My cousin Eddie and I used to be very close, but as we grew up, we grew apart.
This happens with a lot of people, doesn’t it? It started during our high school years, because both of us had very different visions for how our lives would turn out, and how we would achieve our goals.
I had my sights locked on college, in particular the state university where I wanted to study journalism. Eddie was confused as to why I would want to go to college, and for my part I was confused as to why Eddie didn’t want to! Eddie was going to attend trade school and get his HVAC certification, so he could start working and making money. I asked him how he could be happy with that, because once he was an HVAC tech what else could he do with his life? Eddie laughed at that, and said that he wanted to earn a good living and start a family, and the pay from HVAC work would support that within a couple of years. On the other hand I would need to spend 4 years in school, and rack up massive loan debt, before I could even start looking for a job. So his real question for me was “why wouldn’t anyone want to be an HVAC tech?” We went our separate ways, and didn’t talk as much after I went to college and he started his path to HVAC certification. I am not worried about Eddie’s future in the HVAC industry, but I do often worry about my own future.