I'm 17(M) and planning to move from Slovakia to the US - Dual Citizen - Thoughts??

General discussion

Bit of background so this makes sense. I was born in the US, lived there 7 years, then England for 3, and I've been in Slovakia for about 7 now. I'm turning 18 soon and I'm trying to figure out what the hell to do with myself, because I've got options and zero clarity.

The thing really doing my head in is that Slovakia has 13 years of mandatory schooling, so I'm technically stuck here until I'm 19. And I do not want to be here.

I'll be honest, I just don't like it. Not the country, not the environment, none of it. My Slovak is fine on paper (B2, maybe C1 if you push me) but the second I get put on the spot it falls apart. I've got no real social circle here either — no childhood friends, no family friends, nothing. You could say that's my own fault and maybe it is, but it doesn't change where I'm at. I live with my mom, she's a single mother, and our relationship isn't great. Basically nothing is holding me here and I don't see a future for myself in this place.

I also feel weirdly patriotic about the US and I want to go back. I know there's that whole thing where people get more attached to home the longer they're away from it, so maybe that's all this is. Doesn't really feel like it matters though — the pull is there either way.

So here's the plan I've been chewing on: drop out at 18, do the GED at a testing center, and enroll in community college over there. I've got about a $30k college fund, so yeah, I'm privileged and I know it — I'm hoping that money can be the bridge that lets me actually pull this off.

And I'd be doing it fully alone. I have zero family in the US. I'd land there with literally nobody. And honestly? I think that would be really good for me. I don't think moving to the US would magically change me or fix everything — but I think the US is where I actually become the person I'm trying to be, and I want that. I want to be thrown into it. Maybe that's an immature way to see it, I don't know, but that's how I feel.

The part I'm most lost on is what I'd actually do for a living. Right now my main idea is radiography — become a radiographer, maybe cross-train into MRI tech later. For anyone who doesn't know the field, it's roughly a 2-year associate's plus about a year of prereqs, so ~3 years, and it seems stable — comparable to nursing, a bit less money but better hours and probably more freedom to move around. But I'm considering my options right now. I've gone way down the salary research rabbit hole (CS majors making ~$70k entry level out of a bachelor's is insane to me), and part of me wonders if I should just try to climb the corporate ladder instead. Or say fuck it and go be a bartender in Iceland for a couple years. I genuinely don't know, which is a big part of why I'm posting this.

Couple things to save everyone some typing:

  • The military is not an option. I'm disqualified, don't suggest it.
  • One route I've considered is just getting to the US, grabbing a quick cert (phlebotomy, EKG, that kind of thing), working a year or two to build savings, then figuring out the longer play.

The one thing that actually gives me pause is that leaving probably means throwing away a solid EU education path, which is a real structural advantage. I don't know, I guess I just want your thoughts since I find it hard to imagine being in an EU country for another 5-6 years. Like i'm sick of being a 3rd culture kid. What would you do?

Posted Jul 6, 2026, 9:00 PM UTC

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