# How has the pandemic changed or impacted your future plans and goals?



## explodokills (Nov 10, 2017)

Something that has changed during the pandemic is my confidence in future goals and aspirations. Pre-covid I was studying mechanical engineering for my goals of working towards eliminating the global warming crisis.
I haven't been doing so well in school though (plus I was majorly burnt out after senior year in highschool) and was under stress 24/7. Covid gave me a reason to take a year off and during that time I got myself medicated for depression, cut off all my toxic friends, lightened up and decided to take the risk and switch into courses I've considered in the past.
Jumping between business, health, and earth sciences, I'm 99% sure that I still want to work in the climate field as a geologist/climatologist. I acknowledge that I'm quite lucky in how things have turned out for me as I don't doubt there are others in less fortunate positions.

Feel free to rant away on how covid has impacted your goals and career trajectory.


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## DOGSOUP (Jan 29, 2016)

Sounds great, I can definitely recommend earth sciences!

I learned not to plan ahead too optimistically; and that moving forward I need to acquire more concrete skills (not just relating to my field) for my own satisfaction and mental well-being.


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## Ewok City (Sep 21, 2020)

My plan was wrecked, and even before the pandemic, my 5 years plan was wrecked. 

But I've found the silver lining, and now I'm starting to accept the situation.


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## Andy 8184 (May 24, 2021)

Things like these make me thankful to have absolutely no plans for the future. Just two vague goals that involve minimum planning and opportunities that come like 5 times a year.


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## explodokills (Nov 10, 2017)

@Ewok City Plans just never seem to go... well, according to plans haha. What were your 5 year plans?


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## explodokills (Nov 10, 2017)

@DOGSOUP Thanks! Could it be that you've had some experience in the earth science field? Also, I find that when I try to plan the future in detail and things don't work out accordingly I end up freezing and confused as to what my next move should be. Future planning is tough!


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## WraithOfNightmare (Jun 20, 2019)

It hasn’t at all. As soon as this damn thing ends I’ll be going back to my stuff. However, it’s enhanced my frustration towards higher authorities and if there’s one good thing that comes out of it I hope it’s the acceleration of the demise of this hyper materialistic, top-down world order as we know it.

Traveling, getting married, starting a family, having my own reef aquarium, and other things are still what I want to achieve in the very near future to the next couple of years.


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## Ewok City (Sep 21, 2020)

explodokills said:


> @Ewok City Plans just never seem to go... well, according to plans haha. What were your 5 year plans?


I was supposed to be leading a tech team in a video game startup company, earn financial freedom within the next 2-3 years, and start preparing for me and my family's immigration right after that.

But life happens... As it does to everyone. Then I decided to start over by going back to college again, this time in another country.

I was planning to take internships while studying, work on a side hustle with my friend there, and also help around the school, hopefully to build meaningful connections in process. I went back for holiday right before the pandemic, and I haven't been allowed to return ever since! 😅 So I'm stuck with online studies, with a really high chance of it lasting until graduation.

But then, after a while I'm quite happy to be here at home. Ever since graduating high school, I've spent most of my time overseas, and I haven't spent much time with my family, especially my parents who are growing old. I didn't even notice that my dad's balding and my mom's growing lots of grey hair.

As they say, don't miss the moon while counting the stars.  At the very least, I can take this chance to reconnect with my family and everyone else, before I leave the country again one day.


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## 558663 (Aug 9, 2020)

My goals haven't changed but my plans did. I used to think that I'd finish uni in a certain way, but I couldn't do it due to unforeseen circumstances. I struggled to adapt to this but somehow everything got better. Now I'll be doing another degree program that would cut some years towards achieving my goal of being a researcher.

I'm honestly pretty happy about those changes because I probably wouldn't have tried new things as much as I do now. One of those is a summer program for AI/ML where we learn from experts from AI research institutes throughout the country. Their mentorship helped a lot in clarifying what is needed for my goals and the process of getting there.

In the end though, I still want to research in mathematics, not so much with AI even though it's a really interesting topic (especially RL). At least being affiliated with these organizations means that there's a wider scope of people who I could contact. And I think I'll join other math societies too.


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## Internal (Nov 4, 2020)

Hmm. I was planning to do my PhD abroad but due to the current situation it became out of the question. Instead of tossing it away for a year, I applied for the PhD in my country. For now it seems I did it at a right time and institution, because there seems to be a chance of doing a joint research, so things might turn out for the best. But I'm not betting my money on it yet.

