every body dreams of being an all star player for 20 million a season. My Mrs. was making 6 figures just three years out of her two year nursing program. That is almost impossible to beat. My daughter, for whom learning came hard, was offered a tuition free program to get her CNA certificate. It was a six week program. She can quit a job in the morning and have another in the afternoon. it may not pay great, but runs about twice minimum wage. She gets all the overtime she can handle or want. I know some with graduate degrees that drive fork lifts. One particular extraordinary guy I know, was always honor roll in school and was deans list in college. He quit college after his third semester and went to a Diesel mechanics trade school. He then went to some other trade school for a few months. Ten years later he owns a company that specializes in heavy construction equipment repair. He charges more per hour than I did as an attorney and between he and his three employees, can't handle all the service calls he gets. Crappy work in the heat of summer and cold of winter. He tells the story of tearing down and rebuilding a transmission on some huge quarry machine. Zero degrees, blowing wind and snow and working 30 hours straight to finish the job. He presented a bill that was more than a fancy new dump truck and the owner 's reply was Is that all? The guys brother has always been a car mechanic and has trouble paying his bills.