For the past six years, I have been doing a lot of soul searching about what I am going to do with my life. I have gone from being a pharmacy technician, a detailer for a car dealership, and a military policeman in the United States Air-Force (USAF). I was jumping from one field to another, and I did not have a sense of direction on what I was going to be in life. Then one night, while I was surfing the web with my MacBook Pro, I clicked the track-pad to search for “bum fights” on YouTube, and a switch clicked in my head. I had an epiphany. I was meant to be a computer engineer, and I envisioned myself in an IBM commercial wearing a lab coat over a nice Italian suit babbling about a certain type of innovation I am working on for computers, and how I am “building a smarter planet”. This prompted me to research the path to acquiring a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, general description and job outlook of the occupation, and a practical skill I need to learn in case of an apocalyptic event. I found out that it would be a long and grueling path to attain a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. In order to start my career as a computer hardware engineer, I would need to obtain a bachelor’s degree in a computer engineering program recognized by the ABET (formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) (United States). To acquire my bachelor’s degree, I am currently attending Southwestern College (SWC), and I am planning to transfer to SDSU or UCSD because both universities offer engineering programs accredited by the ABET. To prepare for my major, SWC requires me to finish all of my general education requirements. This consists of an extensive list of math, physics, and a couple of engineering courses which may take me two to three years to accomplish in order to transfer to one of my preferred universities. Then after transferring, it may take me another two to three years to acquire all the credits I need in order to graduate. It will be a lengthy and arduous journey to accomplish my goal, but I am motivated by my family’s assistance and encouragement. Also, I feel blessed and privileged that I will not be among the percentage of college students graduating in debt from student loans; my GI bill will cover a portion of my tuition, and my mother has volunteered to cover the rest. A typical day-in-the-life of a computer hardware engineer would consist of the gathering of computer chip and hardware requirements, and also the programming of user interfaces for the built hardware (Dela Cruz). In addition, the construction of the hardware requires quality assurance testing to satisfy the needs of the client’s request (Dela Cruz). The work environment of a computer hardware engineer may include a lot of technical and high-tech equipment, including machines that can fabricate comput