…well why *didn’t* you go into trade school then? The cost is a fraction of college and you’re practically guaranteed a job at the end.

Everything worthwhile in life involves trade-offs… The ideal career is one that you have an aptitude for, you find challenging and fulfilling, and that pays you well enough. When I was a boy I was my Dad’s helper in the summer as he did appliance repair and installation. I also helped my granddad earlier than that as he did carpentry projects and farming - Woodworking is still one of my hobbies. I always enjoyed working on things and especially with electricity - I figured out I had an aptitude and an interest in electronics before I started college and enjoyed most (not all) of my EE courses and also continued with electronics as a hobby and a career. That worked out well for me - I found the work challenging and fulfilling when I could solve problems or create things. And I was paid pretty well… After college I wondered what happened to my former classmates who were good students but didn’t seem to have an actual interest in electronics. I talked to a fellow engineer and he suggested that most of them probably wound up in sales representing a manufacturers electronic products and selling them to other engineers… Life is not all one thing or another. The ideal case is you work in a field that is rewarding to you and pays well enough to comfortably survive. If you have money and time to burn, you can find hobbies that interest you if your work isn’t so interesting. But if you wind up hating what you do, then you made a mistake because almost no one can be really good at doing something they hate and because no amount of hobby will fill in for working time that you hated… The best thing I can say is that there is an important reason for finding summer jobs before you go to college. In that process you will find out what things you like and what things you dislike. As a teenager, I did my share of other jobs from fast food and maintenance and eventually ticket selling at a Drive In Theatre plus factory jobs in a foam rubber plant and in a mobile home manufacturing plant before I was in college. That exposure showed me what I didn’t like and gave a hint at what was going to be rewarding to me… On the other side of the situation there are people who go to college, spend their time partying, and graduate with a degree in something that will never lead to a good paying job. Hint - I have no respect for people who do that. Sure it can be fun to be young and free to do what you enjoy, but work time is coming… OP, no one but you can say what field you will ultimately find rewarding - That is exclusively your quest. Many college students change their major after the first year when they discover that their original major didn’t fit and when they are exposed to other fields. Most 4 year colleges concentrate on the basic general college requirements the first year or two in part to give their students the option to change majors without too many credits lost… OP, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a skilled trade. Most pay pretty well and if it’s something you like that’s a huge plus. That is the best option for many people - My Dad was an example of that for me… OP, ultimately it’s your life, and you are the one who has to live it. As long as it pays enough for you to have a reasonably comfortable life and you like what you are doing, then you won the important work lottery! Know yourself, know what you like, what challenges you in a good way, and what you don’t like. Try to align yourself with the skills and knowledge of a career that is good for you and pays well enough to survive on.

You'd better get into it and make it interesting. Fewer and fewer people can make a good living at trades. There's a flood of low-skilled low-paid drones who can handle routine jobs. The need for highly-skilled images is shrinking. Brain work is the future.