Received my renewal letter from Microsoft today as I start my 18th year as a Microsoft Certified Trainer. I could definitely get paid more as a network consultant or database administrator. But I love teaching and helping people learn. Plus, I basically get paid to learn new things.  I take it as a challenge to stay current on the new products and technologies as they are released. Which can be overwhelming, especially as release cycles for products are now quarterly instead of bi-annually. But I would not change my career path or the journey. It definitely has been fun.