Introduction: New to Crypto and hoping to learn enough to pay down student loans

Hello all! I figured I could write a brief introduction and tell a little bit about how I got here:

I am a mechanical engineer with a mortgage and 100k+ in student loans. I had to put myself entirely through both undergrad and grad school; I don't regret doing it but that combined with my mortgage and credit cards has put me pretty far in debt (nearly half a million dollars, in fact). I was very late starting college, and have only been out for two years and am almost 40. I don't have an IRA or a 401k because I didn't think it was worth starting while I was in school and so far in debt. Now I need to begin thinking about these things, but am so far behind it feels a little daunting.

I then had a fellow engineer start talking about crypto- I had heard of bitcoin, of course, but felt that I had missed the boat on that one and so hadn't paid it further attention. Once I started reading about blockchain itself, however, I realized what a game changer this technology was going to be! It honestly feels like I've stumbled onto this secret that a few people know about but is sure to explode onto the mainstream at any time. I was determined not to miss the boat this time around, and since have started trying to learn more about how blockchain works and how I can contribute to its success.

I wasn't exactly sure where to start so I just started looking into any article that discussed cryptocurrency, and soon had an account on sites like Coinbase and Binance. I figured that each paycheck I would buy a little bit of coin that sounded interesting or exciting. I am hoping that if I hold onto these altcoins for a while that eventually at least a few of them will grow and I'll be able to profit from them. So far I've spent about $400 on 15 or 16 different coins. I really enjoy tracking their progress and seeing how much they fluctuate day to day. I also enjoy learning about what the coins do and how they're using this incredible technology in cool and innovative ways.

I still have a LOT to learn, and I think it's going to be a while yet before I can contribute any significant amount of money to my portfolio. Is it even called a portfolio? Just wallet, perhaps? Anyway, long term I am hoping that I can put enough money into it and choose wisely enough that I can make more profit then I am paying on my student loans (all of which have an interest rate of 5.5-6.9%), and that I can take advantage of being an early-ish adopter to avoid spending most of my life paying down my loans.

I would love to hear about what brought everybody else to the world of cryptocurrency, as well as any advice about starting out or warnings about things to avoid. I am very excited to learn more about crypto, and hope that I am in early enough to benefit. Thanks for reading!