Love this story! Being a generalist is completely underrated, but I've found that my ability to, if not speak a specialist language, at least understand it has been an immense help.

For example, I graduated with a mechanical engineering degree. Yet I've worked with lawyers at the Attorney General's office, finance professionals at a manufacturer's rep, and now I'm a facility manager whose (albeit brief) IT experience has allowed me to gulf the divide between end users and our own IT group.

It might be overused, but I'll leave you with Robert Heinlein's quote from Starship Troopers:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."