Career change for happiness?

Hello all, I’ve recently been undergoing some major introspection and what constitutes a happy life. I’m an engineer currently and don’t do anything technical besides writing and proofreading documents. I hate it. Last weekend I signed up for an ocean swim clinic cause it sounded cool and I always wanted to be comfortable in the ocean/swimming, turns out it was a buffer course to become a county lifeguard. Anyway I loved it. I didn’t have a wetsuit so I was bone numbing cold, I swallowed like 5 cups of saltwater, and I was absolutely exhausted the rest of the day, but I felt alive. I saw the pay for the job and it was respectable – more than I imagined for the position. Anyway, I’ve going to school now for almost a decade and going to graduate with a masters in electrical engineering soon. Granted I may not have yet even broken into a role I may enjoy in engineering but from talking to others in the defense industry it’s all about writing “requirements.” That sounds like misery.

Maybe I’m getting cold feet before graduation but this is something I’d like to explore further if at least part time. Growing up I’ve always been stopped by men and told I look like military, or a cop, or an mma fighter. Even so more recently. When I go in the office I feel like a caged animal with bunch of wimps. No discredit to them but they’re stereotypical nerds. I’m pretty muscular and was even told at the clinic it’d make it difficult for me to swim. Nonetheless, I’m scared my life path is not the one my parents set out for me. They always wanted me to get an education but as I get older I noticed they checked out awhile ago. They live for themselves and there daily happenings I kno nothing about unless I ask. It makes me very discouraged but if I don’t call them they won’t ever call me. I’ve heard of quite the opposite with many other families. Am I allowed to do this? Will I regret it? I’m not saying lifeguarding is my passion but something about acting and using my body, the camaraderie of first responders always came easy to me. Idk what to do. I’m on my computer rn figuring out how to format my masters project. No pleasure in this whatsoever.

I met a young lady in the class who told me something that hasn’t left my head. She said she disagreed with me, cause I introduced myself to the class stating “I technically shouldn’t be here” (since everyone had a swimming background). She said “we’re all where we’re supposed to be, there’s a reason u came here and signed up for this class.” That I was getting out of my comfort zone, into the ocean. Man that water was so cold it took me like 2 seconds to blink.