I have absolutely no qualifications in these fields, but this is a fascinating discussion to watch!

Ignorance will not, of course, prevent me from tossing in my two cents. wink

I'm all-in on young people following their passions into their careers (but self-supporting while following one's passion is definitely preferred!). The hiccup is you have to be aware that a career exists to follow your passion into it. (Unless you are truly an EOP, and manage to create your own career.) That's one of the limiting circumstances for highly capable but environmentally disadvantaged young students, and likely partly why they frequently undershoot on college applications (in addition to being unaware that many of the costs of elite universities will be offset for them by financial aid and scholarships). Information gaps.

...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...