Originally Posted by JohnBurke

A friend is an aeronautical engineer. He used his training and skills regularly. He flies for a living, but also bought his house from doing A&P/IA work on the side, and using his engineering skills, to boot.

Flying requires almost no math, or very little. I'm the poster child for that, a shining monument to math inability. Your training won't have so much benefit in the cockpit as it will your golden parachute should aviation crumble around you (and it will, from those of use who have been merged, sold, furloughed, laid off, and every other routine and common term in the business with which you will become ever so familiar).

Happiness in aviation doesn't come from arriving. It comes from the journey. Quite a few forget that, and arrive to find that they've missed the best part.