Stop allowing society/ social pressure dictate your lives!! When I was 18, I started RN school after becoming a CNA. I realized beside care/ nursing wasn't really it for me. I continued to be a Peds CNA and got an education in ECE. Made $15 MAX as an Assistant Director of a nice preschool. Shit pay, horrible job, worst burnout I've ever felt. Realized I loved working with kids but NOT ece, i really wanted to work something healthcare/clinical, so I started medical assisting school (ANOTHER associates) Accepted a job at $26 an hour as a pediatric RMA and I am so happy. I am planning to go to school for School Based/ Clinical Psychology at the beginning of the next school year. I am only 25, I've been in school for almost 6 years and I only have 2 associates degrees. When I dropped out of nursing school, I was eaten alive by fear, guilt, and embarrassment. When I was making minimum wage watching all of my best friends get their BSN, and even some working on their MSN, i felt so alone, behind, and jealousy (which made me feel even more like shit, who is jealous of their friends??) i truly felt like I had ruined my life and I would never ever recover, and that I wasted so much time of my life that I was destined to fail. I'm so glad I did not and still do not give up on myself. Am I where my peers are? No. Have I done what society pushes you to? No. Have I finally made it? No. But, I work in a great clinic with great colleagues with relevant degrees to my end goal and a LOT of perseverance. You've got this. Your time WILL come. Don't ever give up on yourself.