Might be a bit simple but not the “North Star” (Polaris)? Navigation could work via analysis of stars positions relative to eachother/positions of constellations relative to the ship. You could justify it in-universe as being a nod to how early mariners used these same stars to navigate Earth’s oceans.

Go to your local food bank, that should help your food situation for now. Once you get some money get a giant bag of white rice and a cheap rice cooker. Eat the rice plus any protein and veggies you can get to make low cost meals as you financially recover. In terms of tech skills that can be developed Google offers several free certifications in Google analytics, Google ads, etc. Get a few of those and practice (should only take a few days) and try to get an entry level digital marketing, SEM, or PPC role. Once you get the role keep practicing and expanding your certifications to increase stability.

Strange New Worlds definitely still has the “optimistic” viewpoint of old trek. I think that’s why it has been doing so well. I think the problem in other modern Trek shows like the first 2 seasons of Picard or all of Discovery was that there wasn’t enough of the hopeful optimism that made Trekkies fall in love with the franchise. There doesn’t need to be a universe ending plot calamity, exploration and interesting sci-fi plots that actually drive character development are enough.

Even “grittier” old trek like DS9 (my favourite trek show) had optimistic undertones of recognizing similarities between cultures, forging alliances, trying to be ethical in the face of war, and addressing social issues.

Even the underlying theme of Voyager was to maintain the ideals of the federation against all odds in the face if hopelessness.

I just hope studios see the success of Strange New Worlds and make more trek like it.

Riker, his face bearded.