Ok, here’s my situation. I’m 21, turning 22 in July. When I graduated highschool I went straight to work because my parents were not going to pay for my schooling and I needed to make some money so I could go to school. I definitely “drifted” through HS, as I had a lot of problems with bullies and home life and school was really the last thing on my mind. Halfway through freshman year in HS I got expelled and I was sent to an alternative school. Scholarships, by the time I graduated, were no longer in question and community college was, and is still, the only option.
I’ve been working as a janitor the past few years (right out of HS) and I kind of just fell into this rabbit hole of thinking that this all I have to live for. All my money goes towards rent and food, I’m totally unfulfilled, just barely scraping by as it is but I still really want to go to a good school, get involved in the college community, and get a job that makes me happy. I just need to know how people do it. How do you juggle a full-time job and being a full-time student? Do I quit my job and go full-time? If I do that I would have no income, and would eventually end up homeless after I run through what money I do have. Do I go part-time? I’ve already waisted so much time and I am so far behind everyone else that I would prefer full-time schooling. And living with my parents isn’t an option because they live in squalor which I refuse to go back to.
Based off of all this info I gave, can I still transfer from a community college to a good college given my past? Will my HS years come back to haunt me, or will colleges just look at my accomplishments as an undergrad upon transfer? I know it’s in my power I just don’t know where to start, so any advice is welcome. Sorry for the long post and thanks for reading.