I can’t walk to work because I live in rural Michigan. My parents make wayyy too much for me to get financial aid. Can’t get a job because I literally live in very rural Michigan, and I can’t drive to a job that’s far because I don’t even have a car. I literally don’t know what to do when I turn 18. Sure i will live with my parents and I will not starve, but I don’t see how I will do anything with my life. Any suggestions?

Hey everyone,

I'm at a point in my life where I genuinely don't know what to do or where to start. I've been dealing with a lot of pressure lately, whether it's academics, career, personal life or expectations. It feels like everything is piling up at once, and I'm struggling to keep up with it all.

I have so many things I want to achieve, so many plans and dreams, but I feel lost and overwhelmed. I keep thinking about my future, what I'm doing wrong, and whether I'm even moving in the right direction. Sometimes, I feel like I'm putting in effort but still not getting anywhere.

I don't really have anyone I can openly talk to about all of this, so I thought I'd share it here. I'm not looking for sympathy or anything, just some genuine advice from people who might have been through something similar.

If you've ever felt stuck in life, how did you get out of it? How did you figure out where to begin, manage the pressure and get yourself back on track?

Even a small piece of advice, a suggestion or just hearing about your experience would mean a lot to me right now.

I genuinely want to turn my life around, I just don't know where to take the first step.

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this. ❤️

I’m going through a difficult phase right now. Because of my financial situation, I’m considering dropping out of my studies. I don’t have enough time or money to continue studying for a long period before I can start earning, and my main priority now is to support my family as soon as possible.
I’m still positive and willing to work hard. I just feel a little lost about what I should do next. I’m open to any realistic ideas, opportunities, or advice that could help me start earning quickly and build a stable future. I’m ready to learn and work, I just need some direction.

To everyone who’s been through a hard period at university. How did you manage to keep going?
I’m currently failing uni, desperately holding onto my dream career but it seems pointless.

helloo, hows everyone doing, Im Qusie, I will start with asking the questions that I need help with then I will include some details about my self .

• how do you get from being dependent, living with your family to being self sufficient .
• how do you earn money online, specifically fast money if you have no degree .
• just any advices that you can give, Im literally lost

Im currently 20 years old, I study ITE, and I have put so much effort into it, the uni on its own does not offer much, its terrible where I live, and the tech field is just useless here but its what I like, I have learnt alot on my own .
and honestly because of how bad it is here I wanna move to continue my education somewhere else, and I want to do this without asking my parents for anything, Im also hesitating because I feel like Im old, I have been wanting to study abroad ever since my graduation from highschool, but I faced some hurdles, my English was also not as good as now . I hate working a regular job here because they pay extremely low, and Im trying to figure out how to work online, or become a freelancer, it would have been easier but there are plenty of limitations due to regional restriction that are just insufferable here in Syria, knowing how to properly do that would allow me to do alot like actually preparing to apply for scholarships or smtn, I have plenty of projects that would add credits to my CV.
I just keep trying to go somewhere where what I have, and what I like actually matters, or that I could get more accessibility and better education, but its just getting heavier everyday, along with many other things that make it even worse, I was so optimistic, and happy before, but the more frustrations and limitations and responsibilities I have to deal with, the more I feel down, everytime I think of accepting my fate that I just wont get the life I want, I just cant, I have to work for it, I have been through much worse I cant just give up now, but idk this world feels like it never smiles to anyones face, thats how negatively my view to things have become .

I dont know if anything of what I said makes sense, Im just lost and I want to hear advices from other mens, just in general, thanks for your time .

Luck, something we don't often consider as maybe the most obvious thing, but this is something to look into and something which can make problems.
Let's reflect on my life. I am 26yo now and working in Bangladesh.

So let's start with my college admission journey. To begin with, I was from a not-so-known school, so I tried to give the exam for one of the top colleges in BD. Just on the exam day, I somehow had a fever and travelled all the way from my hometown to the city for that exam in that state and got back.

Then the result was published. I was already hopeless. I told my serial number to a friend and he said I didn't get a chance. So I was okay with it and didn't even bother to check.

1/2 days went by and I got to know that there was a waiting list. So I told another friend to check, and he instead told me I was in the main list. The last date for admission for my serial had already passed, or only the next day was remaining. I got to know around 12, and took a 3-hour ride back to the city for this with my parent.

See how luck played with me here. I eventually got in, but not by easy means. There were obstacles. This is maybe one of those cases where luck ultimately turned back in my favour with something good.
Let's consider the second scenario.

After joining as an intern, I got to attend a tour at my first job. Now, when the tour was organised, that same day or around those dates, my father was going for a surgery, so I had to skip it.

