I understand what you're saying. Some people I knew in high school have graduated from Ivy League universities or top private schools... I went to a large, public university for undergrad and grad school to save money, and then I went to a different public university to get a second master's degree in accounting. Both schools are still pretty respectable, but they're not as well-respected as, say, Harvard or Stanford. Anyway, I finally got my first public accounting job at age 28 after months of searching, and I'm still making significantly less money than a lot of my peers from high school. (Note: I went to a top public high school in an upper middle class neighborhood where it was pretty common for kids to get accepted to top universities and pursue careers like medicine, engineering, and the like.)

I'm not saying I regret my path, necessarily, but I do sometimes feel like shit when I compare myself to other people. The way I'm coping with the negative feelings is by being a good employee, first of all, and doing things to make my resume better (i.e., pursuing certifications like the CIA and the CPA license eventually). I figure I had a slower start compared to my peers from high school, but I can only improve my resume from this point forward.