Choosing a trade that interest me. However... (Please Read)

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Yesterday, my dad and I went to the state building where the state rehabilitation service office is located. We talked with someone who I have met before (first time being when I attended a two-year trade school for high schoolers, second time January of this year). He went more in-depth about the program.

The trade school focuses on students who are disabled mentally and physically (the latter mostly, if not entirely, being veterans). Interesting enough, most of the students there have autism.

I will be attending there for 5 weeks to see how things work out. They have it so that they are focused on multiple aspects of your strengths and weaknesses both physically and mentally. This also includes how best you learn (e.g. Auditory, visually, etc). There is no major cost in going to this program except for the things needed to live on your own.

One of the things that I realized is that they do not have any sort of curriculum or subjects focused around what I was hoping for (e.g. Graphics design). They have one called Graphic Communications but that is focused more on printing. However, I have been having self-doubts about getting into a job in graphics design due to my skills and financial situation. I feel as though I will not have any success in this field due to the iffy state of it.


However, there is a curriculum that does have my attention: Office Automation. In the book about the program, it states that in this curriculum that students will spend time "maintaining and repairing office management systems, computers, compilers, printers, cash registers, and other office equipment." It also states that students may also learn web page design and basic computing programming depending on interest and ability.


I have been fascinated by computers and technology for who knows how long. However, they only remained an interest. Near the end of 2012, I took the opportunity to learn how to build a PC. This meant even learning what certain parts are what. And beyond that it meant learning what the most popular or the most trusted brands were. It took me about 3 months of casually learning by myself to know how to build one and what each part was or what their function was.

Before having gone to the previous trade school when I was in high school, there were two other classes I was interested in taking. One involved programming and the other focused on the hardware aspects of computers and other technology.


My question is should I try out this program despite not being part of what I had going previously? As stated, I am very interested in technology and not just because "OOO, look an iPad that can serve juice!" or "This can play CoD5k!" When I finally learned the parts of a computer, I gained a whole new respect for them. I finally saw the beauty behind them; realizing that each part is communicating with each other to deliver what is visually presented on-screen. What originally consisted of raw elements, such as the grain of sand used to make the CPU, is carefully molded into the parts in that computer. The fact that we're reaching the point where Moore's Law is about to be questionable due to how small we can make parts unless we use a different element is intriguing. The fact that we're capable of putting data on a SINGLE DNA strand is amazing. The fact that we're slowly perfecting super computers eventually to where they could serve to simulate the human brain is exciting and scary.

While I realize what I maybe doing is less spectacular than developing advance A.I. or working on some top secret project, I added them because I wanted to prove that I do have an interest in this. From what I have read and heard, it is best to choose a field that most interest you.


The only problem I have is trying to battle my self-doubts and "what-if's." I will have to refreshes my algebra skills. However, I feel more comfortable about It than I did when I was in high school. I will simply do a recap on my own time to see what I need to tweak. Another problem is wondering whether I'm able to earn a good salary. As stated, I am in a situation where my family is poor. Hell, it's to the point where we would qualify for food stamps (I could also try signing up for social security but have the irrational fear that I would be the straw at broke the camels back). I just want to make sure I'm able to earn enough to live comfortably; not constantly worrying about wether we'll be able to pay bills on time. I choose not to have my ingrown toenail removed for 4 or 5 months before I felt we were in a better financial situation.


Sometime today, I have to call the person who I spoke to yesterday to give him the authorization to get me started in this program. Apparently positions for November are filling up fast.



I am very sorry for the tl;dr nature of this post. I felt that if I left certain detail missing, it would not be enough to give any sort of opinion.

It sounds like you've already made up your mind.

Yeah, it's important to choose a career that you're interested in...since you're investing your time and money into it. Plus, you want to enjoy the work that you're doing; going to work every day and feeling miserable will really dampen your health.

If you're unsure about the job salary/future outlook, I suggest that you ask the program coordinator about it. Besides researching online, he/she is probably your best bet on answering program-related questions. Also ask if there are any former graduates willing to talk about the program. Sometimes getting a former student's input is more informative/eye-opening than a program coordinator's. You might hear more truthful answers about the field, if it's in demand, the pros and cons etc.

Who knows...maybe you can use the office automation education and job-related experience as a stepping stone towards more exciting work.

BTW, the toenail story is just wow. Now that's sacrifice heh.

Hmm... This sounds like how I got into computers and eventually graduated into degree level.

Since I discovered I had a keen eye for details, instruction, automation and generally how things work, computers followed information systems is how I naturally found my interest. This was after I was committed into vehicle mechanics.

I discovered I do have a visual and vocational learning style, learned most things from video and seeing how concepts worked physically in the real world. Like with information system design, it's often just a bunch of words and diagrams to others, but put that into a physically working system, like a database, software or some other procedure, it's extremely hard to forget things when it's put into a visible thing.

One thing I've always had problems... The maths is hard, compounded with dyslexia, to this day, I've never been able to grasp many math concepts despite graduating with a computing mathematics module.

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Last edited by SereniteSky on 06 Aug 2014, 2:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'd word it more differently than how you put it but I'm afraid mine would just induce more anxiety and panic. Yeah, I rather get a trade that interest me than one that doesn't or makes me depressed. That and it's possible I could earn a decent income. I mean, I'm hoping I can earn a lot more than just $7.40 an hour.

Maybe....

Maybe it'll lead me to doing computer case designs? I don't know. Or maybe I'll end up working for some big tech company. Heh. I never thought I'd be likely to get such an opportunity. Still won't but....who knows.


Yeah, but I'm afraid I might have done it at the worst of times since my dad hasn't been able to sell any dogs during the summer months so me NOW suddenly wanting the sugery is just more negative.