I asked the same question a little over a year ago. Outta gave me the exact same response. I was new to Thermal and thought this was a perfect introduction. (No previous experience) Took Outta's advice. Deferred the class for 8 months. Purchased a handheld and took/analyzed hundreds of images. Also read anything/everything I could find on the internet.
Attended the class 8 months later in Nashua, NH. The majority of the class was filled with folks already in the Industry. There were only 4 of us that were new to Thermal. The other three guys were "Deer in the Headlights" as Outta said. One of those people had already invested $50,000 in equipment.
If I had walked in "Green" as originally planned, it would have been a waste of my money. I will say that I learned a lot from the course and more importantly, I learned a ton from the other folks who attended. I continue to speak to several of them almost weekly. I thought I was going to start out doing Thermal inspection, but have been doing large water storage tank inspections for local municipalities in my area ever since I get certified. Got exposure about this from a water engineer in the class.
Hope this helps! Good luck