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What, you want me to be happy that I started my PhD in 2009, finished in 2017 when I was 30, but I suppose I did occassionally learn something interesting in between browsing reddit and watching buffy, so I shouldn't complain that most of my colleagues are worth in the millions while I'm finally trying to make myself in my first real job? Sure sounds like a good deal.

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I'm sorry that that was your PhD experience. It's a pity that enthusiastic students end up there, often because they're not given the right environment to thrive (e.g. a good lab and a supervisor that cares).

There isn't much to say to respond to that, apart that it seems to me that, in a parallel universe, you might have had a more fulfilling experience, or you might have cut your losses and walked away sooner.

That's the cruel aspect of the PhD. It really seems like a lot of important things are outside of one's control, especially when it comes to important factors in mental health. Nobody's starting a PhD with the goal of sinking hours into Reddit and Buffy because they feel awful about their PhD experience.

I've seen a guy peddle shoes become an instagram star and go on to put said shoes in boutiques.

Moral of the story, unless you are born wealthy you have to make your own luck.

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