I was only looking for a part-time job.

The year I turned 17, I wanted to get a part-time job during the summer.

I kept saying that I wanted to travel around the United States after graduation, and having a part-time job is going to give me enough money to be able to afford to travel that summer.

Even though I was only looking for a part-time job, I was enjoying the job so much that within two weeks I was a full-time employee. I had found a part-time position at a local HVAC company. They were looking for someone to work in the parts department, and do inventory for them. I quickly learned what parts belong to an air conditioner and what parts belong to a furnace, and I was able to create a system where they would not be mistaken for one or the other. Within the first month, I had the parts room completely rearranged and the HVAC technicians were loving it. I was now answering the phone and even giving advice to some people about what may or may not be wrong with their air conditioning or their furnace. Most of my answers were common sense, but it seemed natural for me. I knew that once I graduated from high school, I wanted to be a full-time HVAC technician and not just a parts person. I talked to the technicians, and I talked to the owner all the time. When I told him how I wanted to be an HVAC technician after graduation, he told me that if I kept working for him part-time until after graduation, he would pay for me to go to HVAC certification school. All I had to do was promise to work for him for at least a year after I graduated from HVAC school.

HVAC tune-up