As a kid everyone told me I had a really bright future. I was on the varsity football team and valedictorian of my high school. I was offered over five full ride scholarships. However, I turned them all down. I wasn’t ready to go off to college when I graduated. Many people thought that I was crazy for turning down these kinds of opportunities. They thought I was selfish for not taking the things I was given when many people weren’t offered anything at all. I live in a small town so word of me turning down the scholarship got around really fast. However, I had a bigger plan in mind. My father owns the only HVAC company in our town. I wanted to learn all the tools of the trade so I could own the HVAC company one day. I went to a vocational school and learned everything I possibly could about heating and cooling. Once I was done with my courses, my father hired me full time to run the operations of the HVAC company. I loved every minute of the work and I was also working with my family which was another perk. It has been about fifteen years since then and I am the sole owner of the HVAC company and we have about ten other HVAC locations throughout the state. I am making more money now than I would have if I went to college. I know that I made the right choice back then and it shows today.