I started a doctoral program at the University of Maryland in aerospace engineering, instead of going to work with a bachelor’s in CS. Had I started a programming job, my net worth would almost certainly have an additional zero behind it.

But: A PhD gives you intellectual freedom you don’t get any other way. I’m the PI for a space robotics program. And in grad school I made friends I’ll have for life. I got to do a Vomit Comet flight. I got to do a spacesuit run in Marshall Space Flight Center’s neutral buoyancy lab. I designed a spacecraft simulator robot from scratch. I’ve done things very few people get to do.