I tried about 6 different university/college/trade courses in all sorts of subjects. I fucked up/failed/or got bored with most of them (except automotive technician, got apprenticed but I left pretty quick, toxic people.) So I had a ton of debt. More than I should have. I moved into a house with 4 friends. Two had a falling out with each other and left very quickly. I couldn't afford rent on my student loan, my other friend would be homeless if I left. I ended up owing my mom 8 grand on top of everything to help me out. I also got into a decent fender bender during this episode that wrote off my ancient '92 Honda Accord so ended up owing my dad money for another used car.
I gave up on school and I'm quite bitter about post secondary now. I got very lucky and landed a job in a factory that only requires high school education. The machinery I work with is very complex and a lot of it is custom made. Took me 2 years to learn on site and taking onsite exams and hands on tests to prove competence. So now I'm in a very specialized profession running machines ranging installation dates from the 1950's to current day tech. Some machines, no computers at all. I manually pulling levers, add weights to scales, open steam valves, close water valves, spin up motors by hand..and the newer machines I press buttons on a touch screen to do the exact same things. I get payed way too much money considering how little physical labor is involved. You need to pay attention and plan ahead if you got product change that'll happen on your shift, and plan out and look for potential points of failure that could cause a shutdown. The machines are very clean, making the type of plastics I make isn't a dirty business. Once you know what you're doing this place is very relaxed. My shifts are often mostly free time. Not always, but that is why I get payed the big bucks.
I just payed off my student loans last month. I'm working on paying down what I owe to my mom, I've payed my dad back. I moved out and live on my own after waiting and finding new roommates for my friend who would've been homeless. I didn't want to live with anyone after that, but I wasn't about to fuck him over.
Once I get my debt to my mother payed off I'm going to build a cushion and savings and go from there. Not sure if I want a place bigger than my 1 bedroom apartment yet but its nice knowing I COULD buy or rent a house.