From Freezers to Firewalls: Why I'm Changing Careers

Hey, I’m Kyle.

For the past 5 years, I've worked full-time in a demanding food manufacturing environment. The job pays the bills and offers stability, but after years of doing it, I know deep down: this isn't my long-term path. The longer I stay, the more that quiet frustration grows — the kind you push to the back of your head while convincing yourself you’re being “responsible.”

Eventually, that feeling caught up to me. And as life tends to do, everything started converging at once: my first child on the way (due in a little over a month), long conversations with my partner, and the realization that I don’t want to wake up five, ten, twenty years from now having never taken my shot.

So I’ve made the decision to fully transition into IT — something I’ve quietly enjoyed tinkering with for years, but never pursued professionally. Until now.

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The Leap of Faith

Making this kind of change — especially with a family depending on me — is terrifying. There's always that voice in my head asking if I'm making a huge mistake, walking away from stability and comfort to chase something uncertain.

But the truth is, staying where I am feels far more dangerous than trying something new.

I don't have a degree. I don't have years of IT experience. What I do have is a clear goal, a plan, and an insane amount of motivation to do whatever it takes to build this new career from the ground up.

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The Early Grind

I officially started my studies last Friday when my A+ textbook arrived. Since then, I've been working my way through it every single day.

So far, most of the information I've read makes a lot of sense, and I've thoroughly enjoyed every hour I’ve spent diving deep into this book and building up my digital notebook.

Honestly, I’ve had to force myself to stop studying some days — and that’s when I knew this is absolutely the right move for me.

Correcting misconceptions, seeing where my knowledge gaps are, and slowly building real understanding instead of just memorizing answers has been incredibly rewarding.

I know this is only the beginning. Right now, I have the flexibility to put in long study sessions. Working 3rd shift, I can study late into the night while the family is sleeping.

There’s the possibility of an IT internship at a small tech firm that I should hear back from in the coming week. It’s a significant pay cut, with fewer hours and no benefits, so I may need to pick up a part-time warehouse job, and maybe even a third job just to make everything work.

Regardless, I am ecstatic to be making this jump. Even if the internship doesn’t pan out, I will stop at nothing to make sure this career switch happens. I am ready, and more determined than I’ve ever been.

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What I've Accomplished This Week

Since starting last Friday, I’ve:

• Read and taken notes on:

  • Chapter 00 - Introduction

  • Chapter 01 - Safety and Professionalism

  • Chapter 02 - The Visible Computer

  • Chapter 03 - CPUs (currently in progress)

• Set up a full Obsidian vault to track every concept, build flashcards, and create my long-term IT "career brain."

• Completely restructured how I study and document, using plugins to keep my notes organized and searchable.

• Maintained 4–8 hours of study per day, even while working nights and prepping for the baby’s arrival.

• Began building a roadmap not just for my A+, but for my long-term goal: hybrid cloud infrastructure design.

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What This Blog Will Be

This isn’t going to be a highlight reel. I want this blog to document everything — the progress, yes, but also the struggles, the mental battles, the uncertainty, and the self-doubt that comes with making a life-changing career transition.

If you're someone who's considering making a similar leap, I hope reading this helps you feel a little less alone in the process. It's not easy — but that’s exactly why it’s worth it.

Thanks for following along. This is only the beginning.

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One dad making the leap into IT — going all in, one cert at a time.