Mazrin

Thank you all for the well written and thoughtful posts. I appreciate it a lot. If anyone else has more to say, I'll still be checking out the forums (and this thread), so don't worry about your words going to waste.

Hi, everyone. Little bit of background: I recently graduated from college with a degree I'm not really interested in using. Not interested in an office job (23 year old male). Police / Fire / EMS was always something that sort of sat in the back of my mind as something I'd really like to do. I first decided on police. I got hired by the State Police and went to the academy. It was there that my first naive mistake was made. I went into police hoping to be someone that helps people, does something meaningful and rewarding, etc. Turns out the profession and the people in it are too aggressive for my personality (not saying anything bad, it seems like you need it to do what they do, it just wasn't a good fit for me). I left that. No longer interested in pursing a law enforcement job. So, I took up a job doing security (Was easy to get. Needed something to not be stagnant). living back home again for a bit to recoup, figure out what I want to do. I toyed with a number of things, and eventually decide to go for EMT-B, and then after some experience, get my Medic. Taking the (emt- class and loving it. This stuff is really, really interesting. Instructors are cool, I'm currently #1 in the class, and feel I have a talent for it. I don't just memorize answers, I actually really like learning all the "why's" and "hows" behind all the signs and symptoms and stuff. Even if I did nothing with this certification, I'm having fun getting it. Then I find these forums, and read some pretty discouraging posts about how awful this job is, how you can't possibly make a living off the pay, relationships are doomed, etc etc. In my state EMT-Bs avg out at about $16/hr, P's start around $20 avg at about $24+/hour. Maybe that's >average? Seems like enough money for a 23 year old who tends to live modestly. If I go for medic, the $20+/hour seems like enough as well. I'm not looking to make big bucks, just looking to live comfortably and be content in my work. To make a ling story short, what's your take? Think the job is awful? -Then why are you still doing it? Good but pay sucks when you're starting a family / trying to buy a house, etc? -What's a good career to transition into? Any success stories? Thanks for taking the time to read this, and if you do, the time to respond. Feeling a little discouraged. Believe me, after the police thing, I certainly have more realistic expectations of what I'm getting into. I know it's not all excitement and glory and teary eyed "thank you"s. But man, the way some people here talk about it can be a real downer.