And I wanted to be an aerospace engineer who designed and flew his own spaceships.

Sometimes stuff doesn't work out.

These are "template articles." Usually you find these on the front page of msn.com not hacker news.

Find a person that fits template, big goals and dreams then X happened where X is drugs, economic downturn, accident, etc. Then move into how the world is scary and random, then get "expect advice." End with final quote about how world is scary and random.