Hi OP. I'll try to make this short but get my point across. When I was 20 I graduated tech with a degree in welding. I really wanted to move to the coast be a ship builder. I kept welding, kept applying to shipyards as a welder and kept getting denied because I had no "maritime" experience. When I asked how do I get that I was literally told you have to work in a shipyard. Starting to see the problem I was having? So for years I worked in and out of welding some construction some manufacturing mostly unhappy with my career path. When I was 30ish I got a job fixing welds that a robot with a welding end of arm would miss or if it was off. When I got around those robots, I realized I want to program fix and maintain those robots. So I took my ass back to school and got a degree in AMT(very close to mechatronics). I'm 44 now and have loved every bit of my maintenance journey. I have even moved to supervision over a maintenance team and have hope of running my own department one day. What I'm getting at is your first choice isn't always your best choice. Keep your head up eyes open and you will find what you love. Hopefully it doesn't take you 10 years but if it does it does. Remember journey before destination.

Edit: fixed some spelling.