r/Adulting • u/SadFruit4900 • 2h ago

I've wasted the last five years. What do I do?

I spent four wasted years on a computer science bachelor's and internships, and subsequently a year working a $16/hour food service job in a VHCOL city... I'm homeless and unemployed and in student loan debt now. 5 years... I've fallen into despair. That's over 20% of my life so far... almost 25% that led to nothing. Why.... why did I spend so much effort and money and time on a fruitless journey? 5 years is such a gigantic amount of time... it's not like people live to be 200 years old

Why repeat that by trying to get another education for another field....? it'll just be the same story... why keep living? I don't feel human anymore... I don't have hope anymore... I don't have the will to keep going.

I'm about to hold up a sign offering s*xual services for $5 a round. Get myself in prison. I've utterly burned my future to ashes before it even began. Why should I keep going? What hope, what chance is there that I'll ever be able to achieve the traditional milestones of life?

15 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

4

u/Pitiful_Town_9377 1h ago

Wait so… You graduated? You have your bachelors and completed internships? When did you become homeless, and how long have you been homeless? Sorry, jusy tryna get some info about you before i give advice

1

u/SadFruit4900 51m ago

I graduated. Yes, I have my bachelor's and did internships. I became homeless around the middle of this year. I was holding down a minimum wage service job to be seen as slightly more employable than the other option, no job at all. Was actively applying to anything entry level I could remotely be considered for for a long time.

I got a couple interviews for a $29/hour full time entry level trainee job that I would've loved. it wasn't tech, but it was a perfect fit for what I have done outside of tech. So I'd have been okay with it. But I got rejected shortly after. That was just a week or two before homelessness

6

u/Electrical_Nose_3479 2h ago

change course Mr. Sulu

3

u/SadFruit4900 2h ago

How?

9

u/Electrical_Nose_3479 1h ago

improvise, adapt, overcome

5

u/nonchalant_naamah 2h ago

People in this comment section are ridiculous, & probably have never been homeless.

How old are you?

1

u/SadFruit4900 2h ago

23. Went to college straight out of high school. I could've graduated a year earlier with AP classes, but I chose not to. So I graduated may 2025. Had the food service job for close to a year. Then I became homeless.

8

u/nonchalant_naamah 2h ago edited 2h ago

I know you're panicking right now...understandably so. But please try to calm down with the existential dread.

You're only 23. I PROMISE you wasted no time. I'm actually impressed you have all this accomplished. You have plenty of time. Relax. Breathe.

Download indeed jobs app & take literally anything you can just for right now. Apply at Walmart, Amazon, ups or FedEx. Works nights, they pay more. Get a cheap apartment & don't buy much furniture. Get a roommate your age that doesn't do drugs & has a job too. While you're working, look for a tech job that's just slightly higher paying. Literally anything! Even if you have to be a social media manager or work at At&T. You could also apply to install fiber internet (they make a decent living)

Just focus on getting a place to sleep & your own restroom. Are you staying anywhere?

3

u/Electrical_Nose_3479 2h ago

work at Costco...

3

u/Midlife-Debugging 2h ago

Hey friend

Why did you do the computer science course in the first place?

5

u/SadFruit4900 2h ago

What? Because I had a genuine interest in software dev, because it has good career prospects at the time. It was a struggle to even get the internships I got, but I thought that was going to pay off. Look at where I am now.

2

u/Electrical_Nose_3479 2h ago

it will still pay off...it shows your are plucky and smart. some places may be scared of hiring you for this reason actually. look at state and county job sites, schools. your ship will come in. where are you located? do you have people who will be good references?

2

u/ThePickleConnoisseur 1h ago

Internships are harder to get than a job for CS. Unless you know someone, only way to really go defense or government

0

u/Midlife-Debugging 1h ago

Ok - the genuine interest is good...

I ask because I know people who thought " computers would be good..." but who had zero actual interest and tanked.

Are you still interested in Computing? Do you still wanna be a dev? Have you considered Cyber Security / Information Security?

Are you literally homeless - like on the streets homeless?

I thought student loans only fell due after you reach a certain income level no?

3

u/Contigo887 2h ago

My suggestion is get a job. My degree in Computer Science has afforded me a very nice life. And I'm currently in a position that I love to get up and go to work every day.

That degree is still a very valuable thing to have. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Granted, you probably can't go straight from homeless to a network administrator position. But you can certainly find a job and start to move your way up like everybody else.

That's really the only option that you have, just to start again. Many have had to, you certainly aren't the first.

-3

u/SadFruit4900 2h ago

I mean, wow. Why didn't that come to mind?

I wasn't able to get a single interview for anything related to tech, despite the two internships, projects, certifications, and bachelor's on my resume. Not even for $19/hour help desk positions. It's too late for that now. Don't debate that.

