I studied video game art in uni, but left the course after 1.5 years bc it went in a different direction I hoped for (it went all-in on 3D, and the 2D I was actually interested in was done in a month). By that point I already had a part-time job as graphic designer, so I continued that instead, and eventually managed to land a graphic-designer-ish job at a non-profit organisation.

My current job is a lot less glamorous from the outside than video game art, or even a typical graphic design portfolio would be, but I really enjoy it :)