MS in software engineering while military. 9/11 killed the hiring, so professional aviation was not an option at first. Part time military pilot only for a year and half before getting hired as an SE. Worked 3 years in industry, quite to fly for a living again. I enjoy flying for a living more, and working in software engineering has it's own headaches as well. It paid the bills and provided for my family during some tough times.

I was lucky to not play the RJ game. The Master in SE paid much better and quality of life is better than what I "think" the Regional life is like. (hard to judge what I don't know) I would rather be a SE then an RJ pilot. No offense meant to the Regional Pilots. It is all relative to where you are at. The future hiring at majors may open more doors than in years past. If you can get the SE while working....all the better. Then you have options. It can be VERY tedious work and dealing with costumers is usually frustrating. But, I would most likely get back into SE if I lost my ability to fly for a living.