I feel the same as you, but under (very?) different circumstances - I dropped out in my last year of high school due to a variety of reasons, so I never had an

I feel the same as you, but under (very?) different circumstances - I dropped out in my last year of high school due to a variety of reasons, so I never had an ounce of formal education beyond that. I also live in a place where educational attainment is highly valued, and almost always used as a baseline for how accomplished you are. A bachelor’s is the bare minimum you “need” as a signal that you’re “capable”. I’m 25, and extremely early in my career by any measure, but I think I’m doing fine. I get to do the very thing that has kept me going for a decade and a half. I'm part of a fantastic team and surrounded by great mentors; there are so many people I can learn from, and I’m just beginning to learn how to pass knowledge around. I don’t always get to do what I truly enjoy, but I think that’s just part and parcel of any software work in general. I _still_ worry about my lack of formal education, especially when I’m comparing myself to others (something that I’ve been actively trying not to do!), but I’ll always choose to celebrate what I can do and what I’ve accomplished over what I could have done. > people in my social and dating life will think I am either unintelligent or lazy People will think, and they’ll judge. But that’s entirely out of your control.