So this is my sad story, I started College back in 2016…. I was doing very good at the beginning but since my mom is widowed I had to work in 2017. So it was very hard at the beginning. I was so stressed by working full time and also full time in college. I failed some classes, so I had to take around 8 units per semester to avoid that. so it took me 5 years to transfer from a college to a University. So this university I started in 2023, so now in 2025 with all my experience I was able to work full time and go to university full time. So finally I am graduating in May, but it was all to become a High School Teacher. So I wasted almost 10 years of my young blood to become a teacher. In the last years I have felt terrible because of my decisions. When I was in High School I didn’t know what to study, now I feel so behind in life. Most of the people I know already have kids or even better a house… I live in California.
I mean I do have goods thing in life for example I have traveled to 7 countries. But everytime I come back, reality hits. I don’t have any debt so far…
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Took me 8 years to get a Bachelor’s degree. Changed majors, schools, took time off, got married etc. I eventually finished and got a job. That couple year head start my peers had didn’t really matter much a decade down the road anyway.
My 8 years was 1983-1991 so times were different, but it’s a distant memory now and I feel like I’ve done OK in my career. I hit the ground running and was a CTO by 1999, then boom, dot com crash back to the bottom of the org chart.
You never know what’s going to happen, don’t stress over how long anything takes as long as you get it done.
I was on the 10 year late plan. Started as a business major in Fall 1982, should have graduated in Spring 1986, and finally graduated with a BA in IT in Spring 1996. In between there was a marriage, a baby, a couple of different full time jobs, and four different schools with two different majors. Finally, in 1993 I ended up in a job that paid for the rest of my degree. I retired from there last week. It can work out.
Congratulations to you on your graduation! In 5 or 10 years, no one except you will ever think about your detours. Nothing to be sad about. You kept moving forward. And you’re debt free! Best wishes to you.