jerc47

Thank you so much for the many helpful and motivating posts! I am definately going for it and am working towards finishing up my pre-reqs within the next few semesters. I am gonna try and focus on two at a time, but I would love to squeeze in a third while working full-time, and some side-work here and there. We will see how it goes. I have also been accepted to a local hospital as a volunteer in the ER, and will also be shadowing very soon. Thanks for all the great posts everyone. I love this board! Jeremy

Thank you for all the helpful comments guys, they are much appreciated and very helpful! I suppose I have to be more careful when I assume another field may or may not have better security then another. Lesson learned, thank you! I hit a brick wall as far as advancement goes with the company I am with almost 10 years ago. In the last 10 years I have not received a raise, nor a paid sick day, vacation day or health or dental benefits. It's a very small company with maybe only 6 employees and two owners. I am the oldest and most senior of the employees however and I just don't feel as if I can start and raise a family on my income. I probably should have left years ago when my salary stopped moving, but a combination of fear of starting somewhere new and leaving the familiar prevented it. I will try and find something in Historic Preservation while I attend college for pre-reqs, but there will come a point where a couple of short years in nursing school will be able to offer me much more then I have now, without a doubt. I have been looking for the right construction/carpenter jobs in a couple areas pretty heavily for almost a year now and very few offer anything more then what I have now. Construction management jobs sounds okay I guess, but it also requires further schooling. Not to mention, that as of late the idea of an entire life devoted to construction bores me. I want to do something that matters to someone. Jeremy

Hello everyone, So let me try and make a longer story very short. I am 39 now nearing my 40th birthday and have worked in the construction field since I was about 19, give or take a year in between. I did try going to college right out of high school, however while I finished some courses I registered for, most were not. I either withdrew or received a "F" simply because I would just stop attending class halfway through a semester. Years pass, and it wasn't until almost 4 years ago that I decided to go back to school. I was working full time and started with one class, then two, and have been going to school to attain a degree in Historic Preservation. What a difference 15 years make! I love going to class and have discovered quite a few things about myself in the process. I have taken approximately 14 courses and have received an A in each. I have raised my old gpa from a 1.something to just under a 3.3. I am very close to finishing up my degree in Historic Preservation and am contemplating making a drastic career shift to nursing. As of right now I see nursing as a more secure job moving forward, both financially and job growth. Unfortunately, I have not seen the jobs I was hoping to apply for in the Historic Preservation/Carpentry fields. Out of the few I have seen, they generally lack the benefits and/or an salary I am looking for. I am at a crossroads here in my life, and at my age I would like to set myself on the right path. I am apparently getting a late start in my life, but I suppose it's better late than never! Jeremy