phatcat 0 #1 December 15, 2002 Sorry for the book, if ya don't like long whiney posts, please hit the back button and move on... Chapter 1 I was going to be a pilot. I got my private license and eventually headed off to Spartan in Oklahoma, a pretty well known flight school. I quit the day I was supposed to start. Long story but basically it wasn't right for me at the time, but I didn't realize it until the last minute. No regrets. It was shortly after I came back home that I got the crazy assed idea to jump out of a plane. If I had stayed in OK, that probably would never have happened (unthinkable!) Chapter 2 I moved out of my parents house and got a "temporary" job while I figured out what to do with my life. I figured I'd get into computers - networking or programming or something like that. I almost started school, but in the end it never happened. While looking at various school catalogs I came across an EMT course at this tech college. For some reason, it sparked an interest. Chapter 3 That was over two years ago, and in the time since, I've done a lot of research in the EMS field, and that led to the firefighting and law enforcement fields as well. I guess it was different from all of the "normal" 9-5er computer jobs I had been looking at. Not much money usually, but, I think for me personally, MUCH greater job satisfaction. After much debating the question of which public service field to pursue - cop, firefighter, or paramedic, I chose paramedic. Lots of reasons but I won't bore you more than I already have. Chapter 4 I basically became obsessed with the whole Emergency Medical Service thing. It was this whole new thing that I had never considered, and I thought it was cool as hell. It's a thing most people only see in movies or on TV, or maybe get a real life glimpse as they pass an accident on the road. It had the same fascination factor as skydiving did to me - I thought "I gotta do that!" Don't get me wrong, I am well aware that it isn't anything like the movies and it's more often boring than not, but I still think it's better than being locked up in a cube farm. I decided "for sure" that I wanted to be a paramedic. Chapter 5 You all know the quote that ends "... and there you will long to return." Once you're bitten and infected by the flying bug, it's incurable. I still want to fly. I didn't think I did, and I kept telling myself it wasn't for me. Why? Beats the hell out of me. I wanted to be a paramedic, and if I could afford it, I'd fly for fun. Flying For a career? No, not interested. Yeah, right, who am I kidding? I LOVED flying. Chapter 6 So here I am, sitting my computer alone on a Saturday night, drinking beer, listening to tunes, and contemplating life. I'm 25, not old, but old enough that I should have had this shit figured out by now. PILOT - A passion. - or - PARAMEDIC - A new experience. I don't think I can realistically do both. But choosing either one leaves me wondering "what if?" That fact that I'm posting this on a skydiving forum to a bunch of people I don't even know should tell how desperate I am. How do people go about choosing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gawain 0 #2 December 15, 2002 Quote PILOT - A passion. - or - PARAMEDIC - A new experience. Dude...there are pilots that work for emergency services and like...you could be a pilot that fights fires, or a helicopter pilot that responds to EMTs or you could be a medi-vac transport type pilot that ferries patients from here to there for operations and stuff....You have a very high-class problem there! Pretty neat! So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright 'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life Make light! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jessica 0 #3 December 15, 2002 Sounds like really severe attention deficit disorder! I have a college degree and a "career" in my field and I still dunno what I want to do when I grow up. Just pick something, piloting or paramedicking or whatever. It's not a life sentence. If you don't like it or feel a call from another direction, go do that instead later.Skydiving is for cool people only Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phatcat 0 #4 December 15, 2002 Gawain - I've considered that, but all of it still falls into the "pilot" category - meaning not actively using skills to work patients. I'd sit there in the cockpit looking out thinking "I wish I could do that". Jessica - Quote Sounds like really severe attention deficit disorder! You have no idea! Quote paramedicking Sorry, that was funny Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michele 1 #5 December 15, 2002 Hey, Phat Here's what I do about decisions: Whatever I can do now, I do...and whatever I can't do later, I do now. In other words, if I had to choose between paramedic and pilot, I would do the one which is far more physically challenging now, while I'm young, and save the other for later. I would be a paramedic now, and when I'm not working, go for a pilot's license. Work my way up the pilot's ladder (I think there are several licenses you'd need before even being considered as a life-flight guy, etc.) while earning a living and contributing to others' lives as a paramedic. Then, when I'd burned out on the paramedic thing (which happens a lot, from what I hear), I'd have another love/career all ready to go, and make a choice then from an embarrassment of riches: I can still be a paramedic, or I can take the new job of pilot. Also, there are some places which will pay for your pilot's training if you're their fireman/emt, if I am not greatly mistaken. Dunno, just my .02, and if you look at my life, I don't have the best history of decision making...but hindsight being 20/20... Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jessica 0 #6 December 15, 2002 QuoteYou have no idea! Mmmmmm I think I do. I'd discuss it with you but I need to go take my medication.Skydiving is for cool people only Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybytch 273 #7 December 15, 2002 Go with your passion. You won't regret it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slotperfect 7 #8 December 15, 2002 I too learned to fly, successfully getting my Private Pilot SEL in 1998. I quickly got non-current because of lack of time, money, and airplanes at our small airport. I LOVE flying, and I am rather good at it. I have no desire to fly for a living either, especially as a jump pilot. When I retire from the Army and settle into a new career and home, I plan to dust off my pilot's logbook and start flying again. One day I would love to own my own airplane. My advice is that if you are that passionate about flying, there is a way for you to have what you want. Keep looking, and don't give it up!Arrive Safely John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
