what did you do after highschool?

[billycop32]

ok so i'm asking what happened to you all because i'm a second year college student and the field I thought I could work in isn't working out due to medical issues.... I just wanna hear stories of people who managed to find something concrete ^.^' -sigh- I envy those who know what their passion is in life...

edit: wow I was so upset last night that my grammer went down the toilet. whoops.

[Listen1]

Knowing your passion is hard.

When I left high school I built a small company that revenued a mixture of a bread crump for coating chicken, the said powder had a lower absortion of oil, so the aliment fried would have a lower amount of oil and a more crunchy feel.

After that I was approved at a Federal collage, studied there for two years, and then my father came to me saying that he needed help in the company, that 2 engineers left and the other one was (actually true) getting crazy because of family issues. I was unhappy at the collage, it was demanding more than I could take, I didn't have time to work, was without money, and I wanted to get together with my girlfriend and marry her.

So I decided to move back to my home town, work as an engineer and do a private collage nearby. I started working directly with calculations of heat exchangers, and dealing with costumers like Nestle, Brasil Foods, Petrobras, etc. In 2 years I got used to calculate, started speciallizing in it, put some money together, bought an apartment and asked my girlfriend to marry me.

She said yes! I started putting furniture on my apartment, started working extra 4 hours a day, and after 8 months working like a horse the wedding came.

It's been 6 months since I married, and when I look back I say.

Those were some crazy 5 years. I loved it. Also, on this crazyness I found out my passion, that is making energy efficieny projects.

Men... it's only been five years since I graduated from high school...

[A Friend]

There's still two more years of highschool for this guy. wohoo!... I guess...  adult life sounds scary

TBH, I'm not really sure what I want to do with my life. Even as a kid, I never had a concrete "dreamjob". It was mostly "Oh cool, being a Soldier looks cool because pew pew pew." or "Being a Veterinarian looks nice because I like animals!". But otherwise, after graduation I might take IT or something computer related in college since dealing with computers pretty much comprises the majority of my life right now. All the while trying to make some money from doing artwork commission on whatever spare time I might still have since I like drawing but don't think it'll be a stable job.

Also I don't think marriage would be a possible event on my life anytime soon since I'm such a hermit that would rather play video games than talk to girls.

[MisterVertigo]

I must be an old guy here. I graduated HS 20 years ago. Lucky for me, I knew at a pretty early age what I wanted to do: computers. I was fortunate enough to have a mother who liked gadgets and things, and we always had a PC at home. I learned everything I could about them. When I was in HS I knew I wanted to go into technology. I went to a tech school after college and I've been in IT ever since. I don't make as much money as your specialized Cisco guys or Oracle guys. I'm kind of a jack-of-all-trades, and I really like it that way. I always get to do something different, and I'm very happy. I feel lucky that I get to do a job in the one thing I feel I'm actually good at!

[milon]

Oh, so I'm NOT the oldest one here!  ^_^

Finding your passion in life, eh?  That's a tough one, and it was a long road for me.  I'm going to write a novella here, so feel free to skip over this post if it's too long. 

I graduated high school ~15 years ago.  While I was in high school, I thought I wanted to go into computers as well.  Thankfully, a summer job got me some experience in the field, and I realized that for me it's a great hobby, but would be a terrible job.

I knew I wanted to go on to college/university of some kind, but I didn't know what field I wanted to go into.  I realized that I'm good at both teaching and mathematics, so I decided to become a math teacher.  It was kind of shallow reasoning, but it was the best I had at the time.  I got my degree (the "proper" name for it is "Adolescent Education in Mathematics") and got certified to teach middle school through high school mathematics.

Due to a paperwork mix-up and general incompetence in the state education department, my teaching certification got delayed 8 months - which amounts to a year in the education field.  That was a year I lived at home with my parents again.  Not my favorite year of life, after the freedom of college.  I worked some random job for a year, then finally my certification came through, and I got a teaching job at a large town / small city 2 hours away from home.  It was a great opportunity to move out on my own and "begin" my own life.  It was also really crappy pay because it was a small private school and not a large, well-established one or even a government-funded public school.

