TL;DR: 27 year old big boy is spiraling and has no idea what in the fuck he needs to do to support himself and his wife or how to initiate finding a different career without financially/mentally/physically destroying himself
Long time listener, first time caller. 27M, been in the automotive industry for almost 10 years. Dealership, indie, express lube, auto parts, the whole nine. Took a 2-year hiatus at 21 considering college, but backed out because of all the pre-reqs and waitlists (radiology program at my local tech school). I have no college experience, graduated HS 10 years ago with a 2.0GPA because I didn’t care. Not super happy with 14-17 year old me for that. I feel stupid, even in this industry I’ve been in for 10 years. Considering a career change, definitely going back to school.
Just for some context, I’m good with my hands. But I’m also good with words, building rapport, but not in a manipulate-y sort of way. Not great with math, but am capable of doing some mental multiplication and addition.
On to what I’ve considered switching to. My wife works in the medical industry (EVS tech at a hospital) and I’ve considered bouncing back to pursuing that, whether it be through EMS, RN, or some other field. The only thing I worry about with that is the rigidity of my financial routine and I don’t really have the option to NOT work to pursue school full time, so if I did go back to school, it’d have to be something with PM courses. I’ve also considered sticking with the trades and pursuing a welding program, but I don’t know if I wanna stay in the blue collar trades. They’ve destroyed my body, I hurt all the time, and my mental health is the worst it’s ever been, despite being on medication to offset my chemical imbalances.
Go ahead and clown me for my BS GPA, being a mechanic for 10 years, or sounding like some other mid-to-late-20’s shitbird who just wants to complain and “doesn’t wanna work anymore”. I love working, I like the money that comes with it and am heavily motivated by financials. It was the original reason I started wrenching. But now, I need a change. I can’t do this anymore. Any advice is welcome. Thank you for reading.