I became a software engineer because it was a back up plan that became THE plan. Grew up learning BASIC on Commodore 64. Went to college right after high scho

I became a software engineer because it was a back up plan that became THE plan. Grew up learning BASIC on Commodore 64. Went to college right after high school studying computer science. Dropped out after 1.5 years joined the Air Force as aircraft mechanic. After 4 years left AF, back to college but now studying aerospace engineering. 5 years later graduate and start job jumping for the next 6 years because engineering was boring to me (more of the jobs req'd an engineering degree but no real engineering involved.) Became a firefighter-paramedic. The first few years noticed a lot of people leaving because of back injuries. Wanting to make sure if I got injured or sick I'd be able to find a job. Did remote on-line master's from DePaul. Started working part time while still full time ff/pm. Covid hit, I had enough after 14 years and found a remote full time job. No regrets. Firefighting-paramedic is the best job in the world but a young man's game. Also a consistent sleep schedule is awesome. I often think about where I would be had a stuck to programming from the get go. Or, while in the AF if I had studied programming more instead of drinking and trying to get laid. But, here I am, over all no regrets with my path. I like seeing the looks on people's faces when they try to wrap their heads around a person with an engineering degree that becomes a FF/PM and then a programmer. My twists and turns weren't planned and almost spur of the moment actions at the time but it worked out well.