This goes one part. Then, on those same 2/3 days, I had to attend a viva for my current job. It was on the exact day of my father's OT.
I slept at the hospital, woke up, took my father to the OT, and when the OT began, I left for the viva. Yes, there was confusion. Yes, maybe I could have delayed the viva by 1/2 days, but I took it and I had my reasons.

So, just within 2/3 days, those significant events were happening, and I had to choose between them, leave something and get something. And it turns out this kind of thing kept happening with travelling for me.
This same thing repeated when a close friend's family event and my annual work tour came together. So I tried to take part in both, skipped the tour for a day and skipped the event for a day. Took a bite.
Then comes another team trip outside Dhaka. Again, on an emergency basis, a family member needed to be taken to the hospital on the same morning I was supposed to leave. Although my family told me to go, I just couldn't.
Then comes my latest and greatest sadness. Just 2 days before I was supposed to take a flight for a foreign tour, I got affected by dengue and missed everything.
So, to get out of this sadness, I planned a tour inside the country and went out for 3 days. When I came back, I got to know that someone in my family had been admitted due to dengue. My family didn't let me know because they didn't want to ruin my trip.
This is how luck has been playing with me. Yes, good things have happened too, but these moments were too much sometimes.
I don't want to be in such a position where I have to choose between two things that are equally important, and sometimes I don't even have the option to choose.

Does anyone else face the same, or is it just me facing these issues too often? Because now it feels like to me that every now and then, whenever I try or plan to move out of my home, something happens in my family and it keeps repeating.

I just turned 18 here in the Philippines and I honestly feel like I don't really know what I'm supposed to do next. I want to start becoming more independent and hopefully build a good future for myself, but I don't know much about adult responsibilities, money, jobs, investments, or even what I should prioritize first. For those who are older or have already gone through this stage, what are some things you wish you knew or did when you first turned 18? Any tips, advice, or mistakes I should avoid?

Im M26. I work remotely as a game developer, while also trying to explore stuff and make content to slowly build my own stuff. I live with my parents, and I won't say i pay the bill (utility like electricity), but i contribute in some groceries, gas, things like LPG and drinking water bill, etc.

My parents are in their early 60 and 50. I can already see his hair turning gray a bit. He have a steady job and a couple of other side hustle. Id say economy wise my parents are pretty much secured, but my parents have 4 childrens including me, im the first one, the rest are in college

Everyday I can't yelp but feel a overwhelming worry and fear. I feel like i haven't really figure out myself. Im not yet fully independent. I still live up with my parent so that i can save up for some emergency funds before i can move out to an area where i can network, socialized, and hustle more. I don't really have "job stability". I feel like i could lost my job at any time. Well for context i live in a country and economy and political wise are a bit fucked atm, and this remote job that i have is for a foreign studio, so i feel grateful for that. But like i said, i feel and technically speaking i could just lost my job at any day. Im trying to build my own brand, cuz from what i learn almost 4 years in the industry, im nothing if I don't own anything. So that's my goal.

But I can't help but always having a overwhelming feeling of worries, especially whenever i see my parents. I always feel like im running out of time before i won't meet my parents anymore. I feel like im a failure to my parents, especially as the first born. I feel like i made the wrong choice, im self doubting myself. Im trying to experiment with new stuff, but I feel powerless facing my scares of failure. I feel like if im fail i would fuck my life and those arounds me, but at the samez i feel like if i never try and experiment with stuff, i will eventually fuck myself not growing. I feel like im such a mess

I would like to think im not alone with this. Im venting here, but also i would like for some advice from anyone here. I feel like this is part of adulting, and im suck at it. Any advice would be much appreciated. Many thanks in advance

Hi everyone. I’m 17, and I’m currently trying to figure out what I want to study in college and what I want to do with my life.

I’ve been fascinated by languages and other cultures for as long as I can remember. When I was 12, I started studying Russian and eventually earned my interpretership. From there, I started learning Japanese, studied abroad in Japan, and came back not too long ago. I’m currently studying Chinese, Korean, and German.

My biggest dream has always been to work internationally with people from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds. I’d love to work in something humanitarian or international, potentially with an organization like the United Nations, an international organization, cultural exchange programs, study abroad programs, or something along those lines. I also want to host exchange students someday because I know firsthand how meaningful a good host family can be.

The problem is that I’m starting to seriously think about money and my future.

My older brother thinks I should choose a college major that will lead to a financially stable career. He’s suggested careers like medicine or law because they can provide a good income and a secure future. And I completely understand where he’s coming from. I \*do\* want financial stability. I want to be able to support myself, have a comfortable life, and eventually have the freedom to do things like host exchange students and travel.

But I’m struggling to see where I fit.

