Comment Advice to young people from someone who's younger (Score 1) 186
Howdy,
I was in my fifth year of schooling for my B.S. when I finally said to hell with it. I'm a bit of a weird case. 5 years in college and still no B.S. might sound pretty lame, but I was 13 when I started. I'm "precocious" or what have you, but do to all sorts of mental health screwups I can't keep a normal schedule. So when I hear the offers (fat salary, _flex time_, be a part of a research team, relocation bonus and beni's) I was there in an instant. To hell with finishing my BS, as I wasn't learning anything anyway.
Unfortunately, not everything is always as rosy as it looks. Here are some things I've learned:
1) Having a degree gives you options. Drudgery in school sucks, I understand this perhaps more than anyone. Drudgery in the workplace is much, much, much worse. Plus, college is FUN, damnit. You get to hang out with people that don't have kids your age (sorry, i'm kinda bitter about that), you can sleep through lecture, learn how to tango, take classes in drawing naked people, whatever. If I get the chance, I'm going back to college and staying there forever.
2) Get everything the guy who's recruiting you says in writing. "Flextime" for me lasted about two weeks, then I started getting lectures about not showing up at certain times. My work in a research team got cut short within a month because it went to product, so I'm doing QA and testing code. Not too exciting. I was naive, and I was a hotshot, so I assumed they'd want to keep me happy. Humbug... once they have you, they know that it looks bad for you to quit too early, so they've got you for at least a few months.
3) Unless you have either children or a cocaine habit to support, if you're young, SCREW THE MONEY. Learn. Enjoy. Live. Spending more hours per day in a cubicle my age is a sign. Get a job where you're doing something that you really love, develop some new skills, hang out with people that share your interests/age/culture/whatever. Take kung fu =).
That fat wad of cash will look very pretty at first, but it won't be so fun when you don't have the time to enjoy it.
kung fu to you too!
-ChineseBoxer
I was in my fifth year of schooling for my B.S. when I finally said to hell with it. I'm a bit of a weird case. 5 years in college and still no B.S. might sound pretty lame, but I was 13 when I started. I'm "precocious" or what have you, but do to all sorts of mental health screwups I can't keep a normal schedule. So when I hear the offers (fat salary, _flex time_, be a part of a research team, relocation bonus and beni's) I was there in an instant. To hell with finishing my BS, as I wasn't learning anything anyway.
Unfortunately, not everything is always as rosy as it looks. Here are some things I've learned:
1) Having a degree gives you options. Drudgery in school sucks, I understand this perhaps more than anyone. Drudgery in the workplace is much, much, much worse. Plus, college is FUN, damnit. You get to hang out with people that don't have kids your age (sorry, i'm kinda bitter about that), you can sleep through lecture, learn how to tango, take classes in drawing naked people, whatever. If I get the chance, I'm going back to college and staying there forever.
2) Get everything the guy who's recruiting you says in writing. "Flextime" for me lasted about two weeks, then I started getting lectures about not showing up at certain times. My work in a research team got cut short within a month because it went to product, so I'm doing QA and testing code. Not too exciting. I was naive, and I was a hotshot, so I assumed they'd want to keep me happy. Humbug... once they have you, they know that it looks bad for you to quit too early, so they've got you for at least a few months.
3) Unless you have either children or a cocaine habit to support, if you're young, SCREW THE MONEY. Learn. Enjoy. Live. Spending more hours per day in a cubicle my age is a sign. Get a job where you're doing something that you really love, develop some new skills, hang out with people that share your interests/age/culture/whatever. Take kung fu =).
That fat wad of cash will look very pretty at first, but it won't be so fun when you don't have the time to enjoy it.
kung fu to you too!
-ChineseBoxer
