Same boat here. High school dropout, semi-professional musician / food-service worker, then got my CS degree at age 27. Being on both sides is interesting, and

Same boat here. High school dropout, semi-professional musician / food-service worker, then got my CS degree at age 27. Being on both sides is interesting, and in some ways I'm thankful I lived off a low without even a high school degree just for the life experience. I still ride the same bicycle, drive the same car, etc. I try not to forget how much a dollar is worth but it can be hard sometimes. My life back then was far harder and far more stressful. It's hard being in front of people (food service worker) and dealing with customers for a lot of us -- it takes an emotional toll. I have a fairly lax schedule now and make almost eight times as much money. I hope that someday anyone can make a living wage if they work hard, whether they flip burgers or write enterprise Java spaghetti code.