My sister makes a government employee wage. She has her own SUV, owns a house with her long term beau, two kids that have everything they could ever want, and a savings account for each for college. They go on vacation every year, and camping all summer because they have an RV and boat.
She literally took the exact same courses that I took in college, but was hired for a government position in corrections.
I work for a pharmacy for not a bad wage (as far as techs can expect) but can only work about 20-26 hours a week because of chronic illness and pain. Fibromyalgia took my whole life and future from me and left me with very little to keep going for besides family.
My husband, and the father of my 2 boys, works at a place that pays minimum wage and refuses to look for closer, (45 min commute) or better employment. It's left us with few housing options (we co-house with my mom and stepdad), no savings, crappy vehicles, and I can't take a vacation for the foreseeable future because I draw from my vacation pay constantly for emergencies. I had almost enough for a week off saved up but just had to pay for my kids's summer activities and a day off I had to take for an emergency trip to the pediatrician.
Trust me, I dont know what happened to my life, or what I did to deserve this, but I'm definitely not the successful sister.