I worked three part time jobs and a full time summer job to get through the university.
A guy in my high school class joined the Kirby Company as a salesman (Kirby vacuums) and made $100,000 year when I was making $30 K.
And some people get hit by lightning and don’t die. Your story is not the norm in any way. How many from your high school didn’t go to college that have shitty jobs? Do you tell the story of your classmate who is a barista? a Walmart cashier?
I went to college with a guy studying engineering. His name is Brian and he had a D average. He would wait till the homework is due in the afternoon and ask the smart students to help him. One stupid A student asked why he should help Brian when he is barely passing. Brian responds and tells the A student that his D grade on the exams help lower the class bell curve. That can spell the difference on a GPA if one wants to go to grad school. In the end all the A-/B+ students helped Brian along till he graduated last in his engineering class. Today he is a very successful salesman for an artificial joint company.
One more successful “dummy” story. Had two older cousins who barely graduated high school. Their mother would fret and worry about their future. Both of them became plumbers and became successful. Initially they had so many request for work, they decided to earn a referral fee by passing work onto other plumbers. The other thing they did was observe the housing market in the area while they made their service runs. During the 1970’s to 1980’s they made a killing in the real estate market and retired wealthy in the early 2000’s.
The POINT is the number of people afforded a college degree who remain on government benefits by having employment that pays in cash and is therefore unreported.
Cash Income Unreported & No Taxes + Entitlements = Good Life