It's not quite the same because the helpdesk person is probably paying a sizeable chunk of their salary on tuition. Presumably working in science would scratch that itch for you, so number to compare against is whatever you'd make elsewhere, minus what you spend on tuituon, minus however much it's worth to you to be able to focus on the science and not have to balance your time with some unrelated job.
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You basically end up with the salary of a helpdesk person at a university.
It's not quite the same because the helpdesk person is probably paying a sizeable chunk of their salary on tuition. Presumably working in science would scratch that itch for you, so number to compare against is whatever you'd make elsewhere, minus what you spend on tuituon, minus however much it's worth to you to be able to focus on the science and not have to balance your time with some unrelated job.