C is a high level language. It is not close to the hardware is a large number of substantial ways. Memory is not flat, CPUs do not execute instructions linearly.
Embedded *can* be fun. We produce some embedded software. Not surprisingly, most people in embedded also use toolkits. The people building those toolkits are the real rockstars.
First language I learned was C++.
In college, the first class used Racket, a Lisp derivative. The prof came from a math background, and wanted us to learn functional programming first. I really appreciated that.
I did some toy x86 Assembly stuff in a later class, but never got that deep into it.
In my day job I use Typescript, C#, and occasionally Kotlin and SQL.
I feel like I know enough to at least know, generally, how we get from high-level code down to machine instructions on circuits. If you asked me to program in Assembly, though, I would struggle.
