Just remember that you're going to soon-- not immediately, but soon- be entering a part in your life where you start to switch from "Followed the path of primary school" to "can now choose one's path with unprecedented openness"
one of the most important things I ever learned was that there's no timetable for shit; when I hit 25 I had big plans for what I wanted 30 to look like, where I wanted to be, what I wanted to have, all that stuff
and absolutely do not base your expectations of success on what other people have or when they had it; everyone goes at their own pace and that's fine.
I'm definitely going to college—one of my most trusted friends described it as "daycare for newly free adults," which is, like, something I need lol. Even beyond education, having someplace where I can figure out how to take care of myself better is going to be... pretty crucial, I think. But beyond that, like, who the fuck knows?
Game design/dev is always going to be my passion. However, through my actually extensive research, going to college explicitly for that is generally a terrible plan. I'm going for a comp sci degree instead, which is a) more generally applicable, something I can easily use to pivot into the industry, and c) something I can use out of the industry too.
I never ended up going to a dev company at all because of all the horror stories. (And also I'm female and that's not a culture I'm willing to tolerate.)
Like. Most of the game design degrees that I've seen are either extremely shady or have a good pedigree but horrible cultures and environments around them.
But the actual dev side of things is where I really need help, ultimately. And the design degrees' main "upside" is that they give you an opportunity to pivot straight into an entry-level position in a AAA company.
You've got a good head for mechanics and the like if your MoE work is any indication; you might consider tabletop game design instead of video; like at Wizards or Paizo
ANYWAY. Re: being 18... the thing that impacted me the most was the sudden weighty knowledge that if I fucked up and got arrested again it would be Permanent. So like... Don't Do That.
Because I know too many college kids who have had close calls in that regard because they were dumb and went drinking before they were legal. And the idiots who bought them the alcohol in the first place
The one good thing my mom's bartender ex-boyfriend did while he raised me was drill it into my head how much of a terrible idea it is to get blind drunk/get high in a public venue
'Being an adult' is something that's largely made up.
And that's not even discussing Paizo's recent quality nosedive, oofI'm not, I actually super hate programming. I decided on CS purely based on $$$oh that is 100% valid honestlyi'm like neutral on programming but i have a decent head for it soAnd the idiots who bought them the alcohol in the first place