You actually bring up a good point that might not exactly be tailored for this thread or forum, but whatever.
I'd have gone the route to get a master's in Astronomy with a secondary focus on planetary meteorology instead of in political science, difficulty of obtaining which was never even a thought. My sole reason for not following my passion was the money aspect. Even privately, astrophysics or astrobiology make crap by and large. Engineers can do decently. But now look at NASA shrinking by the day, now even those with degrees accepting positions that don't pay a *lot* are SoL.
We deride the loss of mathematics and science students, but are too stupid to realize that those intelligent enough to do the work are also smart enough to know they can make a ton of money rising above the ranks elsewhere in other fields and the difficulty of finding work with science's degrees. There was no way I'd go for an insanely difficult degree and then know I'd have a hell of a time finding work, wouldn't be able to stay local in all likelihood, and best case wouldn't make a ton of money. Such a shame, but oh well. Hopefully things improve the next generation and we renew our mandate to travel to the stars and beyond.
