Well, I was homeschooled the following year & taking yearly tests was scoring post 12th by 6th grade (but early diploma stuff hadnt been widespread knowledge, so missed out)
Highest presidential honors in HS & highest honors during the 1 year of college & got priced out when Washington went from $250 per class tuition to 500 & then 1000 by the end of the year for basic community College.
Washington Dems had passed two different education increases meant for over 20 & 30 years... but despite opponents pointing out it didn't enforce/require the suggested timeline and so would be frontloaded... they passed them both and the prices skyrocketed.
After that.. Ended up living at home and moving a few times as Dad got a few jobs. I took up misc trades for life skills since they were hiring and swathes of applications elsewhere failed.
Landscaping, lawn mowing, handyman work, and window cleaning in WA
Parents wanted to move to Texas, and that sounded like a great change so we moved about 2016. And, they were in the rental trap so I felt obliged to help them to get a house for themselves, and 3 of my younger siblings still at home. (Oldest of 5)
Then went for a year or so of learning Texas BBQ working at a Texas chain, on track for Manager before Covid hit.
But in that time, made enough combined with my Dad's efforts, secured a down payment and got us out of renting & into a home.
But, with covid I was suddenly non-essential, so I started up a window cleaning business while shuttling my siblings to college & jobs they got at grocery stores. (It was a horrendous thing for them to try and get a license during Covid. Missed paperwork meant another 4-ish month delay to the next appointment)
And, once they were established and no longer needed my assistance, since I was using the car a lot, got a job at a mechanic shop as a Parts driver to learn cars & get discounted repairs for us
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During that shuttle job I chatted with swathes of people from all walks of life and found a few careers/jobs worth pursuing. Considered Wind Turbine Drone Inspector, but then heard about Hotshot Driving which sounded right up my alley (used to love Euro Truck Simulator)
While looking into that, got a part time job as a CNC operator for a guy from church and took to it like a charm. He'd expected a bit of warm up, but I was fixing his 3d printer the 2nd day on the job (he was a long time CNC guy that was dabbling in 3d printing and I'd never used the machines before)
Found a gal at church October 2024, first date Dec 1st & by new years, our first words of 2025 were "Will you marry me" & "Yes, I will"
This sudden wife led me to find a better job. Did a year or so of Non-CDL box truck driving across the country for a utilities repair company.
Then, wife becoming pregnant quickly (Woo!!) Led me to look into branching paths of this career path for more $$
and I recently went with starting my own Hotshot business, opting for a Sprinter Cargo Van while figuring things out before eventually planning to consider a pickup & trailer. (The cargo van niche in Texas is reasonably safeguarded by TX border patrol and I found a deal with 0% APR from Mercedes and, having had time to study up on business startups & the US Tax code & AI, during downtime in the year of flying & Box-trucking, Section 179 is kind of an amazing thing for single owner-operators applicable for Cargo Vans turning your buying price the first year into a massive tax writeoff that applies to your spouses W2 & yours)
TL;DR I have been a pillar supporting my family when life handed me a non-collegiate hand. Spent post HS Learning life skills & wisdom through trades, ever looking forward and starting up misc side-businesses of varying successes (I was never want for money, but never motivated enough until my parents needed a home in Texas, and then I found myself with a wife, and a kid coming this July) and, have hit the ground running once finding such motivations. Using AI for hotshot has been 👌