F For Effort
I am a first-generation college graduate. I recently graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in mathematics. I managed to get an entry-level engineering position where my employer will fully pay for my MS in Mechanical Engineering. The effect this had on my family shocked me. They are now all berating me by saying “it isn’t like you’re a surgeon or a dentist”.
Engineering is my passion; I don’t want to be a surgeon or a dentist. And none of them have even been to college. I want to continue graduate education in this field and have a career doing real research and development. It’s crushing my self-esteem and is making me feel like I’m not doing anything with my life, or that I got an easy degree that literally anyone could get.