You should really explore other facets of mechanical engineering. While I certainly am not dissuading you from flying, and I think I might even try being a pro pilot out, there are some REALLY fun jobs in mech that don't just involve sitting in a cube all day.
I understand where your coming from. The reality is I've put a lot of thought into all this (more so than what I display here on the forum). I guess it's sacrilegious to think someone who went to engineering school could possibly want to do something other than engineering (not directing this towards you, just saying this is a common theme among a lot of people I talk to). "Why don't you try a smaller company" "Why not try a different position?". They aren't unreasonable questions. My current position allows me to interface with all sorts of engineering disciplines - mechanical, systems, packaging, quality, manufacturing, etc. I've seen and worked closely with a lot of other disciplines to have a fairly good idea of what their average day looks like. My current job is 10 minutes from the airport, which allows me to do flight training after work. Most other positions are in downtown Phoenix, Tempe, or Chandler, which would make flight training very difficult (fighting rush hour traffic and far away from the airport). Are there engineering jobs out there that are "fun"? Absolutely. A lot of the fun ones tend to be the most competitive ones too.
There are pilots out there who left the career and did something else. There are also engineers who left the career to go fly (I have spoken with a handful - all of whom felt almost exactly as I did and really love the flying gig). There is no one size fits all. I have no idea if flying will be a long term career. I may end up getting into it and deciding it isn't for me. At that point I can go back to engineering or do something else.
I think I would regret it if I didn't give it a shot though. I've said it many times on here before - if I could have done AF ROTC and flown in the military, I would have done it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, my asthma prevents that (but, yes I can get a 1st Class Medical no problem).
I'm just not satisfied with the "work for the weekends" type of mentality. I want to do something I really enjoy. I realize everything is work at some point, but is that an excuse to just say, "ehh disliking your job is just a part of life". Idk, maybe it is. I see a lot of engineers/people who are just working a job to support their family. They don't have much of a choice. I can't imagine working a job you hate for 45 years. But people do it all the time. Heck a lot of these guys work weekends too. With higher positions comes more responsibility. A lot of engineers I work with know I am working towards my ratings. They think it is awesome and encourage me to continue.
A lot of people advocate for keeping flying as a hobby, which I understand. I do agree, it is the "ideal" situation. Unfortunately, I've realized if I want to fly something other than a Cherokee 140, I'm gonna need to up the income quite a bit. I'm not sure an engineering career is going to get me a Vans, Bonanza, etc. A flying career may not either, but I'm alright with that. At least I'm flying something faster than a Cherokee
. I'm not saying all this to whine, simply just to express some of my thoughts. I'm sure some on here will feel otherwise.
To the OP - getting your degree is obviously the clear answer here.
