I was already a hot-shot travel agent when I was sent to a two week course at the United Airlines Apollo Training Center. The agency I was to work at required agents to be registered so they paid for the class and the time off from work. I became an official travel agent (IATA).

This ended up being an incredible opportunity. I started development on an automated reservation system my client could use to book their own flights and hotels. This would actually become a huge thing about ten years later.