<p>My name is Trace, and I live in Durham, North Carolina with my partner and two children. I have a mortgage to pay just like most people my age, so changing careers in mid-life is a big leap. With that comes nervous worry but also excitement about the challenges I will face.</p>
<p>I got a wild hair and decided to become an electrician. This is after close to 15 years spent in the organic produce world with a more recent short stint as the mail-order fulfillment person at <a href="http://www.mergerecords.com" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Merge Records</a> in Durham. I am also a writer and zine maker. You can check out that world over on <a href="http://www.traceramsey.com" rel="noopener" target="_blank">my author page</a>.</p>
<p>My interest was piqued when my friend <a href="https://www.durhamtech.edu/noncredit/construction.htm" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Maryah</a> (Director/Instructor, Construction Trades Career Readiness and Skills Training), from <a href="https://www.durhamtech.edu/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Durham Tech</a>, came to dinner one night in December of 2017. They were talking about how the electrical union was going to start holding their training classes at the school. I asked about it, got the contact information for the union folks and applied for an apprenticeship. I was too late to begin an apprenticeship for 2018. In April of 2018 I called the first electrical contractor that came up on a web search. I called <a href="https://kemcoelectric.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Kemco Electric of Burlington</a> on a Monday and was hired the next day.</p>
<p>What you'll find here is a blog about what my experience looks like as a "green", middle-aged electrical helper working in a space where all my bosses are younger than me. There isn't much information out there about second or third careers in the trades; I hope this blog will remedy some of that information gap.</p>
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