I attempted to finish college five times, and I fell short of my goal five times as well. This transpired over the course of 30 years. Having washed out of col

I attempted to finish college five times, and I fell short of my goal five times as well. This transpired over the course of 30 years. Having washed out of college twice by 1992, I landed my first job due to networking with my classmates, at a very college-adjacent employer. I then went on to ride the dot-com bubble for years, and I was able to capitalize on my natural talents and the generally hungriness of employers for system admins. I was utterly incompetent and ill-suited for the corporate world at that point. I was homeless a lot and I was unemployed a lot, and I couldn't really succeed at anything, even if I tried. Eventually I got used to volunteering a lot, developed a better work ethic, and then I went back to school. Several times. The first time I completed a two-year course for a certification that simply made me a better volunteer. Then I went to community college to try for an Associate of Applied Science. Unable to complete this degree, I did achieve my more realistic goals of brushing up on modern tech, and achieving the correct certifications. I then landed a great job in academia, and perhaps the recruiter found me because community college was on my LinkedIn profile. At any rate, they didn't give a fig about my relevant certifications (and they wouldn't pay to earn/maintain them either) and so here I sit, 3 years later, with a great part-time job, no degree, and two CompTIA certifications. College didn't matter for me. Unless it did. I definitely benefited in tangential ways from mingling and mixing in the halls of academia for so many years. I wouldn't trade it for anything.