I was going through a really tough time when i was a teen at home (self confidence issues/girl friend issues /parents marriage break down) and it effected my school (which i never realised at the time). I did well in school at times and then there were times where I barely passed anything. My dad wanted me to be a doctor but I struggled like hell in chemistry, bio and maths. While i did great in drama, english. Point is, where it counted I struggled and did really bad in and barely passed with 50s while in other classes i got 80s. Nothing really made sense other than the fact i would never amount to much.
After graduating highschool when I was 18. I lived with my mom and started working shitty jobs and continued to do so for many years for little money, and my life got bleaker and bleaker and i got more and more depressed. I saw my life as a never ending dark road with no future and I accepted it since I was so low on myself. I even had a year of really terrible depression where i just zoned out and stayed in bed or went to work. At this time I wanted to see if I was mentally slow so I got myself tested and from the tests I did they said I had the intelligence to be in University. I was utterly dumbfounded.
I realised I needed something better in my life, but still felt I was not cut out for university or college since I did terrible in highschool. I also saw that everyone else was moving forward and I was remaining still. So I decided security was this amazing glamorous job I needed. It would mean more money, better working conditions and better people. I worked my ass of to get that job and soon realised just how shit it is, the co-workers were pretty much convicts who never got caught, the pay was low and the working conditions were at times much worse than any jobs i held.
The only upside was at one job I met this guy who would never shut up about education. He used to be in security but now was in building maintenance and he made great money and did technical jobs, he was not a superintendent. He pissed me off so much, he never shut up always on and on, but he kept telling what I guess i needed to hear that he too was not good in highschool but he worked hard to get in college and worked his ass off while holding a job to get where he is. If he could do it I could as well.
Eventually I got worn down and started looking for colleges and programs half heartedly but I was doing research and whatnot. By this time my brother was a nurse, and he found out I was finally looking for college but not a 4 year course, something short but with a future. He knew of a course and told me about it. I looked into it and realised I had all the credentials I needed to get into the program so I applied and to my surprise I got in.
At the age of 25, I went to college and while it was tough I worked my ass off. I loved every minute of and fought my way through everything simply because I was paying for it so it would be a shame if i fucked up and dummied out. I studied my balls off, spent every waking moment on my assignments and studying for tests and exams. During my year in college ( real college not some everest bullshit fake college that comes on tv ads late at night) I had co-op in courts since my program was for working in courts. I met a great manager and had a chat with him for about 3 hours straight. After which I returned back to my studies and worked my ass off again. Eventually when graduation came I realised I was going to graduate with honours. I was so thrilled that I was succeeding. At this time I also got told by my professors that the courts we did co-op in were hiring and we should drop off our resumes. Most people in my program got interviews. I too got an interview which I nailed and 2 weeks later started working in courts.
Cut to almost 5 years later and I am still working in courts, make a decent living, have a union job, have benefits... my social life is still crap lol but where it counts I am blessed.
Point of this ramble is .... eventually if you work on your mind and yourself you will start to see your strength and your weakness , you will learn to make your strength stronger and also work on your weakness. Time is no limit , just keep working and eventually you will get where you want to get to.