Hello asktrp, I'm an 18yo at the end of my first semester in high school and have moved back to my place of birth in the U.S. Discovering TRP changed me, and although I still struggle with some issues (e.g. procrastination), I am way better off than before and this site has given me the tools to fix and further improve on these problems.

Now, my time spent with my mother abroad (she divorced my dad) wasn't really... nice. Living in foreign countries was difficult, my mom was controlling and wouldn't let me work, would try to shelter me from the outside world. When I turned 18 and moved back here for my senior year, I got my GPA up to about 3.6 (would have been over 4.0 if it weren't for the dumpster fire grades of my previous years) and, while that is enough to cover 80% of my college tuition, I do not want to make loans to cover the remaining expenses as I have no money. I also need to get away urgently from my current state as my father, who is also very controlling and deeply religious, wants to keep me very close to him during college to "make sure I don't do anything inappropriate".

I want to become an electrical engineer - I've done some talking with military recruiters, and the Navy is willing to train me as an electrician and do 4 years. Sure, it isn't an engineer-level job, but it can teach me a bit about it, correct? Save up all of my money, then, after my contract is done, go to college and pursue career in the field. Would you recommend this to somebody who wants to go out on his own, learn a trade pertinent to what he wants to become, and then just do it?

tl;dr broke 18yo who needs some life experience and money before going to college, strongly considering to join the Navy, any advice?