British Expats - Looking for a bit of guidance.

Hello all.

I am new in the forums as a member, however I have read various articles from here over the years, for various reasons, whether they be reassurance or what not.

Recently I have found myself completely disheartened & lacking all direction in my life with what seems a shattering end to aspirations I once had.

I graduated last summer with a 2:2 in Accounting, this wasn't through a lack of intellect, more so a lack of motivation due to two circumstances:

- I got accepted into CCSU for a year of study abroad, but when it came to the financing, because I have no contact with my mum, & my dad lives in spain, it took far too long with the whole processing of documents & I essentially missed my window at something I dreamed of.

- A relative (Grandfather) died going into my second year, the same time as I missed the opportunity for study abroad. Honestly my attendance that year was awful, 5% in some classes & I barely scraped through.

I live in a small town in the North west of the UK, about 30 minutes train journey from Manchester & after graduation, I just seemed to have little luck at getting job prospects, partly because I was applying to things beyond my CV, & some other reasons too.

I made a few big mistakes when I was late teens, (going to the wrong university on a course that was brand new, far away from home and living alone, and basically pissed it up the wall & quit at the end of the year, forcing me to come home & work as a lifeguard for 2 years & immediately sign up for University at Uclan in 2010.

Now my situation is this... I'm 24 years old, (25 in September), I have always dreamed of living in the US, or Canada but obviously I the ideal dream is California however impossible. I have no attachments of any kind but at this point barely any money either. I am currently on a work placement for 8 weeks as an accounts assistant, but its really just been data entry and nothing else so far. There is a possible job at the end, which I am unsure if I will accept, because I have to travel 1 hour 20 minutes on 3 trains each way, waking up at 5 30 am everyday and having little downtime at night for basically no money right now ( Voluntary work placement supported by the job centre).

I have considered looking at ACCA or ACA (Scared of the limitations a 2:2 presents) But I am also afraid of committing 3 years of my life to something I have no idea if its the right choice, if im capable etc.

I have always been an intelligent guy, but especially in university type education, let things distract me, maybe sometimes got lazy and other things, So I am not 100% sure of my capability as far as ACCA or ACA goes, I think with effort I could definitely do it, but I am unsure whether my heart will still be in it 2 years down the line when I am still in the same small town with nothing going on.

My only real aspiration was living & working in the US, I never really thought about the ways I would make it happen apart from becoming a chartered accountant, but when I see that even when qualified its virtually impossible, I just do not know what to do, which way to turn & how to keep a positive mental state.

This 8 week placement right now is horrible & everyday travelling there I feel numb, but as times are tough, I figured I need to at least have some kind of experience to go on my CV.

Apologies for the long introduction, I am just struggling to put a positive spin on things, or motivate myself.

Edit: I should also add, that as I am being brutally honest, I have always had a huge interest in video games, & looking back maybe I should have pursued something in that field, but Video games are something I have played a lot since a young age & certainly to the detriment of my grades sometimes. I still have 320 UCas points & a B in Maths, Science & C in English I think, with other GCSEs too.

There are plenty of local accounting firms in my area I believe ( Chorley), but Im so unsure with things in life at the moment, & afraid that I will waste years and watch them go by making no headway, never being able to even visit places I aspired to see. Travel is important to me & I want to be able to visit the 7 wonders, and many other places. But as I said, at 24... I feel like im always running out of time & that I have so much catching up to do.

Just a quick note on the current placement I am in, It is literally just doing things like posting invoices, doing bank & CC recs everyday, and other general things with Sage & I am listed as accounts assistant. My issue with it, is that it doesn't feel like it will be any benefit to me whatsoever, maybe I am just worrying about nothing on that though.