The Push I Needed: My Welding School Experience
So there I was with a HS diploma and wondering what the heck I was going to do. I’d had these high aspirations of being a rock god, but knew now that wasn’t the most practical idea I’d ever had. I was listening to some of my tapes and coming to the realization I was not the next Slash. I wasn’t even going to be the next Lee “Houston” Cord. (No, you don’t know the name. That’s my point.) My band mates were going to college, most of them moving on to things like political science.
My uncle had been nudging me toward welding forever. My sister was a welder. I’d spent three summers begrudgingly working with my uncle, the only thought on my mind getting back to my ax. Never for two seconds had I thought, Welding, the life for me!
I worked at a local superstore and spent far too much time sitting around my parents house “planning” my next move. My girlfriend eventually dragged me to a career seminar at the Training & Education Texas Workforce Commission.
I ended up talking with a counselor. He didn’t understand how I could have such a close connection with the welding industry and not know the great opportunity I had staring me in the face. He suggested a Houston TX welding course. It’s a good thing I had a girlfriend. She insisted I go further. I ended up taking the course, getting my certification and going to work with my uncle.
Fast forward ten years. My uncle runs that business now. My sister and I are supervisors. I’m certainly taking home more than I would’ve at that superstore. (Some of my friends are still there.) I’m even earning a second income with a sweet deal making a Certified Welding Educator salary. And I’m still rocking out with my college educated pals at the local bar!
Thank goodness for my girlfriend, eh? I mean my wife. And the mother of my children. Hopefully, when the time comes and I’m not too old to remember, I’ll be recommending welding school Texas to them.
How I’m Changing My Life for the Better with Occupational Therapy
I didn’t have the easiest childhood. But at the same time I consider myself remarkably lucky. There was a patch in my youth which I think can be easily described as a mixed blessing. I’d been in a pretty bad car accident and it left me with a lot of scars, both physical and metaphorical. If you’ve ever had to recover from an injury you know how hard it can be. And it’s even worse when the severity of the injury is high and the age of the patient is low. Kids just aren’t prepared for the level of maturity needed to push forward through an injury. But I had the help of some great people to recover. Within a year I was back on my feet. The experience left me with a deep desire to help people. But I didn’t know how.
But recently I stumbled on a journal article. It was titled Promoting awareness and understanding of occupational therapy and physical therapy in young school aged children: an interdisciplinary approach. – PubMed – NCBI. It’s a long title and it took me a while to read through. But after I was done I realized something very important about my life. There was a way to give back to the world. I could provide the same help to others as I’d been lucky enough to receive as a child.
The first thing I did was look up inpatient occupational therapist degrees Texas. I couldn’t believe how great everything looked. The main point for me was having the opportunity to really make a difference. But I can say that the results showing that I’d have a vastly improved income wasn’t exactly unwelcome news. But that also made me interested in checking out some other locations to get my education.
Every location I looked up made me excited in a new way. For example when I looked up
Rehabilitation Occupational Therapist program in California I discovered a lot of personal stories from people involved in it. The level of job satisfaction was amazing. And it makes sense. Who wouldn’t want to be able to help people while living in a beautiful area.
My excitement only grew when I looked up inpatient occupational therapist degrees New York. On a professional level it just seemed great to be able to practice within an area like that. Not to mention how much fun it’d be to study in the area.
Finally, I looked up Occupational Therapist-Clinician colleges in North Carolina and made my choice. But in the end it wouldn’t have mattered which of them I’d gone with. The important thing is that it was the path to a new and happier future. A future where I could help make the world the place I wanted it to be. A future where my career path would make the world a better place. And a future where I could be compensated for my work in the way I know I deserve. I’m hard at work on it right now. And I’m positive my future in occupational therapy is going to be amazing and exciting.
Excited to Be Going After My Dream Career
I have always wanted to get my degree. I have always wanted to get a really great job that paid me very well. I have just made so many excuses over the years. It was not until recently when a lady who could of been my grandmother told me she went back to school. That is when I realized it is never too late to go back to school to get my dream career, improve my income, and my life. Getting a career that I truly love is very different than having a day job that pays my bills. It will give me a sense of purpose and accomplishment in my life. I know it will also earn me respect from all my loved ones and myself. There are many things I have said I would do one day in my life, but very few things that I have actually followed through with. Getting my degree will be one of the biggest accomplishments of my life.
