Im a lot like you, i took some welding classes in high school but was never really interested in it until i had to know how to weld because of my job (plumbing,pipefitting, commercial and industrial) the best advise i can give to you is get into an apprenticeship. The beginning sucks but the further you go into your career the more you will learn why people call themselves craftsmen. The thing about welding is the strive for perfection, a welder is a tool and the best tool is one that can do it perfect every time and trust me it isn't as easy as it sounds, it becomes an addiction to better yourself to try to be the best at what you do. $30 - $50/hr o.t. isn't bad for a shop welder,but if u really want to make the good money its in the traveling jobs, ive made over 1000 dollars take home in 2 1/2 days of welding and none of it was overtime, only having to travel 5 hours from home. There are a lot of welding schools around the country most are at colleges but if you get into an apprenticeship you get more of the hands on and better understand why you need to learn it for the field. take a few college classes or get into an apprenticeship and get a few welding certs then go find a place looking to hire.Just remember you get the welding certs so you can go into the field and learn how to weld. There are so many jobs that need welders of just people with experience in welding. try going to http://www.ua.org/ http://www.weldingschool.com/ http://www.weldinginfocenter.org/