Almost done with school :)

[Nolatoolguy]

Hey guys, I figured ide say a few words.

So ime a senior in highschool rite now, luckily I am able to graduate early this year. After christmas break I will have finals an that will be done with the highschool part. Just 3 hours early in the morning at a vocational center for construction trades is all I will have to do. If you have been following some of my threads, posts or my facebook you can probably tell thats been a big problem the past several years but ive made it through, well almost(knock on wood).

I was wondering what did you do after highschool?

I want to go into welding an get certified in it.

[john k]

Hmm, dark memories there, of high school.   I went on to a tech school for auto mechanics.   Tried a lot of things, then 20 years ago went back to turning wrenches.  In there too, I put in 12 years in the Army National Guard, came out as a Sergeant First Class,  Armor.   Started on the farm, so have always been pretty close to tools.   

[amertrac]

I talked my mother into signing a release so I could join the service.Two months after that I was in Korea. I celebrated my 17th and 18th birthday over there.  bob w.

[Papaw]

I went to the local junior college, then to Lamar Tech in Beaumont and graduated with a BS degree in History and Secondary Education, with a minor in French.
I then joined the Peace Corps and taught school in Tanzania, East Africa for two years. Then I built schools out in the bush of Tanzania for two tears.
After returning home I taught for only one year, then went into motorcycle repair. Later choices led me into trucking, and I am still in trucking now.

[gibsontool]

I didn't quite make it all the way thru high school and realized that classrooms and I didn't get along all that well. I was raised in Vancouver B. C. and went to work in a small welding shop when I got out of school,my dad was a welder and all ways did work for neighbrs on weekends etc so I new a bit about the trade. I left the city and went north in the early 70's, things were booming then and there was work everywhere. I started with a guy who had just opened his own little shop and over the years he worked it into a very succsesful Company with 2 good sized fabricating shops and a field construction division.  I worked my way up to running  the construction end of things for him and then after about 30 years I left and started my own Construction Company. My only regret looking back is that I should have gone on my own long before I did. Reading yours posts over the last while I think you have a good attitude and should do well. Whatever you end up doing all ways do your best and don't hesitate to ask question if you don't know.Work hard ,keep a good attitude and you should do well. All the best. Jim.

[Lostmind]

I went straight from auto tech class to working for my auto teacher.Spent 47 years as an auto mechanic.

[oldtools]

Important to complete High School! then continue education toward a career,
Do the best you can no mater what others do, Be honest & push yourself through new challenges.

I working part time as a mechanic helper from age 15, and Graduated HS.  Worked as a Auto Mechanic 3 years, then to Pearl Harbor Shipyard Apprentice program as a Machinist (Associate Degree), Several promotions through 33 years, now retired with Federal Pension last 7 years.

[OilyRascal]

There wasn't such a fine line with me and finishing high-school.  I had a mix of high-school, vocational, and college level studies, and was expected to work.  I "thought" I wanted blue-collar.  My parents knew better and were pushing me down what was then an emerging study of technology.  Remove long story here and I had high-school diploma and vocational certification when  I stopped attending college to start a business.

As you have likely figured out I come from a family of welders.  It was expected every young man coming up would attend vocational training in welding and/or machine shop.  There are many rewards if you excel in the trade.  I enjoy welding in my own projects.  I would go broke if I tried to make a living at it.  People around here call people like me "oil field welders".  It ant pretty.

There is some great advise within this tread.  I'd add hold yourself to the highest standard possible, and don't try to hold others to your standard.  Everybody has worth and is capable of a contribution; help others find that versus any focus on their negative.  Always pay forward whatever you're able; whether money, helping a friend, or your personal relationships.

Education opens doors that may otherwise never be opened.  In a job setting it has always been hard work and commitment that provided the most rewards for me.

   

[Lostmind]

Oilys Quote  : Education opens doors that may otherwise never be opened.  In a job setting it has always been hard work and commitment that provided the most rewards for me.

I might add that education never stops. I'm sure I've learned more since high school graduation
then I did before. But they did teach me How to learn.It's a whole new world with the internet at your finger tips, if you can sort through the bad to get to the good.
You're just starting to gather knowledge now.

