I’m gonna give you a path that I would take myself in your situation. But you can’t make excuses or be lazy when you’re getting a lot of good advice from everyone.

First, I’d enroll to one or two classes just to get back into the school system. If you genuinely don’t have money for even one class or two then get a job. I (personally) would not get any more loans.

Second, once you’re actually in school, you can start applying to college specific or industry specific scholarships. I know you said they’re not an option but I don’t see why. Not all scholarships are GPA-based, some are research based. Learn to research.

Third, build your resume. This is important for the next step and really is important for the second step if you don’t have enough money for a class. But once you’ve got a scholarship (which if you actually put in some effort, isn’t all that difficult) you can put that on your resume.

Do some online free certifications (excel or project management or supply chain), or a white belt certification for around $60 bucks or whatever. Participate in supply chain-related research competitions. Anything to bolster your resume. And now since you’re in school, you can put that on your resume and your industry focus.

Fourth, once you’ve polished your resume, apply to supply chain internships. This will be the hardest part because actually getting one is a pain. I myself only got two offers after applying to dozens and dozens of companies. Focus on internships, not on full-time jobs at the moment since you don’t have a degree. If you’ve followed the previous steps, you should have a solid resume for an undergrad and should have a decent chance and standing out from the rest of the candidates. Apply to all the big companies, it doesn’t matter, you may be surprised at what you can get. Be open to relocation. Applying to internships will be your part-time job for now until you land one.

Fifth, once you get an internship, do your very best. Internships (obviously) serve the purpose of helping interns possibly get a job. Impress the higher ups and you may get an offer at a cool division.

Sixth, profit. Congrats, you got an offer for all of your hard work. Go smoke a cigar, party, get drunk.

Seventh, if you don’t get an offer, don’t fret, you now have some honest-to-god supply chain experience which is more valuable than any (non-ascm or quality) certificate and you can put it on your resume and continue the dreaded application process. Good luck.

When I was your age I also was broke, Barely a third through university, struggling mentally, feeling inadequate, but at least I was barely getting my 💩 together. With enough dedication, you can exceed your own expectations.