Advice on life

[ronbeau]

I have been thinking about and trying to figure out what my next step in life is going to be for sometime now. I now come to the experienced and very wise users of ScubaBoard and ask you all for your opinions and advice.

About me:
- I am 22 years old and currently live in Brisbane, Australia
- I have a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Sydney
- I have 6 and a half years of retail experience
- I am currently a DMT with 46 dives and have been diving since I was 15 but only really got into it recently

In life I ultimately want to be happy. Money is not as important to me as enjoying my career is.

So I ask you, is there a way I can utilize my engineering education and mix it with my passion for diving and arrive at a happy medium?

Is it worth me going back to uni and getting a degree in marine science or something similar?

Thank you all in advance for your consideration and advice.

ScubaBoard ROCKS!

Unfortunately, I have always wanted to visit your country but have not made it there yet. As such, I am not sure if Brisbane is inland or reasonably close to the ocean.

Why not get a job using your M.E. degree and do the dive master gig on the weekends? This will give you experience within your field of study and you can still find out if you really like the the DM gig (and the M.E. job for that matter) without sacrificing either.

It seems to me it will be much easier to branch out within the M.E. field if you already have practical experience within the field. I don't know whether employers in Australia have tuition reimbursement programs for engineers pursuing advanced degrees. If tuition reimbursement is available you might want to take advantage of this since you will continue to get experience within the field while pursuing your advanced degree with your employer picking up some portion of the tab.

 

[mig_diver]

Thank you for all the replies, you have kept me busy doing research for the past couple of days. I'd have to say, I finally feel like I am making some ground on this decision too. I should have come to the board when I first started the thinking process.

Another question: Does anyone know if there are any scuba manufacturers based in Australia or that have branches in Australia, preferably Queensland? Scubapro, Aqualung, Mares, Oceanic...?