I kind of did this in reverse lol. I was an EMT on private ambulance for 5 years, went to paramedic school, then dropped out and became a software engineer. Coming from the other side, I can definitely relate to the experience of delaying something you want to do for reasons that, in hindsight, were mostly irrational.

Being older and having recently passed the NREMT, it was interesting watching the young folks who were my FTOs for my clinicals- it seems like a really good "first job", even if the pay is pretty bad (or maybe because of the pay).

I was very impressed with those folks, younger than my own kids (who I am impressed with as well, of course).

For my own part I taught at a university during my 20s and then dropped out to work in software- changing life around has been very helpful. I can relate to doing something difficult for a while and then moving on when you've figured it out and see that it might not be the path to where you want to go. I hope it left you better for having the experience.