How did you know what you wanted to do with your life

[Cos]

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[AE92_TreunoSC]

I am way off track but in the end I'm moving forward.

As long as things are progressing upwards, it doesnt matter which path one takes.

[chibwack]

I worked the patch for a few years and eventually realized I was more interested in the ESOP program than the actual work. So I quit, took an econ/finance degree to learn the markets, ended up loving all things finance, and now I'm a margin monkey for that same company. Absolutely love it, but have only been doing it for a year. My end goal is something along the lines of m&a or equity research, but in all honesty I could see myself settling in with my current company.

[Tik-Tok]

Post highschool, I applied for 3 years at SAIT for Architectural Technologies. My HS had Architect programs, and I really enjoyed doing it. I got denied 3 straight years, so I gave up.

During that time I was in seismic. Talked to a lot of heli-pilots, figured that looked like fun. Hard (and expensive) career to get into though, so I thought it would be easier to become a heli-mechanic first, then go for pilot. so I got into SAIT for it's AMET program. Only took 3 months being back in the city full-time to realize I didn't want to do bush-work EVER again (which is pretty much what every Heli job entails).

So I went with fixed wing instead. Still the worst decision I ever made in my life should have been an engineer.

I tell everyone who asks to STAY THE FUCK OUT OF AVIATION.

[FullFledgedYYC]

I was always good with computers my whole life... so I took computer engineering at SAIT for a year. Did really well... but after a year there is no way I could see myself locked up in a server room or programming for the rest of my life... so I took a year off.

Ended up learning more about what marketing was and how it isn't just making commercials and selling stuff. Took 2 years at SAIT to get my diploma and then transferred to U of L (best decision of my life... moved out and learned to be an independent person).

I now work in a more finance role in which I can apply my marketing knowledge and I enjoy it thus far.

[corsvette]

I spent my entire youth with the sole ambition to be a car designer. I started drawing cars when I was three years old and I never tired of it, just got better at it as time went on. There was no doubt in my mind what I wanted to do. During my last year of HS I sent my application and portfolio to Emily carr in Vancover, all was on track to my dream career...... Then I met a Girl.

I ended up getting married a few years later when we found out a Son was on the way. Needless to say time flies and plans changed. I must say im happy with where I ended up, but I still regret not following that lifelong dream from time to time.

[dirtsniffer]

Worked at a car dealership after high school. Really like cars and the associated tech but didn't like the idea of working on them full time. (Was told by pretty much every mechanic there that it is really hard on your body and lower back. So I quit and went back to school. Finishing my mechanical engineering degree in 6 months

[Maxx Mazda]

I'm a pilot.

When I was 6 or 7 (20 years ago) I went up to the cockpit during flight on a family trip to disneyworld. (Back then you could go into the flight deck during flight!) The captain got out of his seat and let me sit down, then put his hat on me. As soon as my ass hit the chair I was sold on what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Started taking lessons when I was 14 (13 years ago, wow) and been doing that ever since. Sounds corny, but it's true. I had such a passion for all forms of aviation, and here I am today.

[sr20s14zenki]

Worked at a fairly menial job since i was 17. When i was 23, took a part time job at a local welding shop. Learned a lot, and decided i liked building things. Did my apprenticeship, and here i am today, a journeyman, cwb supervisor, shop foreman, project co-ordinator (man of many titles). Its a good life, and its been a fun road. Looking forward to a lot more. I can safely say however, that i look forward to work most every day, and am very happy with my job.

[max_boost]

Got thrown into it by the rents at age 13 and just been doing it ever since.

Siblings worked here and there helping out but they couldn't stand it so off to school they went. One has a Masters in Geography and the other just finished his Chemical Engineer.

Big brother FTW, did all the dirty work so they didn't have to.

[msommers]

Started as an electrician. Guys I worked with and being outside were not ideal. Went back to uni to pursue medicine, found out I wasn't driven enough despite getting pretty good marks but not 4.0 average. Lab tech is gay so bio sci was done. Parents suggested geology and liked it ever since. It's not the cardiac surgeon I dreamed to be but its interesting enough and has a lot of benefits/flexibility. Quite a few friends are finishing up clerkship and when if I got in, I don't know if I could have gone all the way. Lots of hours and loads of competition still for placement.

[davidI]

Originally posted by Maxx Mazda
I'm a pilot.

When I was 6 or 7 (20 years ago) I went up to the cockpit during flight on a family trip to disneyworld. (Back then you could go into the flight deck during flight!) The captain got out of his seat and let me sit down, then put his hat on me. As soon as my ass hit the chair I was sold on what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Started taking lessons when I was 14 (13 years ago, wow) and been doing that ever since. Sounds corny, but it's true. I had such a passion for all forms of aviation, and here I am today.

