Hey New guy,
You will find a tremendous amount of information and probably at least a hundred posts here on the forum regarding apprenticeship and schooling and the approaches to investigate your best options. Personally, as a senior in the welding arena, I have seen many come & many go. Welding is a career that is CHOSEN, not GIVEN.... it comes from the desire to WANT to weld, to LEARN the various applications: SMAW(stick), GMAW(MIG), GTAW(TIG), O/A(oxy/fuel), and the metallurgy of materials. Next comes the aspect of welding that you must consider regarding your goal: Fabrication, structural, rig, pipeline, aerospace, industrial, construction, and automotive for starters. Each arena has its' own parameters and levels of education/experience that would benefit your goal....A goal that has to be excellence in welding. The more of the applications you can learn and be proficient, the better the pay will become and the absolute is that it is simply...all in your hands. It is up to you....the only person holding you back is...YOU.
Initially, your best introduction would be to take a class, either a vo-tech, evening adult education class, or a college class to really see if you have a genuine interest. You'll know within a few weeks of classes whether the desire to continue is there or not. Welding is its own world.....I wouldn't trade one of my days welding for anything else.....well, almost anything else. In addition, the future is extremely promising for welders as those like myself, retiring, are gonna put a real void in the welding workforce. The present estimates say the need will be 200,000-300,000 in the next 10 years. Lotta money to be made....if you want it and have the "hunger" to want to be a first class welder. The other facets you will have to investigate is going to be the region where the work demand is high for welders. If you want to stay in socal., then you will have to accept the work opportunities there. If you can travel and want to make serious money, then pipeline & rig work is the premium pay and will continue to be the best.
Anyway, look into some of the many threads & posts here, and others will chime in to provide solid information for you to think about and consider. Just go to "search" and type in: jobs, or apprenticeship, or schooling, and you can read all the information that was provided. The gents here are the best with their knowledge of all the welding arenas and their experiences. Good Luck....keep us posted....Denny