Congratulations on your masters that's something to be very proud of! What kind of career are you interested in?

The frustrating thing is advanced degrees can make it harder to get jobs outside of your degree.

Retirement is the cliff you jump off at the end where you get to enjoy a few moments of bliss before you splatter into the ground.

Might be a hot take but I think both high school and university are (typically) much more difficult and stressful than career work. Constantly having to process, assimilate, and retain new information at a breakneck pace; perpetual assignments and exams which have huge educational, social, and monetary repercussions upon failure; all this while also having to find a way to earn enough money to survive on minimum wage shit jobs with zero job security or recourse for poor treatment.

Yes, by the time you're employed you probably have way more responsibilities both inside and outside the workplace which can make life more stressful, but no workplace I've been in has challenged me nearly so much as hs and uni.

More like...

Now it's time to get your hands dirty with just about everything that comes your way and build up that experience. You're not meant to be a master of your field, you're meant to be able to think intelligently about your subject matter

And about 50% of the time that dip before employment is an actual cliff/crevice.

Eh, first few years. Eventually you'll be the old guy others ask for advice. Provided that you don't get bored and look for a different position.

There's a short downward slope at the peak, and then it just drops straight down. Assuming you don't just die at your desk at work.

I had to climb up the employment mountain before I was able to start getting any kind of degree

Employment is more like a slide down into a valley filled with sewage, with the next slope out labelled "surviving to retirement".

It's all a lie, and always has been.

A PhD will delay the last panel a few years.

I am currently on the successful at entry level positions. Wondering how I get to leadership track or if I should...