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Old 09-05-2018, 08:08 PM   #21
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Damn... there goes the ego trigger....

First big break was when I was born, and my mom looked at me, then tossed me into the lake to get rid of me (ugly baby)... I struggled and managed to find my way to shore.

It worked out well for me, 'cuz when I got to high school, I was, by year, third, second then first on the All American Swim Team in my specialty stroke.. This brought interest from college swimmers who contacted me to visit and apply at their college. Some nice trips... interviews, and applications, then acceptance to about ten schools, including Harvard, Yale, M.I.T., Ohio U, Dartmouth, Williams and my eventual choice, Bowdoin. full scholarships at all... Grades Helped, 'because in those days, every school denied that they gave scholarships for ""Sports". Full scholarship! Unfortunately, even though I was also an All American College Swimmer, for four years, the scholarship was reduced by $200 one semester when my average dropped to a B-. I had to work that summer to go back to school, and that caused me to miss the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics... (yeah... that wouldn't happen today.)

Out of school, not quite as lucky... army, Married, and then in to a job that was a poor fit. I didn't like it, but did well, and tops in my district. THEN.... a promotion opening... then a political pass over that was so offensive to me that I quit... 2 sons and one on the way.... and no job.

Got lucky... competing company chased me down somewhere in Boston where I was going door to door, looking for something... anything. Ten minute interview in a restaurant, and I was hired. More than double my last salary, a respectable title, and a full move 250 miles away, free, and with a two month starting bonus.

So... no BIG break, because even with inflation, my wages in those days ($30,000 in 1974) wouldn't put me in the high income bracket today.

Absolutely no complaints. Thank you mom!
Lol. There are some ego's here for sure. It's hard to contain them all sometimes. I guess when I posted this, it wasn't coming from the ego side, more the idea that, one thing can lead to another, and then another... like domino's, but in a good way instead of the "falling down one after another" sort of way.

I figured you all would have some interesting stories to tell. I try not to be egotistical, just accurate and true. Nobody ever called me humble, but I've enjoyed the climb and hootin' and hollerin' is somewhat in my DNA.

Now if you met the 'ole man...that guy does no wrong

I feel your pain. Current employer politics passed me over for a promotion. I packed my desk into a single produce box a year ago when that happened and that's where it remains to this day. Two more years and that pension is mine, screw the damn promotion. Finally today my bosses boss had a conversation with me...they hadn't spoke to me since I packed that box.
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Old 09-05-2018, 08:09 PM   #22
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My big break was getting into the Naval Academy.
Me too - USNA Class of 1981. Although I suppose that was my second big break. The first was emigrating to the USA in 1960.
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Old 09-05-2018, 08:15 PM   #23
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My parents stayed married, so I had that stability in early life that so many others did not. While not wealthy, neither were we poor - I always had three meals a day, a warm bed to sleep in, heat in the winter, proper clothes for the season and hot & cold running water that was safe to drink.
Yep. If we're looking for the FIRST big break, that was mine, also.
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Old 09-05-2018, 08:15 PM   #24
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For me sometimes the "breaks" were not getting what I wanted at the time.

The promotions or positions I got turned down for, which, in retrospect, would probably not have worked out for me as well as where I ended up.

As annoying as those minor setbacks were, the rear view mirror very quickly showed "bullet dodged" or, another - better - opportunity came along so quickly afterwards that would not have happened had I taken those others.

Little kismet things maybe, but they added up enough that I learned quickly that some things aren't meant to be because better things are coming.
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Old 09-05-2018, 08:27 PM   #25
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Interesting reads!

I worked from about 14 years old and had manual labor jobs but I consider them breaks. The big break was when I got a job as a young man and worked my way up and spent 35 years with the same company.

As far as mom and dad paying for college that could not of happened. LOL We were poor as far a money went but we were rich in many other way in life. I paid my way through, every step of the way and not one regret doing so. My mom would give me a 20 spot once in a while when i was home to help with gas.
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Old 09-05-2018, 08:32 PM   #26
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Still waiting.
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Old 09-05-2018, 08:36 PM   #27
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...
My folks did not pay for my college, but dad did buy a town home he let me rent (rent was the price of his monthly note) and returned my rent to me in the form of equity when I was ready to buy my first home....
My folks didn't pay for my college either, but my Uncle Sam did. He even gave me a stipend while I attended.
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Old 09-05-2018, 08:37 PM   #28
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Still waiting.
I'm surprised you didn't post, "My hip".
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Old 09-05-2018, 09:21 PM   #29
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My first big break...being born in America to the best parents a kid could ever have.
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Old 09-05-2018, 09:40 PM   #30
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I know what my big break was.

