Play his role without the death of his father and incidental lawyer willing to work pro-bono (or, I suspect, on commission): would his hard work have gotten him anywhere besides an early grave? Having been to sea, I can personally say that I seriously doubt he would have gotten much further than his father. Born as grist for the mill.
>>killjo+(OP)
...except that that's what we have student loans for. If you want to go to college and study CS, you can do that. Even if you don't have money from one of your parents dying.