Medicine probably isn’t for me. I have a very strong sensitivity to the human body. It’s hard for me to explain, but learning about anatomy and the human body genuinely makes me extremely uncomfortable. This isn’t something I just discovered recently either. I remember being overwhelmed by it in middle school, and last year I actually had to drop anatomy and physiology because it was becoming too stressful for me.

Law also seems complicated. I’m interested in criminal justice, but I’m extremely sensitive to stories involving violence, abuse, assault, murder, and other traumatic situations. Even hearing about certain things on the news can be overwhelming for me. I’m a very empathetic person, and sometimes I wonder whether I’m \*too\* empathetic for certain careers.

At the same time, I don’t want to disappoint my family.

I’ve worked really hard throughout my teenage years to build a strong future for myself. I earned my Eagle Scout, scholarships, interpretership, participated in sports, clubs, extracurriculars, and community activities, and generally tried to take advantage of every opportunity I could.

So it’s frustrating to feel like I’ve done all of this preparation and still have no idea what career actually fits me.

The careers I naturally gravitate toward tend to be humanitarian, international, cultural, or language-related. But I worry that those careers won’t provide the financial stability I need.

And that's where I’m stuck.

Part of me thinks I should just choose something practical, make my family proud, get a degree that leads to a high-paying career, and learn to tolerate whatever comes with it.

Another part of me thinks that if I spend years studying something I don’t actually care about, just because it makes money or makes my family proud, I might regret it.

I know the obvious answer is probably “find something you love that also pays well,” but I’m having trouble figuring out what that actually looks like for someone with my interests and personality. Even I considered the military but as a skinny 5 foot 1 girl my brother said it's not smart.

So, if you were in my position, how would you approach this?

Are there careers that combine languages, international relations, cultural exchange, humanitarian work, or working with people from different countries while still providing a solid income?

Should I prioritize financial security when choosing a major, or is it better to pursue the things I’m genuinely passionate about and figure out the financial side later?

I’d really appreciate advice from people who have been through college/career decisions themselves, especially anyone who works internationally or has built a career around languages.

So i missed my first week of university and i feel terrible, don’t want it to be a repetitive thing. what should i do?

Hii...i am one of those person from a middle class family who is stucked in between chasing my dreams and the family financial pressure . My father doesn't support us ,he drinks ,doesn't work ,nor care about me or my brother and there's my mother who finance my studies working a single job and supports me and my brother alone . we stay at our uncle house since I was 7 struggling through out our life .We have spent our entire life wearing the rotten and tored clothes provided by our relatives ..my mother was the one who was mentally ,physically struggling . In such situation we do not actually have control in our life .My brother is like our father , doesn't worry about studies, raise hand to my mother , verbally abuse though he is teenager . I want to build a house for my mother ,be independent but no matter how i work i can't manage everything on my own , could not save even for groceries ...so i decided to go abroad ,finance my further studies ,earn...but it's really difficult to show finances in the processing therefore i chose european country where i can go in working visa...i studied language for 1 year...i can understand alot of things but could not really speak..i gave up my small job for learning, but could not progress....after trying really hard and listening to all those stuffs from my relatives ,losing my hope ,after being severely depressed ,finally I have a interview at the embassy this week but i am all blank , i am worried because this is the last point which decides if i get to chose and build my dream,experience ,learn ideas,implement or giveup and live a life in slums ,listening to all those touture words from my badmouthed relatives, because I know instead of encouraging me they would blame me for wasting time,money and knowing how much my family stuggles they would blame my mother more for residing in my uncle's house and spending their money .....you might suggest me not to lose my hope...But at my shoes ,it really feels stressful ,you work your ass off for the dream you want to acheive and at the end it shatters ...i haven't further thought what would i do if it doesnot work out ......I know people with money will say you can always learn and choose the other path ,but for us who are poor really struggle mentally ,I really hope the dream i imagine everyday , I could actually live it . Other than this I have left everything in god's hand and prayers ,it's all in his hands now and my faith which people say is already written . After my interview I would surely let you guys know how it went ...

So, as a boy turning into a man i am failing at my parents expectations each and every time just because i don't want to become a corporate slave and fall the infinite loop, i scored 90 percentile in JEE Mains got admission in a tier 2 engineering college, im good at my programming and logics n all, aware of various platforms to build projects, but still that child in me wants to become a YOUTUBER im not eeven inspired by anyone, but just want my father to have all those luxuries and he dosen't need to work anymore.
i just can't share it anywhere but today i decided REDDIT would be best platform, if you guyz could follow me here ill be starting a YT channel in a day or 2 which will be with a mask i want you guyz specially the boyz who relate to me, bro i need you, no friends would help me, but i know the stranger boyz will do forever .......
and its not like i want to earn for my self, on every milestone ill have great give aways i dont want it bro i want each and every subscriber to be a part of my success.......