It was a pristine, sun-drenched afternoon on campus, the kind of weather that makes you forget the impending doom of living in the "real world." We were in our final semester of Engineering, ready for our smooth transition to workforce via internships. It is worth noting, for those unaware of the grim reality, that internships in Mexico are a peculiar form of torture: legally mandated, absolutely required, and often entirely uncompensated. When they are compensated, it's a split between those offers with free food and transportation and no pay, and offers with an actual small salary. Essentially, it is a six-month sentence of pro bono labor required to secure your degree. But let’s not digress into the indignity of working for free; it’s a conversation that gives me a headache.

A man walked in and asked the professor for five minutes of our time. He was there to recruit us for his research laboratory. He gave his little pitch, and when he finished, he opened the floor for questions. Naturally, I raised my hand. I wasn't going to commit my time without understanding the return on investment.

"What sort of remuneration package can one expect while working with your team?" I asked, keeping it polite but direct.

The man looked visibly offended, which I found baffling. With a tone of sheer resentment, he snapped, "If you’re doing it for the money, then this position is simply not for you."

He effectively shut me down. He shut down a twenty-three-year-old who simply assumed that a career in Engineering would provide a lifestyle commensurate with the effort it took to get the degree. I understand that research is a noble pursuit, and perhaps that specific laboratory was a passion project for him. But this moment served as a glaring example of a tragic misconception: we are told STEM is the golden ticket, yet clearly, not all STEM jobs can actually support a decent standard of living.

To my dismay, what I thought was an isolated incident of mediocrity turned out to be the industry standard. I noticed that many of my peers in the field were surprisingly secretive about their compensation.

And silence speaks volumes. Many of my peers don't stay silent because they are discreet; they stay silent because they are embarrassed. It is genuinely tragic that after five years of rigorous, expensive education, an engineer’s lifestyle is so… limited. It begs the question: Is a STEM degree truly a path to comfort, or is it merely an achievement for the wall? In many cases, it seems to be the latter.

I’m not saying this just to complain. I am raising my voice to advise anyone chasing these so-called "profitable careers" to look past the illusion. Do your due diligence. Don’t just look at the average statistics online—those are for the masses. Look at your social circle. Ask the real questions. Will this career maintain the lifestyle you were raised in? Do you have the family friends and other connections to ensure you land somewhere respectable? Or will you be stuck in the grind, waiting for a position that might never open up?

You must evaluate this deeply, because once you are in the thick of it, the reality is stifling. Believe me. If the shoes look cheap in the store window, they aren't going to feel like Italian leather once you put them on at home.

This isn’t a letter from a bitter person; I have achieved my goals for standard of living by following my own path outside STEM. This is merely an invitation to consider the many ways there are to make a living and meet one's standard of living. They are often disregarded paths that are ironically far more lucrative and perhaps less tedious. We lose so much talent to STEM simply because people assume that’s where the money is. But what about passion? What about doing something that actually suits your temperament and allows you to live with dignity? Having the intellect for Engineering doesn't mean you must sentence yourself to that field if your passion is elsewhere.

The issue is that our economy relies too much on optics and not enough on pedigree and trust. Engineering is viewed as "respectable," certainly more so than the arts, but respect doesn't pay the club membership fees. Society values the perception of the degree before we even have a chance to prove our worth. The "status" of the profession must never be bigger than the reality of the lifestyle it provides. I advise everyone to follow their passion, certainly, but never forget to ask the uncomfortable question, without a hint of shame: "Will this position actually afford me the life I intend to live?"