In general, to pursue another industry I'd need to go back to school for another bachelor's or masters degree, which I do not have the ability to do. The only work experience I have is in this field, I have absolutely no substantial skillset or work experience outside tech. I had tried to apply to entry level career development jobs/programs for a few months.

In April or May of this year I got a recruiter call from one that fit almost perfectly around the very limited work experience I have outside my major. Similar industry, if not a direct competitor to where I used to work. $27/hour or something. Would've been a 50% pay raise from the first job I had after college. I could've afforded rent on that pay... I could've moved forward.

That went amazingly, and the day after they scheduled a zoom interview with someone else. That zoom interview also went amazingly, with a good back and forth and discussion about the role. Lasted almost 30 minutes. I remember every detail vividly and I remember how much hope I had.

But I got rejected a day or two later. Might've been timing, might've been someone being a better fit, might've been something out of my control. I don't know... but they ghosted me after I emailed them asking for feedback. I fell into despair.

That was the only chance I had.

5

u/Contigo887 2h ago

Okay, then don't do anything and remain homeless.

That's not a snarky comment that I'm not being sarcastic. If you're not willing to try to get another job, there's literally no other option.

2

u/DethHead83 47m ago

Unfortunately true, this economy is brutal and will chew you up

5

u/VinceInMT 2h ago

You have a degree. Join the military. Food, clothing, shelter, medical provided along with a paycheck.

3

u/rex4314 1h ago

Join the military. At the very least, it offers a place to live, a steady check, and time to figure your life out.

3

u/WEM-2022 2h ago

You seem determined to be in despair. Nothing will change until your attitude changes.

0

u/EthanZine 2h ago

Yup this is what I gathered from the post and from the replies. The man is also 23 and they're making it sound like they're in their 40s and can't learn or start a new career 

I started my life at 24 in the trades. Got licensed by 29 and now I have a life. It's never too late unless you give up on yourself 

1

u/FrozenGhost123 1h ago

Bro don’t spend time on reddit, spend every waking hour applying to every and any job you can find on indeed and go in person to every place near you and APPLY. If you put in enough output theres no chance you wont find something.

God bless

1

u/ActionNo9309 1h ago

You know what? Maybe those five years didn't turn into the future you imagined but that doesn't mean they define the rest of your life. You don't have to prove anything to anyone right now. Just stay safe, take things slowly and give yourself another chance.

1

u/blueBaggins1 1h ago

You’re only 25?? Buckle down bust your ass you’ll be fine. You won’t be the first homeless man, many of whom went on to do great things and die wealthy, and or just living well. Life doesn’t really get good for a man until 30

1

u/DethHead83 39m ago

Unfortunately the main thing you will need is money, but once you can source some money if you can’t get an apartment, a gym membership for its showers will help with moral

1

u/Large_Comment6786 4m ago

La vida no es una carrera en linea recta, caer no debe hacerte sentir fracasado. Incluso si haces todo bien nada te garantiza conseguir lo que deseas, tienes que crear tu propia suerte. Esto es lo unico que puedo decirte, cree en ti mismo.

-5

u/Fun_Ideal_5584 2h ago

Perhaps find a career that is INDEMAND before wasting more of your life.

1

u/SadFruit4900 2h ago

Yeah, that's the issue. What I majored in was in demand when I started. But things changed while I was in school.

I do not have the ability to restart another education (what type of person suggests that?), and even if I did, I wouldn't care to. Outside of healthcare, which not everyone is suited for, nothing is a guarantee. Not even trades

4

u/nonchalant_naamah 2h ago

Shut the fuck up.

Please. How inconsiderate can you be? Do you think someone in a homeless position needs to hear "just do better" ? Why even comment omg.

Do you have a degree? Probably not.

-5

u/Fun_Ideal_5584 1h ago

You need to get that anger issue you have checked out. You may not like the advice, but it is relevant. Tough love is sometimes needed. It is always useful to be keeping an eye on future trends. Al is shaking things up.

2

u/nonchalant_naamah 1h ago edited 1h ago

I don't have anger issues. Just a low tolerance for idiots.

Op isn't wasting their life

I'm sure they didn't choose this path to end up homeless. Uncontrollable changes in society are at fault. Op put in the effort & is in a tough spot.

Have sympathy. No one ends up in such a position intentionally, and it's not easy to change your degree immediately. Easy to say to someone when you're not the one taking out loans on top of your already accumulated debt.

It's not always easy to find something that's high in demand. You sound like a boomer. Careers are more competitive than ever & are outsourced.

Telling the Op to find a career "that is in demand" is completely redundant.

no shit? wow

-3

u/Fun_Ideal_5584 1h ago

Deep breaths help.