I was at the early end of when programming was being pushed thing. Found a welding degree was an option.

Get a welding degree, welders will never go out. The 08 slump happened, and suddenly I was coming out of school requiring 2 years of work experience to get a job, but couldn’t get an entry level job because I was too experienced when the local factory moved to Mexico.

Moral of the story, the industries are not your friend and are happy to fuck you over no matter what you pursue.