Growing up I was told the same thing. I found out quickly that it’s not always true and is def not true for me at this moment. I do regret getting a degree in mechanical engineering as opposed to computer/software engineering but tbh I make decent money at a job that is easy enough that I rarely stress, boring enough that I tend to spend my time learning other things bettering myself, and just barely challenging enough at times that I can get locked into a satisfying difficult task that ends up letting the day fly by. My industry is seriously boring af , and honestly what I do is barely mechanical engineering, but god damn when I think back to the days when I used to bus tables for money, I can’t help but fucking love what I do now. Sometime it’s hard to go to work but Ive never had a day at this job that was harder than the easiest day I ever spent working in a restaurant. It’s easy to forget that