i was one of the nerds that started college classes my freshman year of high school. i could have graduated high school in the 11th grade. by the time i was 17 i was close to a degree specializing in international business and marketing and already had 7 semesters of japanese language and cultural training. but as most child prodigy types i was bored to tears with school because it was all easy, repetitive and i was not being challenged. so i dropped out.

i had been working at the refinery my dad operated for a few years with the maintenance guys and realized that the problem solving and design was more my calling than a suit and tie. to the benefit of this thread, it was in '87 that my auto shop teacher taught us to weld. i talked my dad into buying me a little buzz box and started building bicycles and stuff and coming up with crazy ideas... never thought it would be a way to make a living back then.

but it has proven to be a worthy skill set & coupled with engineering it can be very lucrative.