I was a paralegal w@rking for a regional grocery chain. My bro-in-law w@rked for a huge megacorp and told me of a legal assistant position that had opened up. I figured I had nothing to lose, applied, and ended up getting the j@b.

I was there less than a year when my dept manager offered to have megacorp pay for law school tuition with no strings attached.
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Old 09-06-2018, 04:51 AM   #31
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Old 09-06-2018, 06:22 AM   #32
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I feel like the only big break I’ve had is being born in The USA with a set of useful attributes, like patience (stubbornness), curiosity, and intellect. Everything since then has felt like a slog or the result of careful or hesitant decision making.

I have been fortunate in that I haven’t suffered from any serious bad luck: no terrible ailments, never the victim of a heinous crime, etc.

I daresay DM feels quite a bit of responsibility and pride for my professional-class successes and that’s fair. But I wouldn’t call a puritanical upbringing a big break, it certainly didn’t feel like it at the time.
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Old 09-06-2018, 06:35 AM   #33
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I think my first big break happened at the end of my first year of junior college when the engineering instructor lined me up with a summer job at a local engineering firm.
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Old 09-06-2018, 06:49 AM   #34
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My parents covered my college tuition which was important, although I always worked during college to meet the rest of my needs. I also moved back home for a brief period after I lost a job in Texas in my early 20s and concluded Chicago was where I wanted to look for a "straight" job. But none of that was what I would call a big break.

The huge break I always felt in my core was that my family had my back. And that because of them I always knew that I would ultimately finish college and do well at whatever I chose to do. It took me almost six years to complete the BS because I felt comfortable doing other things in the meantime. I also felt free to quit teaching shortly after college and drift down to Florida to scuba dive and then to Houston where I worked odd jobs. A stable family that I knew I could fall back on left me comfortable with that profligate life style for those few years. When I lost my job in Houston (through no fault of my own by the way) without the family base I would have been forced to take what I could get on short notice to make ends meet. Who knows where that would have led - possibly a rewarding but different path. Possibly a disaster.

Throughout my life I recognized that my secure family backup made all the difference.
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Old 09-06-2018, 09:31 AM   #35
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More than one for me too:

Went to work for the federal gubmint, who paid for my paralegal studies degree...
which got me a job (and experience) at a law firm and learned about ERISA law...
which got me a job with megacorp in 1984, and a nice promotion/new job in 2004...
which allowed me to retire one week ago today.

I've been blessed beyond measure.
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Old 09-06-2018, 09:37 AM   #36
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Wow! I love these stories. I had an uncle who gave me some $ when I was a little girl. That was my college fund and helped me pay for college at a state supported school. The funds grew to $3000 and in the seventies, that paid for my school. My next break was when I was accepted to law school in the seventies, although the school only admitted 22% women. I suppose it was a break that no one ever told me at the age of 12 that I could not be a lawyer, although the FBI told me in 1966 that they did not accept women as field agents. Never did apply to the FBI.

The rest was up to me. A positive attitude and perserverance served me well!
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Old 09-06-2018, 09:46 AM   #37
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First "break" (most significant): Inability of finding any job that was paying living wage in a 3rd world country after graduating as an electrical engineer which forced me to the land of opportunities. Interest-free loan from my uncle was instrumental in this migration. By far the best thing that happened to me in my life and I am so grateful to my adopted country and my uncle for everything I have.

Second break: Small accident claim money my DW received which helped us buy our first house.

Third break (financially most significant): Finding my 3rd job which almost doubled my income in three years.
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Old 09-06-2018, 09:49 AM   #38
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Old 09-06-2018, 12:42 PM   #39
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Old 09-06-2018, 03:27 PM   #40
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Marrying the right person.
She’s looking over your shoulder isn’t she.
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