I felt like making some /r/offmychest posts about this stuff recently, and might do so soon.

First choice fixes someone else's life majorly, but selfishly gives me a potential SO: There was a girl I knew in middle school, but (unbeknownst to me until long after the fact) when she moved away she wound up in a school situation that scarred her for life. We both had feelings for each other as friends that hold up to this day, but we are the shy "only do something if asked" type we didn't really do much beyond casual conversation, and we didn't make efforts to get back in touch until very recently when I both had the means to go to where she currently lives and mustered the willpower to try and break the shyness.

The mental scarring she got in those years apart (she was bullied by teachers and students alike) left her emotionally handicapped to the point she can't seem to hold a job (^I can't seem to either, more on that later), and she also will only trust old friends of hers. What stings me most ^{and outcomesttedly selfish for this as such} is that she declared herself asexual and let me know when I hinted at potentially restarting the friendship that way when we got back in touch. ^{I wanted to court her slow and when we were ready, and if it actually would work, tie the knot. No way that's going to happen AFAIK.}

Here's where time travel kicks in: I would intervene during moving plans, doing some or all of the following: Tell her parents the story I heard from them in the future ^{They said if they knew the outcomes of the move they would have stayed put}, provide documentation from the future that could have potentially shielded her from the post-move school situation, and/or make efforts to have our former selves keep better touch as we both could've used support through those years (we share a mental disorder) to avoid or work through our messes. I'm kicking myself for not keeping in touch over the years.

Option 2 improves my employability but erases some good with it: I would go back to my senior year of high school and warn myself to go to a college other than the one I went to. (Restraining me from this option moreso than the one-use limit is I made a couple friends there.) Academically, that college was a nightmare with trouble at every turn. If I wasn't so good at pestering profs and my parents weren't so good at motivating me, I would have dropped out or fallen into a situation similar on the surface to my middle school friend's. I managed to get through that college, but I came out practically unemployable with a heavily fragmented skill set despite entering and leaving with the exact same major, specialization, and minor. I feel I would have been better off going to a rival college. I'm currently unemployed and the only real job I had I got laid off from before I became useful. I'm in a vocational rehab program, but after months it's so far fruitless with many "close but no cigar" interviews with employers. I know it only takes one "yes"...