My wife and I are expecting to have our third little girl on Monday. My boss decided that as an early present, he'd be ever so kind and close his business. In the process he must have just forgotten to pay me the $1000 plus that he owed me. Instead he gave me $200 and about $200 worth of tools and said "we're even". Um..... NO. It's kinda funny. All of these jobs I would go and do (I do construction and remodeling and other things), he would always have to run errands, or have a meeting or something. All lies, of course. Really he would go hang out with his girlfriend, or take naps or what not. I know this because of people I talked to. So I'd be out there, doing two or three man jobs by myself. I am a great problem solver, and would always figure out how to do these jobs, and the homeowners would always be impressed and extremely happy with my work. Either way, after two and a half years of this, he hands me a big basket of lemons, metaphorically speaking of course. Well, you know what they say.... When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. I have decided to make myself some of the tastiest lemonade ever. I took the tools and the couple hundred dollars and started my own remodeling/construction business. I am going to start my first big job on Thursday, after my wife’s last doctor appointment. Tearing out a set of stairs and rebuilding them. There's a lot more to them than that, but that’s the jest of it. Moving a couple of walls, drywall, trim. I'm excited, but that is just step one in my plan. As with any remodeling job, you collect 1/2 the money up front to pay for materials and expenses. Tomorrow, I will collect $2500 and I will buy about $800 worth of materials. After I deliver the materials to the job site, I am going to go get enrolled in school. This fall I will start my first couple of classes in medical terminology. Come spring time I will be taking my human anatomy and physiology courses. After I get all of the credit hours I need for these prerequisite courses, I will enroll in the Rocky Mountain Herbal Institute, where I will study Traditional Chinese Medicine and Herbology. I am also going to start taking instructor training courses at my Kung Fu school. It is all in the process, I already took the test that I need to get into college. I tested in really good (which was kind of a surprise, since I hadn't been to school for 16 years), and I don't need to take any of the basic math or science before I start. I actually had a perfect score on my science, reading comprehension and history. Soon, I am going to open my own martial arts school, which, in addition will offer TCM, herbology, acupressure and massage. So basically, due to recent circumstances, I have decided to get off my lazy ass and make my dreams come true. I am most excited about the fact that I will be able to have a business that I can pass on to my children. My wife is planning on taking classes at my kung fu school as well, which will turn "something that papa does" into a family lifestyle. My two year old daughter, Axi, already loves to practice with me. It's so cute watching her do her stances and steps. Skye like to argue and not really practice, but I learned a while ago, that instead of making it practice, I make it a game, then he loves to do it, and has fun at the same time. I know that this is going to be hard work, but well worth it. I will succeed.
I know how tough a layoff can be. And, you're doing just what I did....well, sort of. When I got laid off from my job, after not getting hired on anywhere else, I had taken my entrance exam for college and now I'm going to be a child councelor with social services type deal. And, because I'm a single mother, the state is paying me to go to school, so I don't stress as much over taking care of my daughter. I use student loans (even though a lot of people told me I was stupid) and keep that chunk of money in the bank for emergencies. It'll really help out with Christmas and my daughters Birthday. Good luck and never let anything on your journey get you down!
Yeah, the hardest part of going back to school is that I am about 10 years older than most of the people there
I go to the local community college....it's atleast 5 grand cheaper per semester, and I can get my Bachelors degree in the field I want. That's not the case for all fields, but mine it is. I'd say it's an even spread of kids fresh out of high school and people that have been out a while. It makes me feel weird, even though I'm only 22, to sit next to an 18 year old. I don't feel any less smart, I passed right in to all of the college level classes, my best friend that decided to go back to school with me failed everything and took the lowest available classes. Have you looked into your local community college? Maybe it's mixed just as evenly as the one I go to. It'll take some of the weirdness out of it.
Yeah, the local community college is where I am going. I didn't see a whole lot of people when I went, so it may be more age diverse than what it appears. Most of the people I saw looked like they were between 18 to 25. I'm not really all that concerned, just feels kinda strange. It just took me longer to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Of course, I have talked to quite a few people who went back to school because they changed their mind after they got out of college the first time. I didn't get signed up today. I went and picked up the check from the guy today, but like a scatterbrain, I forgot my wallet. First thing in the morning tomorrow, before my wife's appointment, I'm off to the bank, then I am getting all signed up. How much schooling do you have left?
Awesome, and good luck! It's not a bad thing to have waited to figure out what you want to be. If you hadn't waited, you could be so far in debt and still not be happy with the career choice or schooling choice you made. Then, you'd have to go back to school no further ahead than when you began. I just completed my first semester, heading back for my second in August. So, I'm still a while off from my degree, but I'm happy with what I'm going to school for. So, I'm glad I waited. There was a 54 year old man that sat next to me in my math class. He was great. He had just gotten his GED and decided he wanted a degree. I don't quite remember what he was in school for, but it was refreshing that not all of college is 18 drunks.
