Let's be real here—nobody grows up dreaming about pointers and segmentation faults. We all had that romanticized vision of building the next Facebook or creating AI that would change the world. Then reality hit: rent is due, student loans are calling, and suddenly a six-figure salary for writing CRUD apps sounds pretty damn good. The passion for technology? Sure, some of us had it. But most of us saw those salary surveys and thought "wait, you're telling me I can make THIS much for sitting in air conditioning and arguing about tabs vs spaces?" Sold. Five years later you're debugging legacy code at 2 AM, but hey, at least your bank account doesn't cry anymore.