bootstrap

Sam spent years bootstrapping himself through college.

Bootstrapping means building the GNU C Library, GNU Compiler Collection and several other key system programs.http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=6

Gradually, more and more terms were discovered, especially as there was a tendency in the literature to list a number of related terms together, thus allowing me to bootstrap new terms found accompanying those originally searched for.