I grew up around cars and doing mechanical work. When I was about to graduate from high school, I felt that I should go to college to give myself a broader perspective. I didn't, however, have any idea what I wanted to do when I grew up. I started at Salem State College as an undeclared student and, when I finally had to declare a major, chose psychology with a philosophy minor. I had no idea what I would do with these choices after graduation, but they interested me. I was accepted into Salem State's master's Industrial Oraganizational Counseling program and attended classes at night while working days for Costco Wholesale's tire shop. After a short time, I became the supervisor of the shop. After two years of working for Costco, I got a job with Varian Semiconductor. Finding a job utilizing my college education was proving to be impossible, but I seemed to always have something available that utlized my mechanical skills. For four years I worked for Varian assembling high current ion implanters. During that time I took the exam to become a firefighter. I didn't know anything about the job, but it did seem interesting and I thought it would provide something more stable than the semiconductor industry. In 1999 I was hired by the Gloucester Fire Department. I began taking the promotional exams immediately (just for practice at first) and, after ten years with the department, I was promoted to Captain. Though it may not seem like a job for someone with a psychology degree, I find that I use my education everyday. The job I have now is good fit, and I thoroughly enjoy it.