[ExtraSlow]

Had no idea what the hell I wanted to do when i was in high school. Got good grades in science, applied to engineering. After first year, I heard that computers were the place where all the money was made, so I applied for that department, got denied because of low grades and settled for the Oil and Gas engineering program. Graduated after doing 16 months of internship, realized that I was totally interested in the industry.

Honestly, still not sure if this is the job I want to do for the rest of my life, but it's taught me some great skills, paid me a lot of money, and even though I don't love it every day, it's interesting every day.

Spend probaly 90% of my time doing project management type work, and not actual number crunching engineering, but that's my preference.

[Penis McNickels]

I always enjoyed watching shows about construction on Discovery and wanted to be involved somehow, but didn't want to do any physical labour (did my fair share of summer jobs to realise this).

So I thought I would become a drafter since I enjoyed that type of drawing, but the career pamphlet at school said they didn't get paid well (40k), so I thought I would go into architecture (60k). (mid-90s BC salaries)

I applied to university, but apparently you need to submit a portfolio of your work to get accepted to the architecture program, so I got my second choice, civil engineering and thought I would switch into architecture after the first year.

Decided I was better at numbers and stayed and finished a bachelors and masters in structural engineering.

I am happy here, I like the brainstorming and problem solving, but hate doing the actual calcs.

So here I am, somehow involved in the construction industry as I hoped. So tell your little brother to watch a lot of TV and it will come to him.

[urrforce]

i'm a lot younger than the age you are asking for responses from but i am currently in a hr program at mru and im not so sure that i want to do this for the rest of my life i got into it because both my parents work in hr currently one for ahs and the other in the private sector and they really enjoy it. they both have provided very well for my family.

and from the stories they share at dinner and stuff i really like the field but now after studying in it for a bit im not so sure that its where i want to be in a few years time but we will see i guess there are a ton of branches i can go into and specialize in within the umbrella of hr so lots of time for me i guess lol.

[davidI]

I still don't know what I want to do with my "Life"

Just making the most of each day and trying to tak advantage of all the opportunities I can!

[Cos]

.

[FraserB]

Did PoliSci when I first started school, realized near the end of my second year that I hated it, tried a few forensics classes, ditched that when I smelled my first body that had been in the Bow for 3 weeks. That and the Home Depot branded garden shears for cracking ribs

Went and worked construction doing major infrastructure projects (you drive on my jobs every day), like the job the super had more than mine. Went back to school with the intention of doing O&G land or mineral admin, wound up going to a meet and greet at an EPCM and started here 2 weeks later.

[revelations]

The only advice I can give is that you should have no regrets. If its something you can do, or would like to do ... I say go for it. Man times the first career isnt the best - but at least it gets the ball rolling.

I started out in aviation like Tik Tok .... thought about becoming a peelot but decided in the end to start on the maintenance side. I always try to steer people away from it as wel. Its just aweful.

Now I consult IT for coportations/home and small businesses and couldnt be happier.

[ga16i]

Back in High School, I didn't even think about what I wanted to do. My childhood thing was fighter pilot, but fazed out of that pretty quickly when it came time to flip through the UofC calendar to pick a major and such. I thought about the traditional "Asian" things to do e.g., doctor, lawyer, etc, but I thought it was too much work and had no interest in piss and shit from ugly sick people. Growing up, my dad was an OEM putting together white box PC's in Hong Kong and so I had access to the latest and greatest throughout. I just started taking things apart, and putting them back together, and had kept up with the lastest happenings with networking and such. I decided that Software Engineering was THE thing to apply for, because it had the word engineering in it. I was granted early admission for it based on my grade 11 marks. In grade 12 before graduation it really hit me that fun and games is basically over, and I needed to point my life in some direction. I looked at the requirements for software engineering and computer science and thought engineering was still too much work haha, and switched into Computer Science.

Up until this point, I had very limited experience programming. University was the first time being exposed to the languages and concepts. It was a great place to experiment with the various sub-disciplines within Computer Science. While I liked the low level interrupt stuff, I thought the specing software to solve a problem was far more interesting. After graduation I struggled for a few months to find a proper job in my field. Eventually did C# programming on contract for a few months, then landed a full time gig as a web developer for a local ecommerce shop. Being a small shop, I was basically the "IT guy", but also spent a lot of time being around sales people. About 2~3 years in (around the 2008 shit show), I decided that it'd be good to move towards the revenue generating side of the business (sales and marketing) and be less of a cost centre (most companies see IT of any form as a cost rather than an asset). So, I grabbed some catalogues, learned the products and started taking inside sales calls. Then I eventually started looking at the general business flows that I found to be road blocks as a sales person and automated processes where possible. I'm still involved on a day-to-day basis with programming, but in a specifically applied situation.

So I guess the jist of my journey so far was, picked something that I had somewhat of an interest in and went with the lesser of two evils. Just went with it for a while until something else peaked my interest and expanded to that. So, just go do what you like for now and whatever happens happens, can't plan everything. No way I would've guessed that sales would be an important part of my life while studying computer science.