I was pretty close. I got about three-quarters of the way through my
degree, so it's not as if I sucked at it or anything. I passed every subject I took, and did pretty darn well at most of 'em, with the exception of
Palaeontology, which is (ha-ha) a dead field.
So why stop?
Well, the sane and reasonable explanation is that in Australia, Geology is a very cyclic field for employment. At the time I entered my degree, geologists were in very short supply, and the mining industry was booming. Exploration Geologists were in the highest demand of all, which coincidentally was the field I studied. Around the end of my second year, it became pretty apparent that the demand was being filled by all the students who graduated earlier. By midway through my third year, I was being told to get a backup career ready. Say, taxi driving.
So I quit. Christ, did I cop a lot of flak for that decision. I quit with a year to go, and started a new degree.
And I'm happy to say, I've been vindicated. I had a job to go to once I finished my studies. I'm earning money, and I'm in a field where I can move in many ways. I ran into one of my classmates last year, to learn that the employment rate for our graduating class was around 15%. He'd spent six months travelling around mining towns, looking for work..and finding that geologists with 10 years experience were driving taxis for a living. He ended up joining the Police force, just to get a job.
So I can at least point to one major decision I've made, and say that I got it right.