19 y/o free uni student with nearly $8k in trading losses need help and direction

Un étudiant de 19 ans a perdu 8 000$ en trading et cherche à changer ses habitudes financières pour se concentrer sur l'investissement à long terme.

Hi everyone, I’m 19 years old and currently attending university on a full scholarship, so I thankfully don’t have any student loan debt. However, I’ve recently come to terms with the fact that I’ve made some really poor financial decisions and need to take control before things spiral further. Over the past year, I’ve lost nearly $8,000 trading options — mostly betting on earnings plays and trying to “get rich quick.” It started small, but I kept chasing losses, convincing myself I could recover it with “one good trade.” Classic gambler behavior, I now realize. That $8k came from my fathers money which makes the whole thing much worse. Watching it disappear so fast, and knowing how long it took to earn, has been a gut punch. I’m not in debt, but this has been a serious wake-up call. I want to turn this around. I know I need to focus on long-term investing and building healthy financial habits. I’m reading The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing and have started browsing subreddits like r/Bogleheads to learn more.