Future Career

Hi,

Several times a user or two has suggested career options for me in the future, but none of them are careers I am interesting in pursuing for one reason or another, therefore I wanted to share what my goal is and why. (Sorry if this is the wrong forum? Couldn’t find a career/employment one?)

A few months ago I decided that I want to become a bus driver as a for career for me to pursue, and although I understand it might sound like an unusual career choice, I have thought a lot about it and believe it to be the best decision for me. I wanted to share this because it has had a significant impact on my mental health for a variety of reasons.

I’ve had an interest in buses since I was a child and it was one of the first interests, if not the first, I developed. My family used to do a lot of camping and driving (we had free gas for life!) and therefore I was exposed early on to motorhomes and intercity buses. I developed an interest in motorhomes, specifically Class A Diesel motorhomes, and I became knowledgeable about them enough that I was more knowledgeable about them than the dealerships selling them. (Funny stories about that.) Later this interest expanded to include passenger coaches as used by intercity and charter bus companies and those used by transit operators. When I went traveling with my girlfriend in 2008, she took a ton of photos of me with an assortment of motorhomes and intercity buses that we seen. My favourite motorhomes now are the Prevost H3-45 conversations manufactured by Marathon Coach and the motorhomes by Newell Coach, both motorhomes priced at about $1.8 million apiece. When I visit my best friend in the United States again, I might travel to Oregon to see a Marathon Coach facility, because we don’t have those in Canada. (Seldom will you find a motorhome priced higher than $600, 000 in Canada.)

Yes, I have a considerable interest in buses, so it seems natural for me to want to become a bus driver. Specifically, I want to drive intercity and charter coaches, but I would also like to do some transit driving, since I will be trained for all buses. However, there are other reasons for my interest in bus driving…

One of those reasons is education. Unlike so many others, I absolutely and unequivocally hate universities, and I have no interest in returning to one. Before I started university, through all the orientations and everything else, I had this intuitive feeling of being sick, that I was doing the wrong thing, but I was told that university is exciting, fun, I’ll make lots of friends, and I will have the best time of my life, so I repressed those feelings and did it regardless. I felt pressured to attend university due to what others were saying and that I felt like if I didn’t succeed in university than I am a failure.

Before I talk about all that I wanted to explain a bit about me. An issue I have with school and with life in general is that I struggle to function independently. A simple walk to a restaurant can be incredibly difficult for me: I don’t know how to use public transit, I have difficulties understanding what others are saying and talking to others, I have a hard time using utensils and reading menus, the list continues on. The issue of crossing the street can be hard for me because I can have a hard time locating the crosswalk buttons, and recently I had difficulties figuring out how to walk through the doors at a store. There are numerous things I have difficulties with, and while I was in high school I was enrolled in a special education program specifically for those on the autism spectrum that provided me with considerable support. The one thing I can do that others are surprised by is memorize information. My world knowledge is considered impressive to others. I’ve memorized several maps of countries including their size, population, capitals, geographic regions, independence dates, etc. and can describe almost any country’s geography from memory. I have this photographic memory of things, but I can also memorize the words in a movie, classification of insects, pages in a book, etc. Unfortunately, I just don’t do well on my own all the time .

Ryerson University (University 1): I visited this university on a field trip with my world issues class to learn about geographic information systems in downtown Toronto; I felt horrible through the entire trip. While in the university, I stood on the sidelines, because I didn’t know what to do and nobody would help me.

University of Manitoba (University 2): When I was accepted to the University of Manitoba, I went there to register with the hopes that I could major in geography. Instead what happened was that I was drilled on my knowledge of universities and failed that, refused support, and left crying.

University of Winnipeg (University 3): After what happened at the University of Manitoba, I went to this one in downtown Winnipeg. I wanted to be assured that I would receive disability support and was active in discussing the options I had with the disability services coordinator. My registration was successful and I started it in January, 2010. That sick feeling occurred to me when I started there and it didn’t end until I stopped. On the third day there I had a meltdown and went to the disability office for support - they were closed. Evidently they’re only open like two days of the week or something. I self-harmed in a bathroom stall and was hospitalized that night with a concussion. Soon afterwards I self-harmed in our house and an ambulance took me to the hospital emergency room. Now I am currently involved with a legal/financial battle with the institution as they do their best to suck the remaining life force out of me 2 years later .