I used to live with my SO in a student accommodation, but he had to move home to help his retired mother. As such and due to other reasons, I temporally moved back to my family. This cut my finances, and thanks to scoring a position as a Research Assistant, now I'm all in the positive regarding money. So, concerning finances, I'm in a very fortunate situation.

The finals of my Master's will be in two weeks. I'm not really on good terms with my family so studying is hard due to the constant stress and emotional turmoil. In this regard it's slightly negative. I also wanted to start the PhD research this summer but won't be able to move back until September, so some factory work here will suffice (I live in a rural area). This means slower advancement and is completely unrelated to my field, but it's side money so there's that.

So... yeah. The goal itself is the same, rather the means leading up to it and the fillers are the ones that changed.


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## Wax Diamond (Apr 9, 2020)

I had to cancel my plan which was : go and teach in Switzerland last summer. For next summer I don't plan anything, I don't intend to wear a mask to do my job. I am finishing the exams then farewell and I fly for some forest, woods, lake, whatever fresh and wild !

I'd rather intend to teach privately, when I am back (if I am), to some people able to remain human, and there are not so many, that is not the majority...

I have seen so many situations that are literally stupid, in supermarkets, cinemas, trains, some attitudes and nonsense rules, I just wanna plan to be even more lonely, at peace, far from the cities and the collective hysteria !

I was a loner before, a loner I remain.


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## explodokills (Nov 10, 2017)

I would love to go to Switzerland in the future. An amazing country with beautiful scenary and food 🧀🚞🏔


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## Electra (Oct 24, 2014)

It hasn't changed anything besides my economy and opportunieties for the worse.


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## WraithOfNightmare (Jun 20, 2019)

Where are you and your family planning to immigrate to?


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## Ewok City (Sep 21, 2020)

WraithOfNightmare said:


> Where are you and your family planning to immigrate to?


We were planning to move to Singapore, because we have quite a few relatives living there. Now we've changed our destination to either Xiamen, Fuzhou, or Hainan.


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## Fru2 (Aug 21, 2018)

I'm sticking to my goals, the way of acquiring them is slightly different. But it changes all the time, not necessarily from world-wide lockdowns.


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## ENTJudgement (Oct 6, 2013)

All it did was made me invest more coz Biden turned on the money printer and we're gonna be fked by inflation.


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## Wax Diamond (Apr 9, 2020)

explodokills said:


> I would love to go to Switzerland in the future. An amazing country with beautiful scenary and food 🧀🚞🏔


Yes but...
For any country where the vaXXX will get obligatory, f***k *ff the scenary, food and tuticuanti !
I'll spend my few coins where my freedom is worth it. Moreover it is a VERY expensive country.


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## Asd456 (Jul 25, 2017)

The pandemic has altered the course of my life in many ways. I think for some people, it has brought upon a sort of existential contemplation on one's own mortality and the fragility of life. I don't think I've fully understood the meaning of 'life is short' until now. It has made me reflect on a lot of long-term things, in a deeply strange Fi way. E.g., what kind of society or country do I want to live in that aligns with my values? The plan now is to move abroad. However, the coronavirus restrictions have made the process a lot more difficult. For something more permanent, it will probably take a year (hopefully) to get everything sorted (work or student visa, housing, etc).


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## impulsenine (Oct 18, 2020)

From an educational & career point of view, absolutely not. 
I did not feel the pandemic from this point of view. To me it's like it didn't exist.


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## WraithOfNightmare (Jun 20, 2019)

Your family’s Indonesian Chinese right? 

I think the places you mentioned are a better bet than fast paced and hectic Singapore which is INFP hell. You will be disgusted by the things Singapore values which go against what us INFPs want in the world.

If I had to choose I’d choose Fuzhou or maybe Hainan over Xiamen. Xiamen is too much of a tourist city, nice to visit but for me living in a place without a vibrant local history, culture and population feels unreal. That’s why I’d never consider Shenzhen. It was built from the ground up as a “migrant city.” I love history and culture.

Ready your VPN. You’ll need it in China.


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## WraithOfNightmare (Jun 20, 2019)

I have always pondered these things way before the coronavirus happened. However, in the midst of it I’ve only strengthened my views with regards to the fragility and impermanence of the vast majority of things in life. It’s made me realize even more the importance of living as fully as one can in our short mere mortal existence, to hold onto the few people who really care about us.


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## Ewok City (Sep 21, 2020)

WraithOfNightmare said:


> Your family’s Indonesian Chinese right?


Yes, I'm happy that you still remember! 



