Many of my childhood friends did that with Biotech. When I was growing up, Biotech was The Hot Thing (TM), and it was going to change the world. Now the ones that didn't like it enough to pursue a Masters/PhD in it are struggling to make ends meet with a cocktail of multiple jobs. The happiest ones mostly ended up leaving to lower cost-of-living parts of the US where it's easier to find lower-middle-class employment.

P.S. Most of my friends grew up in families around the poverty line, so that'll affect my story.