I went to school for graphic design, realizing in my 3rd year that it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. In 2004 I graduated with a BS in Communications (with a major in Graphic Design…confusing I know). I applied for jobs and graphic design agencies, but didn’t find anywhere that wanted to pay me what I wouldn’t make waiting tables in a restaurant. I got a job working at a group home, which I did for the next 2 years.
In 2006, a friend of mine asked me if while I had a break over the summer I wouldn’t mind helping his boss at a sign shop while he was on vacation. With my background in graphics, he thought it would be a good fit for me to help for the week. I did, then got offered a job, then worked there for the next year.
In 2007, I thought I might want to be an engineer, so I started going to school for it. Meanwhile I got a job at an engineering company, using my graphic design degree as a graphic technician. I worked with their proprietary software and code syntax and got very good at it. I enjoyed this part of the job more than anything else and quickly realized that being an engineer wasn’t what I wanted to do. I dropped my Math classes and discontinued the 6 year path toward an engineering degree.
In 2008 I started attending a new church where my wife joined a pregnant women’s group. For a long time I had been interested in making websites and wanted to do it more often, but had never found an avenue to make an income at it. When my wife told me that one of the women in her group’s husband was a web developer I jumped at the chance to pick his brain. A few months later, he offered me a job. The job I currently have, I love. Every day I enjoy my work.