My sympathy on the lack of raises is minimal — how many people actually get a raise in the first two years of a job? Maybe I’ve just had bad luck (I do work in an underfunded field) but I’ve only ever gotten one significant raise in the last *decade* (assuming you don’t count moving to another job because it pays more). All the same, I’m genuinely glad you’re doing so much better financially and are enjoying your new field of work. It definitely sounds like you made the right choice.