I abandoned my plan to go into software development by means of university, left secondary school and took up employment in a different field.
After a bit of lateral movement and promotion to a job that was more desk-oriented, I'm doing a computing degree part time, and I actually really enjoy it.
I'm doing it for fun, because I enjoy the subject - I've got no plans to use it and there's no job pinned on the hopes of passing. It's wonderfully liberating.
That said, I appreciate I'm in a privileged position to be able to do what I'm doing.