Title: Hello. I&#x27;m 17, in the UK, doing A levels. I was previously highly successful for my age, academically and in extracurricular programming projects. I was reasonably competent at programming, and have created and deployed dozens of small-medium projects, some in teams. Computer science, physics, biology, and maths were easy; I got top of the class without trying. I went to a technical school that was almost perfect.<p>I had a pretty clear plan: Apply to Oxbridge. Failing that, do a degree apprenticeship at GCHQ etc.<p>March last year my friend was attacked by bullies at school. I tried to help, I was kicked in the head multiple times. The perpetrators got away with it because of our pathetic &quot;justice&quot; system. I was off school for 6 months and I have post-concussion syndrome. I am now below average intelligence. I am constantly fatigued. I have constant headaches. When symptoms are particularly bad I can barely walk or process speech. When I&#x27;ve been able to rest for a extended period I feel almost like I used to, but everything degrades whenever I try to actually do something. My doctor has been helpful and sympathetic, but I am still waiting on specialist help via the NHS.<p>I am a year into my A levels. I have done nothing but study this year. I wake up, go to school, stay awake with caffeine tablets and strong painkillers, get home, revise, then sleep. It&#x27;s the same at weekends. Studying is extremely difficult and I retain far less information. I optimise my time with Anki, spaced repetition, and Obsidian. Despite this effort, I had to drop an A level (further maths), which made my already infitesimal chance of Oxbridge zero, and I am barely staying afloat in other qualifications. My current A levels are maths, physics, and compsci.<p>I don&#x27;t do much programming now, but when I do I&#x27;m significantly worse. The most noticeable difference is in my working memory; where previously I would just write something, I now become overwhelmed if I don&#x27;t meticulously plan and break the problem up first.<p>I have no clue how to continue. At the current rate, I will get good enough grades to get into one of the local unis. I think I&#x27;d be OK with a computer science course, as I already know much of the content. However, I don&#x27;t think I can do an apprenticeship or other form of inflexible work - I am not reliably awake, and I&#x27;m simply not that intelligent anymore. I plan to take a gap year whatever I do to get some rest.<p>I&#x27;ve considered trying to work as a freelancer running a software business (after A levels&#x2F;degree), as that would hopefully allow for more flexibility regarding symptoms. However, I have absolutely no clue how I would go about doing that, or if it&#x27;s a good option. I can do desktop or web dev, I know Python, Rust, and TS well.<p>I&#x27;m not really sure what I&#x27;m asking. Is the freelance idea a good one? I really don&#x27;t know how to do things as someone who&#x27;s motivated, and retains a lot of knowledge I learnt before my concussion, but struggles to learn new things and stay awake. I&#x27;d appreciate some advice.
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