maafaa
+1y
I was in the same boat as you. I went to school part time and worked full time because I got a pretty decent job right out of high school. I was a meat cutter started out making 12.50 (this was in 95). Problem is you have to look at top out pay for your job. After two years I was topped out at 16/hr, thats barely 30k a year, not bad but not going to get you a lot of extras in life. Than again my brother is a hs dropout but runs his own masonary company now and makes well over 100k. I think if you are not going to go to school you really need a plan so you dont end up another number at the factory. You dont have to know what you want to do with your life on the first day of class either, hell you can spend the first two years just getting your basics out of the way.
College isnt for everybody but I would recommedn you get into a trade and not just go work at a factory. Electricians, plumbers, piepfitters, carpenters, masons,etc, etc, etc. They all make about what your average BA/BS does but the work is hard and usually a lot of OT.