They both knew and as long as I was completing all tasks needed then it was okay. I got fired due to 'financial reasons' and wanting to have a more on-site work which I could not do.
I would recommend Dubai. Emerging tech scene in a new market (Middle East) and a metro with public buses spanning everywhere. Close to EU time but around 8-9 hours from US time but still manageable.
Each mentor is around 400 USD and I have currently 4 (used to have 5).
I purchase around 20-30 books a month to my library (but that will slow down eventually) that I ofcourse do not read but like to keep my library full. I read about 5 a month. Sometimes less.
Courses are university courses with certifications that cost ~1K each.
I get mentors from different websites that come from Google, Amazon, Facebook, SpaceX etc... that can guide me in leading teams, starting my own startup and also help me in technical issues I am facing. I have found it beneficial in some way or maybe just a placebo effect. I think books are the best investments since they have completely changed my mindset about everything and how I move in life. The diet has also been beneficial since I have been gaining some weight due to work and stupid cravings.
I think due to the increase of VC and incubators, startups are able to raise a hug e amount of money in a short period of time where engineers #5-10 can earn a decent salary + equity (100K USD base salary). In my own case, I earned $140K net + 0.1% equity as dev#15
To be honest I tried to find multiple ways to get it done but I am still getting lack of communication from university (they just don't care) and honestly at this point neither do I. I was a 4/4 GPA student prior to working with the startups and it now dropped to 3.6/4 with 1 semester left. Really contemplating what to do since there is a lot of stuff that needs to get done.
I would go with #1 all day