My brother and my friends studied Aerospace engineering. I dropped after the first year and pursued a liberal arts degree. My brother later on went to work on fighter aircraft and later got a free master's degree courtesy of our nation's military, and is now a professor of Aerospace engineering at our nation's Air Force Academy. He is now at the point of choosing between a free PhD paid for by the Air Force, pursuing well paid jobs at aerospace companies or applying at F1 teams (his long term goal, and his work on computational fluid dynamics qualifies him for many teams at the moment).
Another one of my friends who came from a third world country with virtually no aerospace industry found work at a small company in his country, working for his country's only astronaut (who happens to be his childhood hero).
I spent much of my earnings to get a professional pilot's license to find work as a low paid instructor, but I enjoy it very much. However, I wouldn't be able to raise my family on my own if it wasn't for my wife's income.
I enjoy the people that I work with and I enjoy the job, and my brother and friends consistently ask me how they can get their pilot's license and what they need to do, because they think flying would be a lot more fun than working at a desk. I guess the takeaway is that the grass is greener on the other side.
Last edited by zondaracer; 27th Jul 2012 at 21:46.