[stevepaa]

Steve, lots of good advice here.
I particularly like "follow your heart". I knew I was going to be an engineer when I was 10. Started as aerospace, then moved to mechanical, got a degree in math at the same time. My brother tried to follow, but he quickly found out it wasn't in him. It has to be in you.

On degrees, I got as much as I could becasue I love learning, two BS, both elementary and secondary teaching credentials and a MS from Berkley in Combustion Engineering. And the interviewer was most impressed because I liked to work on cars. Got a job doing research on rocket propellants. Spent most of my years blowing things up to understand the physics of detonations for rocket propellants. Now, I am at the second to highest technical grade at Lockheed.

Other side of the coin, my former supervisor 10 years ago has only a BS from Cal Poly. He is now VP on THAAD program. I would work for him on any project he asked, because it is really deep in him.

Also worked for Pan AM as a coop student in college. I would recommend a year of airline work to anyone coming out of college. What fun. And then you travel.