When I was young I didn’t like sheaves or cohomology, so wanted to find something that was algebraic but didn’t involve too much sheaves or cohomology. I didn’t really need to know much about either to get a tenure track job. But now I’m a more mature person and a more mature mathematician, and I’ve learned to stop worrying and accept cohomology.

All of this is to say that everyone in comments is right, you can certainly be a mathematician without caring about category theory, but strictly avoiding a subject entirely is going to make you an immature mathematician and hold back your development. You don’t have to love category theory, but it’s a good idea to stop hating it.