I also taught myself to code; first on a C64, then A500, PC, Mac.
Then I studied robotics at university, which forced me to dig into several subjects I most likely would never have touched by free choice.
That foundation took me this far, we'll see what I'm doing once whatever this is has passed.
I'm not even sure I even want to work with software anymore.
No one gives a shit these days, which means experience is worthless and the chances of doing good few and far between.