First off hello to all of you and thanks for letting me be a part of your forum. I'd like to start with a little background about myself then get some feedback from career aviators. I am 26 years old and I work as a Sr. claims examiner for one the "big guys" in the auto insurance industry. I've been with the company for 14 months. I have just recently completed my MBA in finance. For as long as I can remember flying was always what I've wanted to do. I have very minimal training, about 12 hours total, I started on my PPL in high school and was too busy with the rest of life to ever try and complete it.

Now I've gotten to a stage in my life where continuing education of some sort will be my next step. While my boss/company have encouraged me to pursue a law degree (with reimbursement) to start my way up the ranks to become a staff attorney at said company. However if I'm going to ever become a pilot, I have to make that decision in the next 6 months. While I'm young enough to recover any loans I may need to take out in the process of flight school.

While I'm not trying to say that a "paid for" law degree is a bad thing, I just don't know that it's my dream job. On the flip side becoming a staff attorney and possibly becoming civil defense attorney with my own firm or as a partner at a firm would leave me a flying option as well. With that sort of income I'd certainly be able to entertain fractional ownership on a private aircraft.

So this is where I'm at, if anyone here has a similar background and is now flying for a regional or major I'd appreciate some insight on how you got there and some next steps to consider in helping me towards a decision.

Thank you,
Sheldon