Brandon University (University 4): Refused to support me and my diagnosis.

Athabasca University (University 5): Is an online/correspondence university based in Alberta, Canada. I registered with them but was unable to find a support plan that would work for me, and I was honestly unhappy about attending another university. Taking the course-load I wanted it would take me about 6 years to complete a B.A. Still, I felt like I had to attend a university or I would be a failure, and in the summer of 2011, I made a suicide plan that I wanted to carry out to avoid attending university, but I began talking to my best friend about my abuse history and concerns, and she helped me move past all that.

My honest opinion is that universities expect me to conform to a standard and learning style that is incompatible with me .

I was writing about my worries in my diary and the idea of becoming a bus driver occurred to me. I presented the idea to my counselor, my best friend, and my second-mother, and they’re currently all in support of me and what I want to do. What I would like to do is be referred to vocational rehab to provide me with support with finding and maintaing employment, work a few years to save some money and maybe develop some skills, and then I would like to move back to Ontario to attend a commercial driving college and receive a diploma in motor coach operation so that I am qualified to drive the largest buses. The school told me the cost is about $700 thereby meaning I can pay for it myself without having to graduate in massive student debt and deal with loan agencies.

As for the career and work environment itself there are several aspects of it I like…

1.) I happen to like driving a lot and find it easy to do. Because I live in a remote area, I have to drive long distances to do about everything, hence I have a lot of experience with long-distance driving. I find it relaxing because all I am focused on is the driving.

2.) Because it is basically driving and nothing else I don’t have to be so stressed all the time. Something I have a hard time with is de-stressing and forgetting the day I had. I don’t do well juggling assignments, tasks, tests, and things to do all the time, because all that will remain on me like an infection. Lots of those things will become obsessions for me until they’re done. I want simple, basic tasks that won’t hang over my head all day long until they’re done. Basically what I am saying is that I want a job I can forget about when not working and not have to think about when I am done and just be done and relax. Bus driving is driving people from point A to point B. As long as I do that safely and on time, there really isn’t too much else to worry about.

3.) I like buses .

4.) I like traveling.

5.) I like how each day would be different in a way instead of being in the same building with the same people at the same times each day.

6.) I would like the independence.

It overall seems like a nice thing for me to do I think . Unfortunately, there are lots of haters that believe the only acceptable path to take is that through the university system so they insult and mock me for pursuing this. But should this career not work for me I would like to attend a community college in Nova Scotia and study geographic information systems with a concentration in cartography (making maps).

I wanted to share this .

I'm trying to decking whether my considerable love of driving and long distance travel ought to disqualify me from responding to this ... and I don't know. I think a person's enjoyment & skill ought to work for them...

I'm 66 & mostly out of touch with what the new world is going to require of folks your age. I over-did things for my day & got too much formal education for my own good & in many ways made getting a job more difficult.

Boy, ain't that irony for you!

But dealing with just you & your situation...

I think you've made a solid choice. I don't know what the lack of a degree may keep you from, though. Stay tuned.

Roadie

Your plan sounds good.

It sounds like a good plan. The university is far from the only route to take and absolutely no reason to go back if it will not help your career goals.

It can help too to see about doing some informational interviewing to talk to some drivers about the jobs and what it is really like. Voc Rehab can help with this or contacting companies to find out more, can do it without them as well. If interested, go for it!

I like your plan. It's solid, well thought out, and completely rational. Don't let other people deter you from what you know is best for you.

Accurate self-knowledge is priceless.
I agree!

Hehe, I wanted to be a truck driver for a long time. When I was a child I was obsessed with the garbage truck and waited every week to watch the garbagemen do their thing. As a girl...these "career options" are even more far-fetched than for you! The only reason I didn't go for the truck driving was because I desperately need physical activity to keep me sane. But if you want it, go for it! And if people give you sh!+ for it, they're probably just jealous that you have the nerve to really do what you want to As always, Mr. V, u rock! No doubt
p.s. Me & my husband's " life plan" is to RV around the countries working on farms and making art & films

You’re awesome KG8 . We seem to have a lot in common. My best friend in the U.S. says the same thing about haters . RVing around places is a dream for me too! Whenever you do your RV shopping, I can explain everything to you, including the classes and what you need to know .

p.s. and for a while I thought you were male…

Thanks for all the support everyone .