That’s awesome. I had a similar experience, started out in comp sci and switched to game design and found it way easier & more fulfilling. Although a difference is that rather than being top of my class, I nearly failed all the courses I took. I ended up as a coder anyway and I find the mental models that I learned in game design often help me out when understanding the business side of what I’m coding (and often I can find a simpler solution that meets our users’ needs just as well if not better)
Ah, I'm glad you shared! From what I've seen on books about game design, I really like it as well for its blend of psychology and design, and well, games :-)