I'm another one of those with a divided mind. For example, I applied to grad school in both English literature programs and Computer Science programs, and seri

I'm another one of those with a divided mind. For example, I applied to grad school in both English literature programs and Computer Science programs, and seriously considered offers from both. I chose the literature path. . . .for two years. Ever since then, I've been a programmer. I started at 25, your age. It was a difficult ramp-up, partly because I was way behind most of my peers in the number of hours I had put into the programming profession (I'd been spending those hours reading Moby Dick and Ulysses.) That gap lasted for years. Something that still persists is that I have a humanities mindset -- I commonly see things in aesthetic terms first, where most other engineers see in analytic terms. This can be something of a handicap in software engineering, sometimes. Other times, it can be exactly what is needed. Clarity of purpose, taste, an ability to see things from the non-technical point of view -- organizations need these things. See Steve Jobs clips on how Microsoft lacks taste, and Apple has it. I will take heat for saying this, but it's actually a substantive claim. The last decade has borne him out. I'm now 38. I paid dues and things have gone well -- no jackpot here, but I feel lucky in this profession. My code is elegant and minimal; I write good comments. I'm not a systems guru or a C hacker; other people can do that better. I think I'll probably be a founder or a CTO when right opportunity presents itself. And I think my multi-valent background will only increase in value over time. But at the outset, the technical chops were my ticket. I sat at my keyboard and made wealth. (Immediately read this Paul Graham piece, if you haven't: http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html). As an English professor (or marketer, or QA person), I wouldn't have had the ability to reach out and touch the nerve of wealth creation. After a couple years of grinding out some skills as a programmer, I did. Now I'm in a position of (modest) power and esteem that I can parlay into other things for the rest of my career. Also: it's hard to see this at 25, but you can expect to end up writing off most of your twenties. So don't take it THAT seriously. Go out a lot, travel a lot, and try to have fun before the real work starts: raising small children.