For all these reasons and more, I am so excited to be going after my dream career and getting my degree. I am being realistic about it though. I know it will be a great deal of work. I know that I will have to get used to studying and not really going out as much while I am in school. I know I will have to prioritize my life, my time, and my goals in general. Some of my friends are in school also so that helps give me the motivation I know I will need to keep studying and keep working.
The biggest motivator for me though is just that I do not want to look back on my life and have regrets. Right now I regret not having my degree already, so knowing I will finally be going back to school is what makes me feel beyond excited right now. Having any regrets in life makes me feel upset, but actually accomplishing things that I have always wanted to fills me with a renewed sense of purpose and hope in the future. I am also very excited because I know a degree will help me get a better paying career and I will finally having money in savings instead of always worrying about having enough money in the bank to pay for groceries. I am so ready for this new chapter in my life.
Getting Back on Track with an Accounting Degree
I decided to forego college to go into business with my childhood buddy. We wanted to sell car parts to auto mechanic shops and there was a great opportunity to get into a market that wasn’t tapped into in our area. But the business went bust and I was left without any income or resources. Without a college degree under my belt, and with decent paying jobs very difficult to find, it made sense for me to return back to the education track.
I’m eighteen months into my Bachelors Degree in Accounting. So far I’m loving it. It is a blast to run through columns of numbers and figures and come up with a beautiful summation at the end. OK yeah crunching numbers all day might seem tedious to most people, but not to me. What also keeps me going is the knowledge that eventually this education will give me a huge leg up in my career possibilities. With an accounting degree, and eventually a CPA, under my best I have so many more job opportunities at my disposal to consider and pursue.
The accounting degree is a full college degree so it involves taking classes in a wide variety of other subjects as well. I’m feeling so far I’m rounding out my personality in a way that helps me feel more secure and confident as a human being. There is no substitute for a formal education I now feel. Simple experience in the real-world wouldn’t allow me gain the foundation principles I am learning now, not just in the field of accounting, but on the nature of knowledge itself.
Shooting For A Scholarship
When I was a senior in highschool, I was looking into college. It was important for me to get an education so that I could get a good job and support myself. My parents had both gone to college, and it was a dream of mine to graduate from college too.
Most of the schools I wanted to go to were so expensive, and I couldn’t afford to attend them. It was a difficult time for me because I so desperately wanted to go to college. I kept searching for a school I could afford until I talked with my guidance counselor about scholarships. She explained what they were and how they could help me with attending the school that I wanted to attend.
The guidance counselor told me that I could apply for several different scholarships. I took the paperwork and did the work. Since I had completed my courses with good grades I had a good chance at getting the scholarships. It took several weeks for me to hear about the scholarships, and I was delighted to find that I received not one, but three of them. They all were able to be applied to the school that was my first choice. With the scholarships and financial aid, I was able to attend the school I wanted and get my degree.
I reapplied every year when I was in school for any scholarship I could find to help with the cost of my education. There are plenty of them that come out every year, and each time I found a new one, I was sure to my information in to achieve them.
The scholarships made a huge difference for me, and I recommend that every student apply for any they can find that might help them to pay for their education. It really helps to defray the costs of getting a degree when you have the scholarships too.
With my help my brother was also able to attend the school he wanted when he won the scholarships with my assistance. He is also very happy that he got the scholarships and was able to attend school.
I always encourage my friends and family to apply for them when they are still in highschool. The best time is in their senior year so they can prepare for their actual choice of the college that they want to attend.
Why Pursue A Degree
Earning a college degree is important for those who are aiming to be successful in life and in their chosen profession. There are many reasons for someone to pursue a college degree. Everyone has their own motivation and reason for pursuing such an endeavor, and they are all unique. I would like to talk about why I want a degree and why it is important to me to accomplish this goal.
Knowledge is power and I want to provide myself with as much educational power as I can. The more power of education I have, the more confidence I will have when it comes to seeking a job. It is no secret that the more confident you feel and the more prepared you are, the more success you are likely to have when attacking a job interview. It also gives me an upper hand on those who are looking for the same position, but without a college degree.
I would also like to make myself a much more marketable person. By earning a college degree I will gain much more marketable skills that will help me in the future. This will also help make me a much more versatile employee and allow me to be more successful in a variety of different career fields.