WraithOfNightmare said:


> I think the places you mentioned are a better bet than fast paced and hectic Singapore which is INFP hell. You will be disgusted by the things Singapore values which is INFP hell.


You're right. Even my ENTJ friend has told me that he is a bit disappointed by how materialistic and selfish the society there has become. That's what happens when a country is so small, everything gets ultra competitive. 

Come to think about it, maybe I'm just emotionally attached to the place and have let it cloud my judgement. Maybe it's a good thing that I don't end up moving there after all. 

Wow... Thanks for opening up my eyes! Surprisingly, your comment has hit something inside me, and I'm able to see things objectively. 😄



WraithOfNightmare said:


> If I had to choose I’d choose Fuzhou or maybe Hainan over Xiamen. Xiamen is too much of a tourist city, nice to visit but for me living in a place without a vibrant local history, culture and population feels unreal. That’s why I’d never consider Shenzhen. It was built from the ground up as a “migrant city.” I love history and culture.


I totally agree with your views. Shenzhen has never caught my interest for long term stay. Maybe 2-3 years for career development is fine, but I don't think I want to spend most of my life there. 

Well, thank you so much for your insights!  I'm grateful, I really mean it.


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## Fennel (Jan 11, 2017)

What future. What plans and goals.

If the pandemic has taught me anything, it is the utter meaninglessness of everything I have and done so far.


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## WraithOfNightmare (Jun 20, 2019)

😄 The power of Si, I guess, but even as a kid I’ve just had a knack for remembering stuff. Not sure why or where it came from.

You know there’s something wrong with a place and the foundations it’s built on when even an ENTJ feels like they don’t want to be there much longer. 😄 No offense to any ENTJs.

I think you will regret Singapore with all your life.  My ENTP friend is Singaporean Chinese and he is actually living in China too, like I am, but stuck in Singapore due to China’s border restrictions for most foreigners currently. He hates Singapore with a passion and does not want to identify with Singapore at all.

😄 And yes I totally understand the feeling of being clouded by judgment. Emotional judgment that is, I’m very prone to that too. 

It’s amazing how we even share the same views on Shenzhen. Shenzhen just never really feels right to me.  It’s like a bit of everything and people from everywhere at once but other than a good place for business and certain careers it’s not a place I feel like I’d want to live in, much less start a family in. 

Feel free to talk to me anytime about anything.


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## Ewok City (Sep 21, 2020)

WraithOfNightmare said:


> You know there’s something wrong with a place and the foundations it’s built on when even an ENTJ feels like they don’t want to be there much longer. 😄 No offense to any ENTJs.


Yes indeed, and definitely no offense to any Singaporeans who might be reading this too! I have a lot of Singaporean friends and they're all cool. Just that the recent pandemic crisis has shown a bad side of the country, with the panic buying and all. 



WraithOfNightmare said:


> I think you will regret Singapore with all your life.  My ENTP friend is Singaporean Chinese and he is actually living in China too, like I am, but stuck in Singapore due to China’s border restrictions for most foreigners currently. He hates Singapore with a passion and does not want to identify with Singapore at all.


Oh wow 😅 well, that's not new. The only Singaporeans that I know are a happy living there are the select few whose family owns businesses.



WraithOfNightmare said:


> Feel free to talk to me anytime about anything.


Sure, thank you so much! I'll see you around the forum!


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## WraithOfNightmare (Jun 20, 2019)

Yeah you’ll catch me here. 
Singapore feels much more like a company than a country. I mean only 60-65% are even local Singaporeans.
And I’m not surprised that’s the case in Singapore. You really have to be wealthy in the top 1-2% to get the most out of it but even if I had that money with my own business or something I’d rather spend it on much more meaningful things and experiences.  Rather than just showing off.


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## Ewok City (Sep 21, 2020)

WraithOfNightmare said:


> Singapore feels much more like a company than a country. I mean only 60-65% are even local Singaporeans.


Indeed.. Even the former president himself said that the country is like a startup. And so they put a heavy emphasis on business and trade. But now I think they might have taken that to the extreme! 😅


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## WraithOfNightmare (Jun 20, 2019)

Exactly and it’s clearly showing in the mental health states and highly stressful lifestyle of Singaporeans. One of the least happy countries in the world, regardless of ratings. Imagine if say someone went to Singapore as a refugee from a war torn country, thinking they have escaped war and destitution only to find themselves tossed into a new kind of fight for survival. I can’t imagine that being a good experience after a while. 😄 Singapore might as well be named PAPistan. I don’t care about its excessive focus on success and “Human Resources” as necessary for its survival strategy, I just wouldn’t wish what Singapore values on myself or anyone I care about. 😄


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## Astrida88 (Jun 6, 2019)

Well. It didn't change my life much, but killed some of my plans.