[Branson]

The world has changed since a lot of us started out.  I'm glad you getting your diploma!   There were still a lot of people who got good jobs without one when I graduated high school, but now it is very difficult.  At least in California, you cannot be admitted to a union without one.  The Iron Workers Local require a diploma *and* a GED.  A diploma might not open a lot of doors, but it will keep a lot of doors from being slammed in your face.

Me, I was college bound from early on.  I went on to major in anthropology, and completed all the course work for a masters degree.  I took another BA in English, and almost finished my coursework for masters in English.  Then the need to make a living intervened.  I taught English as a second language on and off for about 10 years, and worked in a number of social programs.  Funding for these jobs went in the bucket, and I moved to carpentry, especially reproductions for Victorian and Craftsman architectural details, including doors and wooden sash.  I did a bit of antique restoration and reproduction. 

One thing I learned was that you never know what will become important -- what I considered useless in my studies has too often proved the most useful and practical.  I really liked geometry, but didn't see any practical advantage.  I have come to understand why really old carpentry books are mostly geometry.  I was essential to what I have come to do.  Another "useless" course was linguistics.  I couldn't have taught English as I have without linguistics studies, and I ended up taking a couple more courses.

Seems like we never know what we need or what will be important until we need it.

[Neals]

Never turn down the chance to learn. A trade is always good. Even if you decide to do something else it is always something to fall back on. I dropped out of school at the end of grade 9. Worked at a number of labor jobs and went back to school a couple times and eventually got my GED and a diploma in horticulture. Tried a lot of jobs over the years until finally settling on horticulture for the last 20 of my working years. Unfortunatley  those days are gone. Now you can't get a job washing dishes without a food safe ticket. At least not here. Not sure what its like in the USA but in Canada they are ticket crazy. An example is that I have about 15 minutes experience on a skid steer and a ticket that says I am an operator. The poor bugger that has run one for 20 years can't get a job without the ticket. The really sad part is that you don't learn much to get the tickets in most cases.

[rusty]

>Not sure what its like in the USA but in Canada they are ticket crazy

We are getting there fast...
I have a little card in my wallet that says I can run a man lift...
I need it for running smaller lifts, but, It covers everything...
any lift, even giant sky crane type lift.
I have never even been in one of those things....

The intent is good, I suppose, but after they mash up the rules and regs several times, they often end up making no sense whatsoever.

Technically, it is llegal for me to rototill my garden, I don't have a hydraulics licence...
But I can drive a truck around with a ton of bricks in it and smash into a building...

Back to the subject tho....

Learn more than one trade if you are going that route, seriously, I know how to do several things that are in fact totally obsolete and no one will pay me to do anymore....

The only constant these days is change.....

And here's a secret, college is 10% about what you learn, and 90% about the piece of paper they give you afterwards...
That's a lesson from long hard experience......

[Branson]

>The intent is good, I suppose, but after they mash up the rules and regs several times, they often end up making no sense whatsoever.

I suppose so, too.  On the other hand, some of the improvements make things worse.  The high school grad requirement was applied here to who could teach in the trades.  The result of this improvement is that those who joined the trades years before the requirement were not permitted to teach what they had learned from working the trade for decades.

[oldtools]

Should have a Diploma And/OR Equivalent experience,
(Worked 25 years in the Navy Shipyard Training Program, Instructor, Training Supervisor & Manager) 
Some of the best instructors I had learned from the "School Of Hard Knocks!"...
They teach you how to do your work the best way (As situations change). not just the theory & books, ..
You can always look up the info in books when needed, but not the How-To experience...
My 2 cent..

[Nolatoolguy]

It was very intresting to read all the responses. It seams as if some of us went to work right out of highschool and some of us went on to get a degree. Either way ime sure we each had stuggles on the way getting were we are today.

I know are anwsers all vary but reading them all it sounds like a majorty of us(correct me if ime wrong) believe in hard work some determination an the will to go good not just in the job skills and moeny but morally good was well along with giving it 100% of what you got each and every day.

Thanks guys :)