life question

[rsd53]

I know most people would want to choose their life path, but sometimes, life chooses it for you.

In 1971, when I was 18, I made a decision to volunteer for the Air Force, rather than be drafted. I was given my choice of 4 different types of work. I have great mechanical skills but decided I didn't want to end up working in a motor pool. So I chose electrical. From that I could select 3 different jobs. It was near the end of basic training when I found out I was chosen to be a facilities electrician. Nothing close to aircraft electronics, or computer technician, and some unknown pencil pusher (life?) made that decision for me. I was really upset when I found out.

Although at the time I had made up my mind to make a career in the military, I only stayed in for 8 years. During my time as an electrician, I gained a lot of experience. That experience earned me a lot of job offers.

It's funny how things work out. I ended up taking a job with Alcoa in southern California. Over the 16 years I was at that plant, I kept getting more challenging work assignments. Long story short, when the plant closing announced in 1994, I was asked to stay on as electrical engineer.

I was transferred to a plant in Pennsylvania. My job there involved the electrical design and construction of a new plant. After the plant was built, I was the engineer for the next 11 years. I applied for a job at another plant in southern Indiana. In this case I was involved in the installation of environmental equipment. This was a 3 year project, and cost over $500 million. I retired from there 2 years ago. I did some local consulting until I found a great job believe it or not, on Craigslist.

I know there's a lot of history above, but the point is, I can trace all of my success in life back to, a single choice life made for me. By the way, I never got a degree. Life didn't put that on my path.

My advice would be no matter what you do, be a good person, helpful with others, work hard, don't be afraid to pursue opportunities out of your comfort zone, and look for opening doors.

Rob