Yep, I’m an engineer and (super-duper gasp! to liberals) it didn’t happen overnight. I did 6 years in the military and worked MANY crappy jobs through college to make that happen. I didn’t get an engineering job until I was 31. My biggest motivator for getting through school was telling myself, “If you don’t finish school, this is your life right here,” while working at the construction road crew, cutting plastic parts, cheese factory, and other jobs I did in college.
I wouldn’t have it any other day, the experience was a lot more rich than if I’d hit college at 18 with mommy & daddy paying for it all. And I probably would’ve gotten drunk and failed out in a big way anyway.
LOL! Unfortunately, I think the problem with many of our schools is that the kids get drunk (or stoned) and DON'T fail out, partly because there are lax standards and partly because mommy and daddy come and twist the arm of any prof who dares to give their baby less than an A.
My daughter was a graduate teaching assistant (in the sciences) and the assistants and even the faculty were terrified of the parents, who felt entitled to demand that their baby (who never attended class, never went to make-up sessions, and failed every test) not ever have to come to grips with his behavior.