Hi Zac,
That's a bastard of a situation. But it sounds like you have come out with a positive attitude.
I well recall when I left my first marriage (ten years that should never have happened), I went on a re-calibrating road trip. Driving along the western highway between Horsham and the Victoria South Australia border with the windows down and Mahler's Resurrection symphony playing at 11, and thinking, shall I stop for lunch at the next town for lunch? Dammit, why not. There's noone to tell me I can't. Such freedom!
Good luck with the Aerospace Engineering! It was the Engineering I wanted to study!
Cheers,
Hugh