I had no idea what Assyriology was until well after I got to college.
I took Classics through my last two years of high school, and absolutely loved it. Mythology and ancient literature has always been something that fascinated me, and having the opportunity to study it in school was wonderful. Buuuuut at age 18 I was convinced that I was an artist and destined for a life of aesthetic creativity, so I went straight from high school to art school, and from there into a jewellery and silversmithing degree. I lasted a whole year there before deciding that something was missing...
...and that something was ancient history. My younger sister had come to the city where I was studying, Birmingham (UK) to go to a university open day, and I tagged along to spend some time with her. We went to an introductory lecture for the Ancient History degree course, and I was absolutely hooked. It was everything I'd been missing, and I knew within the first 10 minutes that this was what I wanted to do. I finished out the year at jewellery school, made the switch, and never looked back!
The Ancient History degree was fantastic for me because it included classes in Classics, Egyptology, and Assyriology - something that I'd never even heard of. I wound up writing a comparative study of Mesopotamian and Greek mythology for my BA thesis, and my advisor recommended that I consider a masters degree. I followed his advice, and then went on to apply to the Ph.D. program at the Johns Hopkins University, and haven't looked back. Though, I did withdraw from my doctorate about 7 years in because I decided that I couldn't raise children, complete a Ph.D., AND keep my mental health on an even keel. My work on YouTube and with Humans Against Poor Scholarship has really helped to keep me connected to the ancient world that I love, and I am planning on going back to grad school once I'm done having babies!