[dlcarrier]

I hope you can manage to stay away for good, this time. I quit college for good on my first try, and got a job in manufacturing and electrical engineering, and it made all of the difference. There's no point in getting in debt for something that isn't benefiting you.

Build up a portfolio of useful projects and document them well. Contact developers of open-source operating systems and see ask if they can delegate some tasks to you. Show them off at whatever forums you can, places like Maker Faires and Open Sauce, or any local event that will let you have a booth for free, and let guests know you're available for work. Low-level development is a small market, but it is in high demand.

If you like low-level software projects, try playing around with FPGAs, too.