You’ve said a lot here—I want to say first, that a death in family, if you’re grieving or otherwise affected, is going to influence your thinking. Generally what you’re heard about not making decisions in this state is true. Except that life has to be attended to. That’s the hard part

Life doesn’t have to follow the path everyone else seems to take. Like other posters have said—you can take one class at a time. You may be able to get a hardship withdrawal if you need it (my daughter was able to do this). It’s for physical/mental or extenuating circumstances.

FYI - my late husband took 14 years to finish college. When he graduated, one of the top tech co. hired him. It didn’t hurt his prospects to go slowly. He even took a semester off.