I attended a community college from 1992 to 1997. That was a long time to stay in college, I am aware.
I struggled in college. Not work the workload, just trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I originally had my heart set on being a computer programmer. That was put on hold for the first year as I didn’t get accepted to the program that first year.
So I chose another path and started in the “Chem Tech” program. It would have prepared me for a well paying job analyzing chemical and soil samples for toxins ect. I had always enjoyed the sciences and it felt like a good fit. I was during this time I discovered a love of Biology. I found the study of cells and energy production fascinating. I think it also helped that I had 2 very passionate instructors that just made the material fun to work through.
I decided before the end of the first semester that I would switch to health sciences so that I could continue to study Biology and physiology.
By the start of second year I had to choose between nursing or working in a medical lab. I chose medical lab since it had more of the science focused areas that I loved. It was here that I learned about writing experiments and test cases. A skill that I still use to this day. It was also here that I hit a bump in the road.
Let’s back up a bit …
I was born the son of a plumber from Arkansas … No wait … that’s not it.
I was born in the summer of 1973 in a city in northern Ontario Canada. I was 8 weeks premature and born both Blue and Grey. My mother had gotten violently ill during the final stages of pregnancy and I had to be rushed into the world ahead of schedule. As a result of my hurried arrival I was born with a very mild case of Cerebral Palsy. It caused me some trouble in my youth but a few surgeries and a lot of physiotherapy minimized the impact. I wasn’t going to let it keep me down. Doctors being what they are however warned me that I would become very familiar with my limitations. Bah! I say!!
Fast forward to 1993 and those limitations would start to appear.
Lab work proved very difficult. I found that I lacked the fine motor skills needed in the lab environment. I could get things done but it took me longer than it did others and I became fatigued very quickly. Since most of the jobs available in the field were contracts that paid you on the number of test completed in a given cycle I decided this wasn’t for me.
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