go to college, a university, get a real job

That's what they said to me.

When I was a kid, going to college never seemed optional. I guess my parents wanted me to have more opportunities than they did, which sounds good in theory. The problem was that I had no idea what I wanted to study. School wasn't something I enjoyed; it was something I tolerated because there was no choice. Ultimately, I chose a major in chemistry for a very stupid reason. I could sleep through the class 3 or 4 days a week and still get an A.

In college, the first year was essentially repetition of my high school courses, so I felt no need to attend the lectures. When I did go, I slept. Not surprisingly, I was no longer in the top of my class. I did not enjoy chemistry, but I tolerated it. I hadn't found anything more appealing yet. I figured I could always change my major later, once I'd figured out what it was I really wanted to do.

Before I knew it, it was too late to change my major without forcing myself to stay at least another year to make up the credits. I got serious about chemistry, not because I liked it or because I wanted a career in it, but because it seemed like a waste to not use the degree that I'd worked on for a little over four years. I knew that if I didn't pull my grades up, I'd never get a job that would use my education.

When I moved here, I'd had a few job prospects. None of those panned out. I ended up unemployed and desperate for a job. Not because I was running out of money, but because I was bored. I'd had enough saved up to last me another couple months. I started applying to jobs that I knew I was over-qualified for, just so I'd have a reason to get up in the mornings (or whatever time of day/night they wanted me to work).

None of them called me back either.

Finally, I put in an application at a call center where The Captain works doing tech support for a tax program. The day I was going to drive down there to meet with the recruiter and see what departments had openings, on my way out the door, I reached into my purse for the keys and they.weren't.there.

I've never lost my keys before, and I looked everywhere.
They weren't in any of my pants pockets.
They weren't in the laundry basket.
They weren't in my coat or any of the ridiculous number of hoodies hanging in the closet.
They weren't under the bed.
They weren't in the laundry room.
They weren't in any of the other dozens of places I looked.

While I was looking for the keys, the recruiter called. After I explained the situation, the recruiter gave me the first half of the interview over the phone. She asked about my computer knowledge, which I downplayed a bit. Yes, I could install an operating system and write a power point presentation, but so what? Can't anyone do that?

She offered me a job in sales with the Cow Box Computer Company and asked me to come in a few days later to take an aptitude test as a formality. She didn't expect me to be qualified for tech support, but the test was standard operating procedure.

I went in for the assessment armed with three types of identification, my resume, and a copy of my application. The test was insanely difficult, and I was convinced I'd failed it.

The recruiter came out to meet me in the waiting area and said that she wasn't, in fact, going to finish the paperwork necessary for me to start working the sales desk. She was forwarding everything to the tech support desk instead.

As I found out later, the test was designed to weed out people. As long as you got the basic questions right, they'd teach you the rest. A week and a half later, I started training for the Cow Box Computer Company. The class consisted of seven people, and I was the only female. Surprise surprise.

Two days later, the class had dwindled to five, and everyone began to loosen up. We realized the trainer (who shares a name with a mobster and got a brand new Cadillac delivered to his house by mistake once...) wasn't actually anyone to be afraid of. We started joking around, spending time together on our breaks, and generally enjoying each others' company.

I'm now 8 days into my training, and I've got 7 days left. In those 8 days, I've learned more about networking, hardware, and software than I ever thought I'd know. In that time, I've helped an acclaimed author recover his partially-written novel that he thought was gone forever after reformatting his computer. I've met people I never thought I'd see in tech support. Grandma types. Retired football players. People who don't even have a computer at home.

I hope I'm not jinxing this, but I think I've found where I belong.

The time I spent in telemarketing at college to pay my tuition has really helped me here. My skin definitely got a lot thicker in the time I worked there. I learned not to take things personally, as the people I was calling didn't dislike me as a person. They just didn't like the job I was doing. (Yeah, while my parents thought it was necessary that I go to college, they didn't see a need to help me pay for it. No, I'm not bitter. ) The time I spent working at the inconvenience store showed me the importance of customer service and how to handle different types of people.

I like it here. Hopefully I'm just as enthusiastic about the job in 8 more work days as I am today. Getting used to waking up while it's still dark out will take some getting used to, though.