Hey Leon,

Love the post! As someone who did spend quite a bit of money getting a degree, I'm happy to see others avoiding the mistake. I'm really happy to see others encouraging people to get into the field.
I can personally relate to the perks you mentioned - there are literally times where you are treated like a rockstar for knowing how to code well.

And I want to add something as well - I feel that people who come to programming from other fields have an advantage compared to those who went to school for it. While I may have slightly more theory and math in my background, they have a rich diversity of background knowledge that can map across into problem solving and creative solutions in a very unique way.

One of the smartest people I've worked with is a musician who got his first programming job when he was hired as a temp to wash dishes at a startup. Yet he's brilliant and can understand the intricacies of a complex, convoluted system in a very short period of time. I'm lucky to have him on my team.

So yes everyone, listen to Leon and get into this industry. If you need more motivation, check out this article on upcoming job automation.