I resigned at the end of that first year of teaching.  I actually knew within the first 6 months that I was going to, and just kept it to myself until an appropriate time.  I had learned the hard way that 1) my gifting & passion is much more one-on-one than it is dealing with 20-30 teenagers in one room, and 2) most other teachers aren't passionate about teaching and won't offer any encouragement/support.  Those were both bad surprises, but I knew it wasn't fair to me or the students to continue.  Yes, I could have persisted and become a great teacher, but there were other problems with the school I was teaching at, but I won't go into that now.

But I was living on my own and needed to do *something*.  So I took a job in Customer Service.  At least, they called it Customer Service, but the internal name for the department was "Inbound Collections".  Which meant "people are going to call you, they'll be delinquent in their bills, they'll probably be angry & screaming about it, and you have to make them pay anyway."  It was a terrible job, but it paid the bills.  I did so well at it that I was promoted to Supervisor.  Woo hoo!  The exact same pay, more responsibility, and all the worst customers - the ones who demanded to talk to "the boss" and were irate about everything.  Oi.  This was also the period of my life that I thought I was lactose intolerant - every time I had milk on my cereal, I got horrible stomach aches.  Oddly enough, that went away after I left that stressful career behind.  (Yep, it was a stress-induced intolerance.  Or just the stress that comes the morning before a terrible day.  Or both.)

Through all the difficult circumstances, I was gradually learning where my real passion lies: healing/teaching/encouraging.  That's me.  And when I finally figured out which healthcare field matched that the best, I went back to school to pick up some prerequisite courses, enrolled in one of the nation's best schools, racked up the student debt, invested lots of sweat, tears, and even some blood, and now? Now I'm a doctor!  (Not an MD - I'm in another branch.)  I'm my own boss, and my patients tell me every day how amazed they are at how I've been able to change their lives.

I'm lucky.  I found my passion.  And I'm living it.  It can happen! 

[billycop32]

did someone say healing?!?

Hmmm....that isn't a bad idea. I always did like the look of joy on someone's face when I got them through a rough patch. well at least I have a general direction to aim at now!!! thanks Milon

P.S. I might contact you for more details if this becomes a serious idea.

I feel a lot better already,but please don't let that stop everyone! these stories are so inspiring to read.

[milon]

^ Please do feel free to contact me for more info.  I'm happy to help / share what I know!

[MisterVertigo]

Great story, Milion. Teaching is HARD. The IT job I have is for a public school. I see good teachers, and I see GREAT teachers. Unfortunately, I also see awful teachers. Kudos to you for being smart enough to figure out right away that it wasn't for you. I wish some of the teachers at my work would figure that out.

Billycop32, best of luck to you. Follow your heart and your passion, and you will do great. Don't just follow where the money is. Money is good and money is important, but it won't take long for you to realize that being happy and doing something you love is much more so.

[billycop32]

Billycop32, best of luck to you. Follow your heart and your passion, and you will do great. Don't just follow where the money is. Money is good and money is important, but it won't take long for you to realize that being happy and doing something you love is much more so.

yeah, the medical is really just a minor part. I guess I should tell my story(so far).

so I just finished my first year of community college. I was intent on becoming a A&P mechanic (someone who works on airplanes) but I just can't keep up with all the different concepts and so I kinda.....failed both semesters. Mind you I did try, a lot. I even gave up video games(including rim world, I missed multiple patches and lost my public tester membership) and TV to focus on studying. What got my interested in A&P was that a new aircraft company just decided to build it's first factory in my hometown. if I got a job with them, I could stay in the only city I've ever really known. not to mention-you guessed it- it pays REALLY well.

so yeah, i'm moving on and trying to find a career path I actually can grasp. I already have training in first aid so at least I have minor knowledge in the area.

P.S. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE FIRST AID TRAINING,DO IT. seriously. I've already helped multiple people using it.

[milon]

I totally forgot to say that I'm a good teacher, and did part-time math & physics tutoring while in school & teaching & working in customer service. Tutoring and other one-on-one fields is where I do best. And that comes in handy with my patients.

[MisterVertigo]

I totally forgot to say that I'm a good teacher, and did part-time math & physics tutoring while in school & teaching & working in customer service. Tutoring and other one-on-one fields is where I do best. And that comes in handy with my patients.

Sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate that you were a "bad" teacher. I hope you didn't take it that way. I just know how difficult teaching a classroom full of teenagers can be. I know there is no way I could do it.

[milon]

Lol, yeah, me either