Chris, I was your age and in the same boat as you when I was asking myself these questions. I was going to college for computer science when the flying bug hit me 11 years ago. (I've always liked aviation since I was a kid though). I figured, since I already had a job while I was in college, I can get my private license through a part 61 flight instructor and see where I can go from there. After my first demo flight, I was hooked and knew this was something I wanted to do for a living. My parents and friends thought I was nuts, this was in 2003 right after 9/11. Within a year I got my flight instructor's license and instructed for about 3 years and got hired by my first regional airline in 2008 when I had about 1,500 hours of total time. Here's the reason why most people would persuade you not to do this path... To recap the last 6 years of my career, I am now with my 4th airline (where I want to be, luckily) However, between 2008 and now, I was furloughed twice, went through bankruptcy, a concessionary contract, pay cut/pay cap, a really messy pilot seniority integration and never upgraded as captain. In the meantime, I supplemented my income by doing what knew best other than flying, which is building websites and making iPhone apps, (good plan B just incase). Last year, I was so close to calling it quits since I was still an FO, no upgrade in sight, quality of life was diminishing and the pay was horrible. However, around that time I finished my government mandated ATP rating paid off by my regional company and I hit the minimums for an airline that I've been eyeing for years, so I applied, got hired and now I am where I want to be, back in my hometown, driving to work, with a pretty good quality of life.

Sorry for the long winded story of my life, but the takeaway here is that it took me about 10 years to get where I want to be. Some were not as lucky, some got in at an even better timing and had better luck. So if I can give you one advice with the airline industry; results may vary. But don't ever chase pay, or airplane, or even a certain company because of whatever reason other than quality of life if you want to last in the industry. And most importantly, do the job that will make you happy for the rest of your career. If you're no longer happy, it's time to hang up the hat and possibly move to plan B.

Goodluck in your future endeavors and remember that, it might seem like a ways from now and a lot of hard work, but a lot of guys would kill to be able to go back in time and be 20 again with this decision to make.

On a side note: I remember when Cubdriver welcomed me to this board 7 years ago when I got hired with my first airline, what a throwback!