After High School

[willystruck]

I did a 2 year tech school in electronics. spent the next 25 years in the computer industry doing installs, upgrades and repairs all over the western half of the US. This was in the days LONG before the desktop/laptop technology we have today. Finally got tired of 2 am phone calls and trips to the airport at all hours. Decided to try the restaurant/catering business. That flopped. Now I'm doing a little machine work, a little pattern work, some mowing and weed eating, a few days a week, just to get along till I can start drawing SS. Happier than I have ever been in my life!!!!!!!!!

 

[criticalbass]

This is perhaps the most touching thread I have ever seen. Anywhere.

Been, some of these folks probably know you personally, but I suspect most just know you through the internet.

For so many to take so much time in an effort to make your life better speaks very well for the way you present yourself in this setting. It also speaks very well for those who shared life stories with you (and the rest of the world--making a list here of who to include in a begging letter . . . )

Every one has strengths. Yes, even you. You seem easy to like, and if that isn't just a computer artifact, you should consider doing something that is highly interactive.

As for me, I have a 4-year degree, Economics/Business Management from OU and 32 hours of "A" toward a master's degree in adult ed. that I finally decided was worthless to me. Credit reporter, a whole series of personnel management (now HRM) jobs, and a bit over 40 years of instructing management related courses. Still doing that, so I must like it.

Your life will have multiple facets (already does, but it'll get more complex). Work, hobbies (hope you eventually find one), significant others including but not restricted to family (don't overemphasize the toes!) possibly a spiritual aspect, community, friends, opponents, etc. etc.

The trick is to find a balance between all of the above. The man who succeeds at the cost of kids who don't know him is the classic example of not doing that. Recently I am seeing more women learn about that little life trap.

Firecop and I should go together and have some bumper stickers made saying "honk if you've been married to me."

Surround yourself with people who value you, and who you value. I would kill several people to be where you are now in your life. (Yes, I have a list . . . ) But, opportunities will come to you, and when they do, grab 'em. If I have any regrets, and I don't have many, it's not taking more risks when opportunities came along.

You will make some mistakes, we all do, and if one of them doesn't kill you they'll put a nice point on your education.

 

[vvvvvvv]

You will make some mistakes, we all do, and if one of them doesn't kill you they'll put a nice point on your education.

This.

Mistakes are the greatest educational tools. Don't be afraid to fail, or you'll just be paralyzed. Just be prepared to stand back up and learn from your mistakes.

Life is like boxers in the ring. You're gonna get hit, and you're probably gonna go down a few times. But pay attention to what landed the hit, and you'll learn how to dodge it in the future.

 

[orangeRcode]

Went to college right after high school because thats what was expected of me. My dad was an officer at a bank and I guess i just figured I would follow in his footsteps. Did fairly well and finished a finance degree in 4 years. Did the collection gig for a few years and ended up at a bank with a beginning level accounting job. They wanted a few more hours of accounting so I went back and got an accounting degree. Decided I liked auditing and did that for 15 years. Ended up listening to a headhunter and taking a job with an oil company about 5 years ago. That was short lived and 6 months later I was unemployed when they decided they would merge with a larger company and my services were no longer needed. First time in 20 year of working that I didn't go directly from one job to a better one. I started working for a buddy who owns an HVAC business. I discovered I liked being out from behind a desk. Saw a job that peaked my interest as an aux operator at a powerplant. I did that for almost 2 years and got on with my current company here in town (OGE). Couldn't be happier. All that to say I wished I would have come here 20 years ago and not gone to college. I am encouraging my kids to do what makes them happy and can provide a decent life for themselves.

 

[ahamay6]

Well... I was gonna be a rock star... It didn't work out. So now... I'm on OSA!

 

[SMS]

The trick is to find a balance between all of the above. The man who succeeds at the cost of kids who don't know him is the classic example of not doing that. Recently I am seeing more women learn about that little life trap.

This plus 1000. been, you might be too young to even think about kids...but put this part in your brain.

About 2/3 of the way through my military career, I went to a retirement ceremony for a tough old Senior NCO. He babbled and sputtered like a little girl, crying about not being there for his, now grown, kids. I vowed that when I started a family, it would be different. I was lucky in that my kids didn't come until much later. I still had kids in diapers when I dropped my retirement paperwork after coming home from Afghanistan...but now, in my second career, I pay heed to the image of the crying old Sarge. I use my leave, I don't bring work home, and I realize that my wife and kids need a husband and dad.

My boss thinks "he who dies with the largest leave balance wins"...every time I drop a leave slip on his desk he gives me grief, but I give him grief right back and smile. Don't be that guy.

 

[Buddhaman]

Got out of high school and hopped on up to OU for college. Didn't take some classes seriously and ended up making a 4 year degree take 7 years (with a semester off in the middle). Got married my 2nd year in college and my wife got me straightened out on school work. Got my B.S. in mechanical engineering last May and got a good job last Oct. The only thing I would change is wasting my time and not studying when I should have. General ed classes are generally worthless but you have to take them and they screw up your GPA if you don't do well in them.

 

[nofearfactor]

I have always worked, even when I was in grade school. I was a paid artist and gigging musician plus I gave guitar lessons out of a local music store and worked for my father in his shop while still in highschool. I made good grades but I just hated being in school. Living near the beach we almost always cut classes to go surfing and hangout. My dad ran an auto body/paint/mechanic shop and I worked there ever since I was a little kid, but it was definitely not the business I planned on going into. I had a knack for custom paint jobs and doing airbrush designs but I was slow and thus I sucked at the volume type of work that it takes to succeed in that business. My younger brother is running the old mans shop today and is doing the best of all of us kids with no kind of degree but hard work. My older brother was Mr super smart of the family getting a PHD and becoming a professor of sociology at UCB while running his own martial arts school but he lives in Monterey and has expensive habits so he is always broke, and my 2 older sisters went to college and became teachers in the LA area. My parents were both born and raised in Oklahoma- my mom went to OU and with an MBA had a career in banking while my dad was the opposite going straight into the Marines out of high school then to mechanic tech school in San Diego after being in Korea to pursue a passion for building and painting cars. Unlike my older sibs college just wasnt in my plans after highschool either. After graduation I left home in San Diego and moved to San Francisco with my girlfriend with the goal of getting into the tattoo business. That place was so freaking expensive we almost starved there. I worked in a music store and played gigs in bands and my girlfriend got a job as a piercer in a tattoo/piercing shop that also agreed to take me on as an apprentice while we learned the business. I did all kinds of day side jobs while we were young and broke: I worked in a funeral home, did crime scene cleanups, etc. Eventually we both got our certificates from a local art institute and along with over 3 years of experience in the tattoo industry we got the hell out of the big city and moved up north central in the Sierra Nevada mountains to open our own shop. We had some lean years in the beginning but even thru a divorce we are still in business together and are still at it with 2 shops in 2 states along with a couple of other small side businesses.

 

[okwarren]

Got my EE degree at TU

 

[leemozoid]

I voted 4 year college...but it took me 30 years to finish!