Yes! I firmly believe that nothing is wasted--no experience, no education, no struggle. All of it goes into who you become as a nuanced, mature, thoughtful human being, with unique contributions to society and to the individual people and moments you may encounter in your daily life. Some of the skills will have direct applicability in different fields, many of the ways of thinking or research will transfer--and even improve on conventional thinking in your new field, and all of your experiences will build into your specific, unreproducible perspective.

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