hey everyone, thanks so much for chiming in. I appreciate the feedback and suggestions! $40,000 is not enough to live a nice life in DC, but I could scrape by. I'm honestly not sure how anyone goes about getting a job for more than $40,000 right out of college. I'm willing to bet my shop would pay me that if I were to go back! (a distinct possibility)
I'm too tired from riding dirtbikes all weekend to read through everything right now but I definitely will get to it! in the meantime I welcome more suggestions and thoughts about the industry's job needs