Pursuing Your Dream or Just Following the Crowd Many people are pursuing someone else’s dream.  They have not even thought about their own dream and don’t have anyone to talk to or guide them.  These people just jump into going to college because that is what everyone is doing and may even be expected of them.  They go to college without even having any idea of what they want to study and are told just to start taking courses and they can decide along the way.  But many are finding this even more confusing and overwhelming with all the career choices.  Many times these people then get out of college and cannot find a good paying job in their field of study.  But they have racked up all this debt because of their student loans that are now coming due. Not All Trades Schools Are the Same There are also some people that attend trade schools that charge very steep tuition, but only give students the book work and not the hands on skills needed for the trades.  Working in the trades takes skill that need to be developed.  You have to be able to work out in the field and produce.  Apprenticeship programs are great because you get both the book knowledge and also the on-the-job training to develop hands on skills. Ron’s Email I received an email from someone I will call "Ron".  He wrote to me in hopes that he could save someone some time and money because this is exactly the route that he followed. Here is a summary of what Ron wrote:

Ron wrote that he felt he got tricked into the whole “go to college” scam.  He went to college without really having any idea of what direction he wanted to go. He graduated with a degree in Personal Training.  Ron started working as a personal trainer and after about 8 months, he received a letter in the mail wanting him to begin paying off the $95,000 school loan.  Ron at this time was 23 years old, married and his wife also had school loans.  Instead of thinking about buying a house and starting a family, they had to work on paying off these student loans.  Both of them were working hard, but did not seem like they were getting anywhere.

Ron’s father-in-law had a small HVAC shop and Ron started working for him.  Ron really did even know what HVAC was, but he was willing to learn and had good work ethics.  At first Ron felt like a failure because he was not working at a job of his degree he thought that manual labor was more for unskilled workers. Ron fell into depression.  Until one day he decided that he was going to make HVAC his career.  He saw that he was able to do things that others could not.  He decided to make HVAC his passion.  Ron stated watching YouTube Videos and listening to podcasts.  He started to gain technical skill and knowledge.  Ron is now only months away from taking the Master’s Test for HVAC. 

Pursue the Training That is Best For You People often look down on workers in the trades, but college is not for everyone.  The average age of a tradesman is now 56 years old so there is a great need for skilled tradesman.  Many workers are retiring and their knowledge and skills will be lost.  There are many opportunities out there and college is only one option.  Don’t get caught up in the hype of what others are doing.  Verify, confirm and pursue the training that is best for you so that you can keep Surging Forward.   If you enjoy this podcast, please feel free to leave a comment below, share with a friend and also visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SurgingForward/ We also have a You Tube page where you can watch the actual podcast; visit us at https://www.youtube.com/user/surgingforward Looking to network and get personal training visit us and like us on facebook click here Connect with me on Linkedin Follow us on twitter click here Follow us on Instagram. Contractor and Tradesman Courses to help you Get and Retain your Tradesman License; visit our website at www.surgingforward.com   ________________.