Just before the pandemic started I planed to stay in my job for another month or two to not leave them in the most difficult time of the year (March and April, a lot of workload) and then change jobs. In the middle of March there was supposed to be an event with various companies looking for empployees. I was seriously planning to go there and hand out my CVs to get hired.

Unfortunatelly the event was cancelled and I concluded it is too risky to try to change jobs during time of a high unemployment rate. What's more - not only I decided to stay in the job till the pandemic ends but I also rented a flat 4 minutes walk from the workplace. Which is why I am kind of stuck for now. The other capable worker left the company this year (because they found a job in walking distance of their home) and I am the only person capable left to keep it going - if I leave the company migth go bancrupt because it's not easy to find a replacement for my postition and it can't be abadoned for more than a few days because there are due dates for random stuff multiple times each month.

I did consider leaving too but the employeers event was cancelled again this year and I am keeping my job hunting on hold anyway, because I am really happy with the travel time to the current one. I don't want to travel 40mins by public trasport every morning again if all it currently takes is a 4 mins walk. No matter how shitty the work is nothing beats it being so close to the home, especially since I am valued by my boss so much she lets me take a day off, come late or leave early whenever I want, with no payment cut.


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## Eponine_29 (Jun 27, 2021)

Pandemic changes my career plan... I had a job in town laboratory, I quit it to work in what I like: farming.


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## Coonsy (Dec 22, 2010)

I basically got f'ed over.

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Work
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Late 2019/early 2020 I started discussing moving internally at the company I was with. My role at the time was a bit of a "linchpin" role, that was going to be very difficult to replace with someone new, and needed my boss' approval to apply elsewhere, and wanted to be sure they had a head's up too. In other words, I was following the rules like a good little soldier - and got screwed over because of it.

They decided to hire my replacement before I had so much as interviewed - she had a start date before I had gotten more than a screening call. They promised me I'd have a position or they would make one (I actually had that in writing, but not in a contract). In this time, covid hit, and my company was in that first big wave of companies that froze hiring and cancelled all open reqs and began the rounds of layoffs (corporate real estate company). So my replacement was starting, with 3 months of hand-off scheduled. 

After they pawned my job off to 3 different people including my "replacement," they used me to backfill a role, and when that ended - I got dumped with the final round of covid layoffs so their budgets for the next year would look better. A small "severance bonus" and I was on my own.

All that time I had been applying to jobs like crazy, but almost no bites - I was a ways above entry level, but not high level - in that "mid level" of experience and in an industry that has yet to really rebound (compared to the number of people laid off).

I got a job doing something that had NOTHING to do with my career at a powersports dealer just to pay my bills, but kept looking for a career job.

Currently working in a position that is at least in my line of work (Project/Program Management), but at least a full title and pay grade below what I am worth/capable of - but at least has me actively doing the work, and in an industry that may be a bit more "future stable" (IT - with a MSP). There's also opportunity here.

Buuuuut, I'm forced to work 2 jobs to pay the bills I need to pay, am having to settle some debt I simply can't afford even working 2 jobs, and the future prospects the next couple years look and feel really bleak unless I can land something more in line with my actual experience/skill levels - or get that kind of a promotion internally (unlikely anytime soon enough as I'm also having to learn the MSP world).

Basically, took 4 steps forward, then got shoved 3 steps back (the job change was a planned 1 step back, but not as low as I ended up...)

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Personal
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Due to the way work had been handling things, and the fact that we were working remotely due to covid, I ended up accelerating my move out of the dreadful state I was in to an area that had more of what I wanted. Unfortunately for me, in that area, I knew NO ONE. Not a single person. 

While I've developed a few friends through my hobbies, for the most part, I still feel pretty lonely as my new friends are pretty scattered by 1-5 hours in each direction. I have one neighbor I've made friends with due to our shared love of motorcycles, but that's about the only local friend I have.

My racing has suffered big time - between the moves, no money to go learn the new tracks, very little money to go race with (all from a sponsor at this point), it's mostly sucked - I love the sport, I love riding, I love racing, but it's been a miserable two years of going too slow (due to no seat time and not knowing the tracks), and only very sporadically being able to ride/race, missing more of the season than I'm making.
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Long and the short of it? I'm tired of this crap and ready to move on....


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