Hey everyone. I've been around this site for a while now and most of you here seem very supportive of each other and willing to help your fellow man. Here's my situation:

I'm 23 years old. Right now I have a full-time job as a 911 dispatcher that pays decently. I like this job but it's not something that I would want to do for the rest of my life. The other problem is that we are a small dispatch center for only a few communities and any day there is the possibility of us being shut down and the county dispatch center taking over the communities that we dispatch for now. If that happens, there is a possibility that I would get hired by them, but there is also a good chance that I would be unemployed.

As far as education goes, I have an associate's degree in Fire Science (which is pretty much worthless) which I obtained from the local community college. The main reason I got this was to get the 60 college credits that I needed to apply for the PA State Police. Well, I just found out that I am not being excepted for enrollment into their academy, so that career option is out.

Basically, right now I feel like I've hit a dead end in my life. I don't know what to do with myself. Part of me wants to go back to school, but I don't know what for, or how I could afford it, etc. Part of me just wants to ride this job out and see what happens. I just don't know what to do.... :(

What I'm looking for from you guys, is not for you to necessarily tell me what I should do for a living, but I'm wondering what some of you may have done in similiar situations, I'm wondering how some of you decided what to do with yourselves career wise.

Thanks for reading this and for those of you that reply thanks for your input.

Well i would say try getting into the Police department in your City\Town or county, or even try getting into the Fire Department. I would assume a Fire Science degree could be benificial in that career.

Other then that you are deffinatly not in bad shape career wise. There should be tons of other courses you can take in a community college to prepare you for working in the State Police so when they do accept your enrollment you are ready.

Keep your head high man your 23 not mid to late forties and still have a lot of time to figure out what you wanna do.

I considered where I was living, and got the heck out... I didn't want to be in L.A., so I got with a company that was moving up north. Stayed with the industry, got all the way to where I wanted to go - got cut short by disability. But, my point is are you living where you want to live? If you're happy where you live, that's a good start. I would still be doing the same work if I were able... found what I loved to do and grew with it.

Well i would say try getting into the Police department in your City\Town or county, or even try getting into the Fire Department. I would assume a Fire Science degree could be benificial in that career.

Other then that you are deffinatly not in bad shape career wise. There should be tons of other courses you can take in a community college to prepare you for working in the State Police so when they do accept your enrollment you are ready.

Keep your head high man your 23 not mid to late forties and still have a lot of time to figure out what you wanna do.


I'm pretty sure that I'm never getting into the State Police. The more I think about it, I'm not sure if I even want to be a cop, but that would've been a good career.

As far as fire department goes, I've been a volunteer firefighter for almost 8 years; 4 here in Monroeville and 4 in the small town I came from. The only reason I got that degree was because I needed 60 credits to apply for PSP, didn't matter what subject they were in. I don't really think there is anything I can do with the degree I have now, but maybe I can look into going into fire investigation, I took some introductery classes on that while in college.

I've thought about applying to DCFD (Washington DC fire dept) again. One of my old roomates just graduated from their academy in the fall and he said that they're hiring again.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Out of curiosity how many times have you applied with the State police? If it was only once then you need to keep trying. As for your current job, I always been a firm believer that you need to be happy with your job to feel successful. Meaning when you find yourself waking up in the morning wishing that you didn't have to go to work (on more than one occasion), then it's time to move on to something else.

Rest assured that how you're feeling is completely normal and might just be what some refer to as a 1/4 life crisis. I went through it and left a great job (and paycheck) to work for the Feds part time as a seasonal FF. Here it is 4.5 yrs later, I'm a full time Asst Engineer and I still enjoy going to work everyday. Just never give up on your dreams, but always be on the lookout for bigger and better things.

I considered where I was living, and got the heck out... I didn't want to be in L.A., so I got with a company that was moving up north. Stayed with the industry, got all the way to where I wanted to go - got cut short by disability. But, my point is are you living where you want to live? If you're happy where you live, that's a good start. I would still be doing the same work if I were able... found what I loved to do and grew with it.

I'm not completely sure that I'm happy with where I live right now. It's not bad, but part of me has always wanted to move out west.

I've already done what you did in a sense. I grew up in a very small town, which I loved, but there were absolutely no job opportunities there. So I moved here to go to the community college. I live just outside of Pittsburgh now. Even with the job I have now, I could've never hoped to make this much money up home. I make more than my dad does, and he's been in the same plant for 23 years. And just to clarify, money's not that important to me, I just don't want to have to struggle through life. Although nowadays that seems to be more common of an occurrence, unless you're in the upper class.

What about here: http://www.duquesnelight.com ?

Out of curiosity how many times have you applied with the State police? If it was only once then you need to keep trying. As for your current job, I always been a firm believer that you need to be happy with your job to feel successful. Meaning when you find yourself waking up in the morning wishing that you didn't have to go to work (on more than one occasion), then it's time to move on to something else.

Rest assured that how you're feeling is completely normal and might just be what some refer to as a 1/4 life crisis. I went through it and left a great job (and paycheck) to work for the Feds part time as a seasonal FF. Here it is 4.5 yrs later, I'm a full time Asst Engineer and I still enjoy going to work everyday. Just never give up on your dreams, but always be on the lookout for bigger and better things.

I've applied for them twice now. This time I made it the majority of the way through the process and was disqualified after taking the polygragh test. Let's just say I did some stupid shit during my 2.5 years in college and that's what failed me. And now I have to live with that regret the rest of my life, the fact that I lost focus on my goals. I can apply again, but I can guarantee I won't make it through.

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. It's good to know that I'm not the only one who goes through this kinda thing. I keep telling myself that I'm the only one. :rolleyes:

I'm not completely sure that I'm happy with where I live right now. It's not bad, but part of me has always wanted to move out west.

I've already done what you did in a sense. I grew up in a very small town, which I loved, but there were absolutely no job opportunities there. So I moved here to go to the community college. I live just outside of Pittsburgh now. Even with the job I have now, I could've never hoped to make this much money up home. I make more than my dad does, and he's been in the same plant for 23 years. And just to clarify, money's not that important to me, I just don't want to have to struggle through life. Although nowadays that seems to be more common of an occurrence, unless you're in the upper class.

There aren't a lotta dads that do that now... 23 years is a long time. He probably has some real good advice too because there might have been opportunities that he turned down in order to make sure life was stable for you.. (We were moving to Sewickly Hgts[?] a while back. Beautiful place!) It seems like you are making good choices as you go along.

What about here: http://www.duquesnelight.com ?


Yeah, that could be an option. Most positions would require some schooling I'm sure. As often as the power goes out around here I'm sure I'd have lots of work haha. :rolleyes:

There aren't a lotta dads that do that now... 23 years is a long time. He probably has some real good advice too because there might have been opportunities that he turned down in order to make sure life was stable for you.. (We were moving to Sewickly Hgts[?] a while back. Beautiful place!) It seems like you are making good choices as you go along.


Yeah, my dad's a good man. He's a machinist at a factory that builds gas meters. There were a few scary times growing up because that factory has changed hands so many times, but thankfully each new company that took over decided to keep all the employees.