Do not worry, my friend, you have not missed the train. The ride is just beginning and there is a lot more to come. Sure, there might be some problems and concerns about bots and money going to money are legit, but from the point of view of a person being active on the platform, it's still well worth it.

The Steem blockchain and its most popular interfaces flagshipped by steemit.com do not offer a very good way to discover good new content from brand new steemians without friends on the platform, so even if the start is hard, perseverence usually gets rewarded. If you are into the STEM topics, you have already made an important discovery - #steemSTEM. On topics that fit it, you might also want to use the #steemiteducation tag, too like your recent post about giving away unneeded stuff to schools.

Keep it up and don't give up! :)