Careers and Student Loans?

Do you regret taking out student loans to go to college? Do you regret your career? Do you wish that you had chosen another career? If so what has stopped you from doing so? Was it finances? Time commitments? Or have you gone back to school to retool your career?

I wonder what role the earning power of a potential degree plays in people going to college with loans? Or going back to earn another degree. Where do people draw the line?

I think it would be awesome if we could all do something we loved. Or will always love. There is always the possibility that after 10 years or even 5 years you don't like your chosen field.

Right now about 5 friends who became school teachers are quitting. Yes, the friends who student taught and appeared to really love kids, they are quitting. It's too hard, too much stress. People think teachers get the summers off, but it's probably because otherwise they couldn't deal with the kids. And it's getting worse each year.

So of those, a few are taking classes trying to figure out a new career. They thought in college this was their lifetime career, but things have changed. So I can't question them obviously in real life whether their future decisions are influenced by $$$. But I do believe it's hard to make a decision not financially based. Also more than a few did tell me they wonder why they ever chose teaching.

So are we really retooling because we didn't know what we wanted at 18? Or because what we wanted at 22 morphed so much that what we enjoy at 32 is different? And what we enjoy at 42 will be different again? Are we now redefining ourselves ever decade? And if so are we doing it for financial benefits or emotional ones?

Is it necessary to stick with a job that makes a person unhappy purely for financial gain? Is that the difference with today's generation. That we are less likely to stick to something that makes us unhappy no matter the financial repercussions?