worked on heavy equipment in my early days, and was working on finishing a degree in diesel tech so I work in a bigger shop when I damaged my back. Switched to computer science, took almost seven years of night school to finish a BS (while working full time). That was 20 years ago and I'm still in the field. So I guess yes.
My backs still pretty messed up, so I guess it was a good choice since I would have never lasted turning wrenches.
