Yep. JRR Tolkien's mentor and prof, the great Joseph Wright, started working in the Yorkshire mines as a child, learned to read at 15, and managed to save enoug

Yep. JRR Tolkien's mentor and prof, the great Joseph Wright, started working in the Yorkshire mines as a child, learned to read at 15, and managed to save enough (by teaching other factory workers for read for tuppence a week) that he saved up passage for a ferry to the continent. He then walked to Heidelberg University, enrolled, and ultimately became an academic. Good luck just wandering into other countries in order to sign up as a student today.