I think when I was a little kid I really wanted to be an astronaut, but who didn’t? As I got a little older I realized I had a real love for animals, and thought that I would pursue a career as either a veterinarian or a veterinarian Tech, or assistant. After I graduated high school I decided I would take a few years off of education altogether and just go straight to work for my uncle. He owns a mattress store, and I worked for him for time as a sales rep. Sales is okay, but I hate the fact that I have to rely on a commission off of every sale.

In recent months I’ve worked out a deal with him where I can have Tuesdays and Thursdays off so that I can attend our local community college. I know he is somewhat upset, as he knows that when I graduate I will no longer be working for him, but at the same time he realizes that I have to do what’s right for me.

Our community college is nice, and offers a lot of two-year programs that will allow me to get in and out as fast as I possibly can, while knowing that I will have a good job when I graduate that will earn me upwards of 40 or $50,000 per year. Of course I know I will not graduate and immediately start making that kind of money, but it’s nice to know that in the near future I can work up to that amount as opposed to where I am now, I have pretty much maxed out my annual income.

With the economy as horrible as it has been lately, sales are few and far between and who knows when it’s going to get any better. I figure I would go into a career field that I know for a fact will always have a need for employees. If you didn’t guess it, it’s the medical field. After much consideration and for thought, I decided I would pursue radiology technology.

Basically I will be an x-ray technician, and deal with broken bones and sick people most of the time, but I have a friend who does it and she loves it and has nothing but good things to say about it. I figure if she can do it I know that I can do it as well. She said that when she graduated from DeVry University, she landed a job making $36,000 a year immediately. They also even help her find the job that she still currently has. I thought that was pretty awesome, especially for only going to school for two years.

The cool thing about being a radiology technician is the fact that you don’t just have to work for a hospital. There are many little clinics that offer an awesome salary with a lot less of a hectic schedule, and usually not as many patients come through their offices on a daily basis as a large hospital. Not sure exactly where I want to work, I may even try and get a job working at a dentist office taking x-rays of people’s teeth. I’m a really big people person, and I get along really good with just about anybody.

So anyways as I learn more about the career I’ve chosen, I’ll post up some more interesting facts and finds that I may come across through my studies. However, don’t expect me to spend all my time on my blog writing about my boring school and career life. I still have a good social life and spend many of my nights and weekends hangout with my friends and having a good time.

About half way through my first semester I decided I would really buckle down and focus a lot of my extra time really trying to decide what direction I want my education to take me. Did I really want to spend the next 2 years or more going to school not even going for what I would like to land a job in after I was finished.

So long story short, the answer to that was of course no. I knew that by going to school I would be able to get a better job, but just because a job makes more money does not mean I will enjoy it more. Its nice to earn extra money, but if I am gonna take the time to learn something I want to enjoy what I am learning.

Instead of choosing a college course that would take me 4 years to complete I thought I would look into some shorter, skill based programs. I was shocked to find out what people where earning with a 2 year degree. Not to share exactly what I make per year, but they were making almost double right after graduation with huge room for growth.

I also really started researching what factors of the career choice program I chose would help me to find a job faster. Is that job field in need of employees? Or is that market flooded. What is the graduation percentage of people who took the same courses as me, and do I feel that I am smart enough to finish the course successfully. The last thing I wanted was to start a career program and not finish. So I selectively looked through about 15 different career training programs until I found what I though would suit me the best.

After talking with a counselor at my school, I even found that they offered help with job placement after I graduated if I kept my scores up and showed that I was truley there to learn and better myself. Its a lot to take in and really was a little bit stressful, but I know it will pay off in the end. I chose a 2 year course as an x ray tech and will explain a bit more about it in the coming days or weeks when I have some more time to blog about it.