I was on the same boat, man. I was doing really well in HS, always thought I was going to be a scientist, etc… college years hit me hard, not only in the materials difficulty and studying habits, but also had a nasty incident which gave me PTSD on top of that.

Long story short, I also dropped out of Physics after years of trying and pretending I could. I couldn’t. I also cried. First to myself and then others.

After that… it took many years but I eventually got back to college for that degree in Comp Sci. I am already working as a programmer, so it helps me focus in my path to follow.

If you’re following up with an engineering degree, that’s actually a solid choice. A lot of scientists are engineers too, both are STEM so there’s a lot of compatible subjects if you’re still eyeing on the physics path. You could get a bachelor’s in engineering and then a masters in physics or astronomy, for example, or simply follow where your heart or money is.

Don’t pressure yourself too much on dropping out. Yes, it’s a failure and it will serve well to retrace the steps and identify what made us fail, but it’s never the person themselves. You made a mistake, but you are not the mistake or the failure. That means you can and will be better.

Sorry for the long rant. Hope you get better man.