If you could do it all over again...

[Huck]

Graduated college, engineer for 2 years, went to law school, started flying corporate part time in the second year, graduated with 1500 hours, never took the bar, never looked back.

During law school I clerked for the biggest aviation attorney in the region. I watched him work 60 hour weeks, while watching the associates make $30,000/yr for 5-6 years until a decision was made on partners - and only about 20% got that.

Of the law school friends I've kept up with - only one is successful in the field at a big tax firm. The rest are in various corporate non-law jobs, except one state senator and me - and guess who has the most fun?

You can make a good living in law, but trust me, you will never work harder for every dollar.

 

[klhoard]

I think I'll just stick to playing piano in a house of ill repute. . .

 

[SirFlyALot]

It seems to me that the question you are essentially asking yourself is "what should I do with my life?" Seeking advice from others like you are doing is a great step to take. Just remember that you have to realize what works for one person may not work for you. I'm sure you've heard it before, but you have GOT to know yourself to make a good decision. For some personalities, a career in flying is the answer and they will tell you it's the greatest thing in the world. Other personalities hate it and will tell you to not go near it. There are lawyers out there who wouldn't be happy doing anything else and there are lawyers who regret the day they ever took the LSAT. The key to making a good decision is figuring out where you lie on the personality spectrum and what kind of lifestyle you can live with. A really great book to read to help you examine some of these questions is called "Succeeding" by John T Reed. Here's a link to it: http://www.johntreed.com/succeeding.html.

For example, some personalities absolutely love working in an office environment every day and relish the challenge of office politics. Other people (myself included) cannot stand it and wouldn't work in that kind of environment unless their lives depended on it. I don't think I could be happy working in an office every day from 8 to 5 and dealing with all of the related hassles. In that respect, I'm very glad I chose flying. On the other hand, there are some serious problems with flying as a career: the instability of the industry, the slashed payscales over the last few years, time away from home, the precariousness of your medical certificate, and commuting to name a few. To me, flying is better than most jobs, but not the best. To be totally honest, if I had it to do over again knowing what I know now, I would probably try to go into business for myself or for a very small company. However, that is me and not you. You might detest that kind of work. Again, the key, as is inscribed on the Oracle at Delphi, is to "know thyself".