Although I have noewhere near 1/8th the knowledge of most the people on here answering this question. Its been something I've been wondering for quite a while. As I'm sure a million of people here have said, if I had the money, then it would be a different story.
This is the stuff (all the posts stated above) which makes me what to go to a "Performance Engine Rebuild/Build up" colledge instead of a computer networking MCCSE or Cisco certfied colledge (and yes its spelt wrong).
You just have to have the desire and $$$ to back up your dreams.