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Cinera
Cinera
I also took some other steps leveraging my online friends to assist me with my financial challenges (progress was indeed made)!
Cinera
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Fixing my problems is why I'm feeling better, and that's the best reason I think. (It would leave a sour taste if I just accepted said problems and became complacent).
Cinera
Cinera
I was dejected/depressed due to being unable to access certain financial services (one of my banks lowered the monthly USD limit for Mastercard to $20 and the other bank did not have any VISA/Mastercard available (my previous card had expired)).

This left me unable to pay for some monthly subscription services I'm very dependent on (some of them were painfully cut) and unable to make many kinds of online payments.
Cinera
Cinera
The root cause of my problem was essentially because I'm in Nigeria. So I took steps to ensure that's no longer true by the end of the year (I should have begun my Masters program at whichever university I eventually decide on by then).
Cinera
Cinera
And I was able to get around the restriction and pay for some of those services using the debit cards of some of my friends.

(I compensated them for their assistance in crypto).

For the services I couldn't pay for, I'm just managing for now. I've taken other steps to seek more permanent solutions.
Cinera
Cinera
Experiencing what it's like to be a second/third class financial citizen was a bit painful.
Den_Den_Mushi
Den_Den_Mushi
Oh damn you going for Masters. You must really like your field. That or you need it for employment idk. But if I could I would never go back to school lol. Good to hear you’ve been proactive, it’s great that your friends were able to help as well.
Cinera
Cinera
@Den_Den_Mushi: it's mostly to help emigrate and transition to much higher paying jobs.
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My local degree just isn't worth that much.
Den_Den_Mushi
Den_Den_Mushi
Oh nice where would you emigrate to? I think CS degrees are quite valuable almost everywhere especially if you’re a software engineer.
Den_Den_Mushi
Den_Den_Mushi
But even just having a degree is helpful imo. My degree is law/arts with a major in Japanese studies but I work in government project design and management. Just having that STEM background will open a lot of doors for you.
Cinera
Cinera
I'll emigrate to the UK first (that's most likely where I'll do my Masters). After my Masters, I'll get a job (I may do a part time PhD if I don't get a lucrative enough job offer initially) and reside there for a while.
Cinera
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Where I finally reside would depend almost exclusively on my career prospects. I want to be making six figures before I'm 30, and I'd like to help make the world a better place, do something that I'm passionate about and proud of.
Cinera
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Perhaps I'd find such an opportunity in the UK, maybe I'll find it in the US, who knows.
Cinera
Cinera
My desired countries for emigration is something like:

* UK/US/Canada (no strong preference here, it's mostly down to career prospects)
* Nordic countries
* Elsewhere in Western Europe
* Australia/New Zealand
Den_Den_Mushi
Den_Den_Mushi
Sounds pretty cool, personally I’d pick UK, Canada or Australia but I guess yeah go where the jobs are. You sound like you wanna be really highly qualified and high earning which is great.
Den_Den_Mushi
Den_Den_Mushi
This is off topic btw but I’ve noticed there are a lot of Gary Stu/wish fulfilment characters in manhwa. Yet the audience to tolerate them a lot more than say Luffy’s pirate Christ shit. I think it’s because we do see them struggle or have to prove themselves, or that they genuinely come from underdog backgrounds.
Cinera
Cinera
I don't particularly like the US, but it's **much** higher paying for software engineering/research jobs (and especially in AI/ML), so it's not somewhere I can discount.
Cinera
Cinera
If I could get a highly paid job in the UK, I don't plan on leaving.
Cinera
Cinera
I don't intrinsically want to be highly qualified, but this is a field where being very highly qualified = high earning.

An online acquaintance of mine with a PhD (and their partner) recently landed a $250K - $300K job doing AI research (that's the base salary and they get stock options on top).

I've seen similar figures in the $300 - $500K range for talented AI researchers at some top labs.
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