I’m a 20 year old trans guy with ADHD and am likely somewhere on the autism spectrum. I have an associates’ degree but I don’t think I can complete my bachelors and am planning to drop out of my current university. Taking full time classes hasn’t been good for my mental health and I’m really burnt out. I’m feeling better now that it’s summer break but I definitely haven’t recovered from the burnout.
I’ve only had one job before, it was working as a peer tutor at my university. I was good at it but it was a very laid back position and I only had to work 9 hours a week. I definitely wasn’t making enough to support myself. I don’t think I’m capable of working a 40+ hour work week, that just doesn’t seem like a sustainable workload for me. I also can’t drive so depend mostly on my parents for rides.
I’m living with my parents right now. I recognize that I am massively privileged in being able to stay with them while having my little quarter life crisis, but I don’t want to live with them forever and they don’t want me to just stay at home all year not working or going to school. Plus—even though they don’t make me feel this way—I feel like a burden to them, like I’m “free loading” by living at home in my 20s without having a job, but maybe that’s just because I’ve internalized a capitalist narrative about work.
I had been getting my degree in environmental science with the goal of becoming a wildlife conservationist. I still want to contribute to conservation efforts but I don’t know how to do so without finishing my degree and getting a job in the field. I also want to be an activist, I want to make a difference on issues like trans rights, reproductive rights, worker’s rights, etc. but I don’t even know how to find nearby protests, much less mutual aid groups to join.
Any advice on how to live independently and help make the world a better place without completing a 4 year degree or centering my life around a 40+ hour work week would be greatly appreciated.