I graduated with a degree in mathematics. I used it “directly” in only one job in my career (designing piece-part measuring software for a metrology company. I used circle of best fit, general statistics, and once even ray tracing and real, live calculus to prove that light is not evenly distributed in the elipse that results from cylindrical astigmatism, proving the consultant with the PhD wrong)... All fascinating ancient history, I’m sure. But that’s not what education in mathematics is about. Math teaches you to think logically. So a career in programming made a great deal of sense to me.