At age 28 I moved cross country, away from the toxic environment where I grew up, I had a high school degree and my work experiences were limited to blue collar work/clerk.

I got a crappy entry-level job in an office, enrolled in college part-time, I was making $ 18,100/year at my full-time job, I was paying $500/month in rent, $150/month for a crappy car, and $550/per each college class. I did not qualify for student loans since I was making too much money.

So I took a part-time job, on top of my full time job, so that I could go to school at night 3 times a week.

It took me 8 years to graduate with my BS in Business (minor in CS), I went on for my MBA... to make a long story short it all paid off, I became a VP and develop a career mixed between being an executive and being an entrepreneur.

Chances are that my "recipe" won't work out for you, the common thread between my stories and other stories that I have heard is:

* work hard

* make your own mistakes (I have made a few, I didn't list them above)

* iterate fast

* when failing, pick up the pieces and continue

Not all that wanders are lost.

You could try the entrepreneurship route.

Also, read: The War on Art (by Steven Pressfield)