u/Jaded_Explanation322

I’m 29 years old and honestly feel like I destroyed my own future through years of bad decisions.

Back in high school in Kenya, I was considered a bright student. I scored a B and thought life would eventually work out for me. My dream was to study Civil Engineering, but I didn’t qualify for the degree program I wanted, so I enrolled for a diploma in Civil Engineering instead after finishing school in 2015.

That’s where things slowly started falling apart.

While in college, I developed a gambling addiction and ended up gambling away my school fees for almost two years. I eventually dropped out. My parents gave me another chance in 2018 and supported me so I could start over from scratch.

Then COVID happened in 2020. Everything became unstable again, and by 2022 I had dropped out for the second time without finishing my diploma.

Since then, I’ve tried starting different businesses, but every single one has failed. Looking back, I think I kept jumping from one thing to another hoping for a quick breakthrough instead of building real skills or stability.

The only reason I managed to survive through all these years was because my parents kept helping me financially. Now that support is gone. They’re tired of my mistakes and want me to figure life out on my own.

I’ve been trying to find work so I can eventually go back and finish my diploma, but getting a job has been extremely difficult. Most available jobs are manual labor or construction work, and I struggle with that physically because of allergies and health issues.

Things got so bad earlier this year that I even tried getting involved in illegal smuggling just to survive. I got caught by police and only avoided jail after paying a bribe. That experience scared me and made me realize how desperate and lost I had become.

Right now, I can barely afford basic needs. I don’t even own a smartphone anymore. I’m typing this from a relative’s laptop while thinking about how badly my life has spiraled over the last decade.

AMA.