<p>I’m in your same boat and am poor as dirt, but am going to school. I know that you don’t want to take out the loans, but just go for it and take out the loans. If you wait like 5 years to go to school, like you want to, you just won’t ever go to college. I have seen this time and time again. What happens is that people keep putting college off, and then they just wind up never going. I am going into serious debt to finish college, but I am still finding a way to survive. Take out the loans now; they will pay off in the future. </p>
<p>Also, what were you studying in college out of curiosity? If you chose a very hard major, I could easily see why you were overwhelmed. Also, if you can’t hack it at a University, then why don’t you try getting your A.A. from a community college first? I am now attending a University, but before I attended a community college. The community college wasn’t very hard at all. In fact, I think that it really provided a great transition from high school, then into a University. </p>
<p>If you must take some time off, then just take a very small amount of time off. Don’t take too much time off, or you just won’t go back. Also, look into the pell grant, you may be eligible for that. Also, bare in mind that if you take classes at a community college, they are generally a lot cheaper than a University, so it would probably a lot easier to redeem your financial aid.</p>
<p>EDIT: Also bare in mind that if you can just save up enough money to pay for one semester of classes, and you can pass all of your classes, then usually financial aid will restore your aid for classes.</p>