Dude. You've been exploited and now you're getting fucked. I guess you are in US. I don't have any advice because the uncertified are given rewards for risks th

Dude. You've been exploited and now you're getting fucked. I guess you are in US. I don't have any advice because the uncertified are given rewards for risks that you shouldn't have to take. Drug dealing for example is not a good business to be in. There is legitimate stuff with not as high risk that you can do, but it won't be as lucrative. Just remember that competence is king and open your eyes to the opportunities that exist around you. Find customers not employers. The former cares about things that you know and understand while the latter will want you to prove things that will cost you a lot to prove. Education is a ridiculously huge opportunity cost and if you do it with loans or while relying on benefits afforded by "student status" it will also become a burden on your health via anxiety about maintaining said status (ymmv I personally don't care much but this affliction is quite common fwict). Also. Programming is a means to an end. If you already have some web scraping skills etc. then you have some advantages when looking for / exploiting opportunities. But without certification it is tricky to convince anyone to give you a chance. Therefore; customers not employers. Programming can help you test your assumptions w.r.t. business model and manage your business.