My father developed a gambling addiction and drained my college fund without telling me. If my parents had told me right away I would’ve had time to take a leave of absence and work full-time or apply for additional financial aid. Instead the school kicked me out for unpaid tuition and won’t let me come back to receive my degree.

I completed all the coursework for a BA in CS. I just couldn’t pay for it, so no degree for me.

I asked my dad if he had any money saved to help with college and he told me that people like us don’t go to college. I dropped out in grade 11. I hope to graduate university in three years from now at the ripe old age of 41.

It was partly because my parents forced me into a scholarship that was tied to teaching afterwards - I was entirely unsuited to being a teacher, but neither of them even attended high school, and to them being a teacher was the pinnacle of achievement. I was pretty good academically but university overwhelmed me, so between that and no incentive to succeed, I failed miserably, only passing a few courses. I ended up getting a professional qualification (not a degree) in my 30s and had a decent career.

Living in a squat for a few years showed me I would have made a fantastic electrian or plumber, but you had to have a penis for that for some reason.