Young Carpenter finds Joy Learning His Craft

Special to the Mirror by Jakob Morgan. We found this post on Facebook,thought it was wonderful, and wanted to share it.

Not one to brag, post long posts on here, or even post in general. I usually come on here when I get a girlfriend or a dog, but this is something I definitely feel is Facebook worthy, and more than anything I’m proud of myself. Today marks 1 year since I started working for Jim Schneider, now 1 year working for a company might not seem like anything too special, but it’s the improvement and steps I’ve made forward in this year that I can solely thank this job for I’m the most proud of. I started last year fresh out of High School, not knowing what I was going to do with my life and a little bit stressed about it.

The author with his dog (Photo Jakob Morgan)

Jim’s son offered me a spot working for his dad, and at first I thought it’d be cool to get a little bit of money and do some “Man-Work” out in the construction field. I quickly learned that working construction was hot and tiring, but I stuck with it, and after I had lasted two weeks in the company and outlasted the last 2 kids who were given opportunities to work, I figured anything was possible. I stuck around; it was hard, and not always that fun working with framers all day and sometimes weekends, missing my beloved Florida Gators on Saturdays just for work. But again, I still stuck around, I was improving daily and I was confident that if I continued to work hard, eventually bigger things would open up.

Bigger things opened up indeed. Jim called me up around New Years and told me I was getting called up to the big leagues–I was officially leaving the framers and joining the Schneider Custom Builders/Norfolk Idea Center team. Not much changed off the bat, but it was that step in the right direction that excited me. I still had a limited skill set which still left me to do small tasks to help make the jobs for Project Managers easier. The only difference was that now, not only was I learning about a larger spectrum of the construction industry, I was getting to work with almost direct supervision from some pretty important people in the company, which makes that effort and care I always try to put into my job even more important.

Eight months later, I couldn’t be more excited to move forward, learn more, and (hopefully) eventually turn this 2016 summer job into a serious, productive, and beneficial career. I never thought I’d be enjoying the construction field as much as I do today; over the last year some days I really didn’t enjoy as much, but I’m excited to continue to learn more, excited to continue to get better, and most importantly, I’m excited to continue having fun. Some days are still harder than others–some mornings I still wake up not excited for the day I have planned ahead, but at the end of the day, I really do enjoy it, and that’s the one thing I’m most proud of.