[sigmaprimus]

You mentioned it was your first and only felony a couple of times, like that is something to be proud of. Truth is it was your fourth time GETTING CAUGHT driving while impaired. Obviously the first three times the punishment wasn't strong enough to break your habit of making bad choices. I'm concerned that you have now decided to stop drinking all together and that your using the drinking as a scapegoat for your selfishness, the problem with this attitude is the cycle of addiction sets up the situation that when you relapse eventually, as most people do, chances are you will get behind the wheel again.

Now that I'm done ranting...It is definitely not over for you, your felony will have an affect on your life but that will be the case regardless of your career choice. You are still young enough to build a great career and succeed at life. I would start by looking into online courses such as Coursera or maybe one of the places listed on this site: https://acethinker.com/web-videos/sites-like-coursera.html

Unfortunately a felony conviction does make it difficult to receive government financial aid and grants but it is still possible to get help through private means. I would also suggest volenteering, there is no easier way to gain practical experience than this and it will go a long way towards getting your felony expunged once enough time has passed. Good luck, it's not going to be as easy as giving up but nothing worth doing is.