Good Evening!

I'm currently a year away from wrapping up my time at highschool, in the time that I have left I've been busy looking at colleges to pursue a career in professional flight, My great grandad used to fly and before he passed he taught me in his Piper cub (unfortunately sold with his estate after he passed) so flying's been with me for a while. I always thought, too, that it would be a good career choice, I have no sources, but I heard that there are more people with PhD's and Masters degrees than there are full licensed pilots, so it must pay well right? Well, apparently yes, only very far down the road though. In fact I read, just about an hour ago (which is what actually prompted me making this account) that introductees to professional flight aren't very well paid at all. Now I can understand this, putting an untested rookie behind a six-figure investment would worry me too, but when I saw that most new pilots are paid only hourly, and at that point, around 30k a year, well i couldn't really believe it. So I'm asking in hopes some of the more seasoned aviators among the community (or really anyone, I'll take all the advice I can get) is this true? How long did you have to live off of so little money? Is it difficult to make the jump from poor paying regional airlines to major or international? Is it a competitive application process? How long would I spend in this position? Do I even have to take that step, or is there any way to circumnavigate this process?

Anything else you think I need to hear, please tell me! I look forward to hearing from you guys, cheers