Many years ago, I taught swimming lessons. In our program we did not have levels in our classes, we taught to the child’s ability, mixing both ages and abilities in the class. What this did was the younger kids wanted to keep up with the older kids in their abilities. And the older kids that were more apprehensive would watch the younger kids putting their faces in the water and trying to swim without hesitation and it would push them to want to do what they were afraid of. I think everyone learns best in community with mixed ages and abilities.
I see this in both my own kids, one is about to turn 5 and the other just turned 1 last month. The younger really wants to keep up with his older brother.
I’ve got some college but no official degree as well. I did a bootcamp for a CCNA with 0 experience in 2012. It was like learning a foreign language. I had to buy the official cert guide and studied hard for a year, I eventually got the CCNA cert in 2014. After that I kept getting additional Cisco certs, CCNA - security, CCNA - cyberops, and now am working on the CCNP. Once I got my CCNA I was able to get into a help desk position, and have moved up to analyst, and engineer. With each job jump have increased salary 30-50%. Honestly in tech I’d recommend moving around every 1-3 years to get that pay bump.
If you have a good manager, they will recognize that a college degree in IT and security specifically is not really necessary.
Some certs to look at for entry level network security, Cisco cyberops associate or CompTIA security+
Homebrewing. I have made many a beer over 8 or 9 years. They get better with each batch, but along with it is another new piece of equipment to make the process easier or more efficient.