’m already itching to get to LA and start chasing dreams, and if I went in the summer of 2015 I might be able to repeat the internship, which could lead to a full-time job. I could try to do that in 2016 as well, of course, but I guess I’m worried that whatever contacts I have or might make through that internship could dry up if I don’t make it there until I’m twenty-six. That I’d miss my shot, so to speak.

Or maybe I’m just worried about being “over the hill”, more than halfway to 30.

Or maybe I’m just trying to plan too far ahead.

Anyway, enough about me.

Does anyone here have any idea where they’ll be in three years?

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