Greetings! Im currently studying Data Engineering in a 2 year course/trade school and wanted to seek some insight from people that know more than me about this industry.

Which newer tools/frameworks/(maybe other fields?)are actually worth learning early?

Is there a risk of the data engineer role being "absorbed" into ML engineering or do you see it growing as a distinct path?

What is your favorite/least favorite part of the job? / What do you find difficult about it day to day personally?

Any books you recommend? Just finished reading designing data intensive applications by martin kleppmann a month ago. Also just started looking at "Fundamentals of Data Engineering" by Joe Reis & Matt Housley.

I apologize for some of these "cliche" questions that probably have already been asked, Im really just seeking mentorship from someone with any experience in the job, any advice is very appreciated!

Thank you!