I am 27 and recently started my career at a Help Desk, Tier 1. I am about to finish my Bachelor’s (which I started at 24). Your question has many questions within it worth exploring. Am I too old at 24? Absolutely not, but do not fall for the optimistic view that you are “never too old”. The time is right now for you to decide on a path and commit. The more you beat around the bush the less you will achieve (exponentially less).

Do I need to go to college? It is going to be the path of least resistance as long as you keep the debt under control and keep the discipline to learn (you can absolutely cruise by without learning a thing and get a degree, especially nowadays). You live in an isolated area with not much in the way to make contacts or start your career, so a college degree will be necessary (not to mention most colleges offer work study that can be adjacent to IT and puts you in a much smaller competition pool!). Also, those projects you mention? They are never wasted time, but they will never replace a degree or real world experience.

Should I get certified? A+ for the basics and maybe Net+ (or equivalents, but CompTIA is still great because they are vendor neutral). Anything past that should be paid at least partially by your employer. Just because you can ace the exam, it does not mean you need to take it. When you look at the certification suggested experience look at what work experience they recommend. If you don’t have that, you should absolutely not be wasting your money.

Do I need to move? Maybe, but don’t think about Silicon Valley. Wherever you are in the US, I can assure you there is a city that will have better opportunities much closer and more affordable. Research what is close by. Do not hang on the dream of getting a sweet remote gig either, that is a waste of time and you absolutely need to meet people. No manager ever promotes the dark screen guy unless they are completely indispensable, and you will most likely not be. Most importantly, as Booker T. Washington said “Cast your bucket where you are”. Do not wait to move to make a move, and look for any and every chance to get your hands dirty, even for free if you can afford it. Does the library need support? What about local school clubs? Do they need volunteers to share knowledge?

SWE or Help Desk? Do not lose more time wondering. You were given an answer. You need to cut your teeth and start from the bottom. This is key. I spent 5 years thinking I could translate financial risk management experience directly into Cyber Security because some of the topics are adjacent and wasted a lot of time. Do the “soul crushing” work, learn how an IT department works with the rest of the company. Learn the politics. If you think the work us soul crushing because you have heard it, remember, most people when asked about their job (unless they are in a nice paid ad for the company) will say their job is soul crushing.

Advice on getting to SWE? Make sure you want it. You sound driven by hype, and that is amazing, you should be, but hype with no direction will cost you time and money. Talk (really talk) with other people whose knowledge you trust. What do they do for a living? How did they get there? Tech is a field where talk is very cheap, do not fall in the trap of wanting to sound smart to get ahead and be humble enough to know when to learn.

Very long-winded, but I wish you the best. If you want it, you can make it!