Yes, this is a plausible goal. Ten years from now, only the most specialized of employers will care what your degree was in -- they should be looking at the experience you&#x27;ve obtained.<p>Python is an excellent gateway drug. Try contributing to a project written in it. For example, you could start a pelican blog and then extend pelican in some interesting direction.<p>Try some freelance projects for pay, too. Here&#x27;s a freebie idea: lots of small businesses around you have complicated calculations to make that, right now, they do on paper. A local heating oil delivery company has a formula for when they need to schedule deliveries based on local temperatures, tank size, mostly-predictable seasonal adjustments and individual history. Go and talk to them about how they do this, and offer to write a tool for them that does the calculations. Then extend the basic idea: there are similar requirements for all sorts of service companies. Maybe you want to offer it as a service on the web.