PASSED! Movin' right along...

I passed the retake of my comprehensive exam! I'm pretty stoked! Now that that's been taken care of, I'm planning on taking care of my last 4 courses for my master's degree and finding a job. The only question, regarding the job, is where to look. I don't have a clue where to start.

I would assume statistics jobs would be easier to come by than most, primarily because it's a field that not a lot of people are really interested in pursuing, but I guess those types of positions are harder to find than I thought. Anybody have any clue as to where to look for stat jobs?

I'm not looking to teach (been there, done that), so I would really like a job similar to what I am doing now, which is statistical consulting, or something along the lines of "industrial statistics," like quality control, or even something along the lines of biostatistical analysis. Any thoughts or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all!

Comps are done... now what?

The time has come and gone, but now the comps are done. I can take solace in the fact that no matter what happens next, I never have to take those exams ever again. I must admit that I'm pretty relieved. Assuming I pass, I will be one step closer to my master's degree and that much closer to a well paying job. Speaking of which, I have been doing a lot of thinking, and I have decided that I am open to going out of state for work and such. I used to be dead set on getting a job in the Burlington area, which is where I'm originally from, but after thinking about it some more, I wouldn't mind it if I found a job in Boston or DC or something of the like.

Anyway, another boring post is over. Time to get back to work. Thanks for reading!

Why do I even bother...

There are times when I think, "why do I even bother?" The group of people that I normally hang out with, many of them happen to be friends of my brother, don't seem to give a damn about what I do with my life, and even if I tell them about what's going on, I always get the sense that they are half-listening and half wishing the conversation with me would end. Why do I feel this way?

For starters, I am four courses away from getting my master's degree in statistics, a very lucrative and well-paying field, and I am working for a statistical consulting group at a research university. All of that is really cool. I'm successful in nearly every aspect of my life (except romance, which is something I don't feel I can really get right), and yet nobody seems to care. It seems that they would rather go out to bars/do other things with my brother, rather than listen to what I have to say. I have stuff that I would like to say, but I can never feel like I get a word in edgewise. Sometimes I think it's because I'm shorter than a lot of my friends, many of them pushing 6'2". Other times, I think that it's because I'm boring to talk to because many of the things I talk about has to do with the studying and research that I'm doing. Grad school is the biggest thing in my life right now, and I'd like to talk to some of these people about it, but I don't feel like they ever listen, or even want to talk to me half of the time. I'm interesting, god dammit! I have my own hopes and dreams and fears and needs that make me who I am! I want to be heard!

On the other hand, I can see why others don't want to talk about school and other stuff of that nature. I have no disillusions about that. Other people talk about their job, or their annoying co-worker, or who they had sex with the night before. I'm sorry that the topics I contribute to are not that kind of thing, but I am trying to get a grip on reality, and I'm trying to do it in my own way. I really want to relate, and I am trying to contact them (calling, texting, Facebooking, etc.) to talk and get in touch, but I don't feel as though many of them are meeting me half-way on this. It really hurts my feelings that I don't feel like anybody really gives a damn about what I do or what I care about.

If by some chance that somebody/a group of the people I am talking about stumble upon this post, I would just like you all to know that I am not trying to insult or blame any of you for how I feel. Much of this may span from being an asshole or from being trapped in my own head for too long, but I really want to be heard. I would at least like the occasional text message, phone call, blog comment or Facebook post/message to see what's up with me. I do the same for you. And guess what? I listen to every word that you say because I am interested in what is going on in your lives. That is all.

Cody

Really gotta write more frequent posts for this...

I don't know why I don't get on this more often. I really do want to do more of this, I swear. :)

I have been thinking a lot lately, and I really think I want to at least attempt to pursue writing/directing/producing/acting in a movie or a webseries of my own. I have at least one friend that wants to be involved and I am happy to help him get this off of the ground. I think this would be a fun project to do, even if we don't make any money off of it, it would be awesome to just put ourselves out there and show people that we can act, direct, write, and do all that stuff. Just to be able to say that we did it is an awesome thing in and of itself. I'm just curious as to what we should pursue. As far as the genre of the movie/webseries, I was thinking something along the lines of a drama (like The West Wing or The Newsroom) or a comedy (like The Office or Trailer Park Boys). I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas at the moment, so I would like to take this opportunity to crowd-source a plan for this project. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks all and good night (or morning, as the case may be).