I didn’t go back to college because it was the obvious next step. I had already built a career without a degree and could continue along that path (which I am currently). I went back because the idea had been sitting in the back of my mind for years—quietly waiting for the right moment, a time that wasn’t complicated with moving around every few years. By the time I logged back into a college portal, life had already taken me through full-time work, management roles, and more than one cross-country move. When I graduated high school in 2008, the country seemed to drop out from under us. Career advice sounded…