Totally agree. .maybe add NDT to the list, a great ways to fabrication work for non trade folk with brainsIn high school I did 2 years of diesel mechanics and also had an internship repairing boats and rebuilding the motors. I also took one full year of engineering in high school as well and learned to read mechanical drawings.
After dropping out of college, my dad helped me get a machinist job even though I had zero experience running milling machines and lathes. Within a week, I was trained enough to be comfortable with all of the machines and did what I had to do. The pay was quite good for a 19-year-old. The job sucked due to the heat but couldn't beat seeing a wad of cash at the end of each week.
Now I sit around and run my software company, but still find myself working on my wife's car or building mechanical contraptions as a hobby.
I wish that after 9th or 10th grade they would say hey, are you going the trade route or the college route? If you're going the college route, stay here. If you're going the trade route, you get sent to a training center to be trained on whatever it is you're interested in and stop taking other useless classes.
At my school we had a "career center" where we could learn:
Each of these classes lasted from 11th grade to 12th grade and you had the chance to be at least partially certified in your trade within 2 years of schooling.
- Diesel Mechanics (what I took) - me and 3 other students. Talk about a shortage.
- Automotive Repair
- Automotive Body work & painting
- Welding + Pipe Welding
- Mechatronics
- Masonry
- Hair salon
- A few other things
After going through this, I realized that most people just don't want to do hard work. They're scared to death of it or look down on it.
Some of the best times I had in school was working in the shop.
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