Goodbye, So Long, Fare Thee Well

I made the mistake of going for dual degrees in Computer Information Systems and PHILOSOPHY at the same time.

Silly me.

I want to contrast generic rules of thumb with college and reality.

1) Multiply your credit hours by three to calculate the time you need for classwork.
--You will be surprised how quickly you can get things done when you're against a hard deadline. If you are efficient, you can get your time to a 1:1 ratio.

2) Achieving degrees is the end-all for guaranteed employment
--Attitude is one of the biggest characteristics employers seek. They can train a poodle to do your job if they wanted to. Most companies will spend the effort to train you in any skill if they believe you are worth the effort. Degrees wind up being a foundation for your future.

3) Each subsequent degree is harder.
--Each subsequent degree is easier as it is more specialized, and focuses on the field you enjoy. If you choose to further your education after undergrad, it becomes more enjoyable.

One last piece of advice:
Stay in tune with your passions. I was in the first year of my doctorate when I realized I was getting a degree for a career I had no interest in pursuing. I was burned out and frustrated. There is nothing wrong with leaving a field because something else interests you. I certainly was talented in this field, but hating your job is a very poor way to live your life. It has been said that there are those that get a job to pay to do the things they love and that there are those that the job is the thing they love. I believe the latter will always be more rewarding.

Tonality just reminded me of something else.

You're now going from EDUCATION BY LAW to EDUCATION BY CHOICE.

Get the most you can out of it, LEARN all you can. Do all your work, ask your professors all the questions you can. Why? Because YOU are PAYING for it. Why not get the most for your money?

I wish someone had told me that when I was going in.

Don't lose confidence in yourself. You can do it. If a topic is too hard at first, keep trying, ask questions, don't be afraid to admit you don't understand and ask and question until you do. Persistence will get you there, you have the equipment to learn engineering, but it then takes effort - and you seem set to put in the effort. Don't beat your head on a brick wall though if something is not coming clear after your own efforts, reach out and ask someone. A classmate, a teacher, TA, even a librarian... your friends... a new viewpoint can often get you past the hurdle.

And the most important thing I learned in college is that some things are simply not known by anyone. I'm not talking about conspiracies or 'the truth is out there' type things or 'things man was not meant to know' - these are ordinary things that someone will know someday and everyone will know eventually - but right now, no one knows yet. So don't be surprised when you start learning where the edges of human knowledge are when you study your higher subjects.

Can't help but feel the forums will feel a little different with you gone, mang.

Still, you're making a very solid decision, and I wish you the best of luck. The biggest advice I can offer in this is to get all of your feelers out in the first year of college. Figure out what is, and is not, within the realm of possibility with your class schedule. You may think five classes/week sounds like an easy to maintain number now, but from experience... Some classes are just that much more intensive out of the classroom, as they are in. Work on trying to gauge the difference now, and give this some serious consideration for classes that you think you may have trouble with.

Personally, for reasons beyond my understanding, I have a mental block with accounting. Can't do it for the life of me, despite doing crazy calculations all of the time out of sheer random desire. For every one hour I spent in class, I spend roughly 5 out of class trying to wrap my head around things. For other things (computer maintenance/repair), I could spend maybe an hour out of class for every two in class (conscious or not) and sail through. Same with most of my writing courses, for that matter. Know, understand, and recognize your strengths and weaknesses (which I doubt you have a problem with, but it never hurts to restate) and tailor your schedule to fit with how you roll.

First year is a great year to do a mulligan if you have or want to. Everything after that starts to have more importance, but this last bit of advice I'll give you is perhaps the most important.

Don't panic.

You can always try again (at some expense, mind).

Again, good luck out there, mang, and hope things turn out for the best for you.

Gonna miss you A_C

Good luck to you A_C. It's been great reading your posts on the forums and it was a lot of fun teaming with you, even though I didn't team with you much. You've always been quite good at giving well reasoned arguments so I imagine you'll do quite well in school.

So good luck and definitely come back to visit for the reactivation weekends. It won't be quite the same without you.

Huh- best of luck, A_C.

Couple of fragments of advice from me, although a lot has been covered already; if you go after your studies with the same intensity you seem to bring to the table to a lot of stuff... make sure you make time to relax. You can be 'handling' your coursework without difficulty, but be spiralling into burnout at the same time, because 'college' has become an obsessive, single-focus task. Get away from things every so often, especially if, like me, you can hit the "THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN!" point with deadlines >.O

If you have even mild difficulties with your hearing... bring a decent recording device of some sort into class, especially to start with; enough profs have a horrible habit of mumbling that even people with exceptional hearing can run into difficulties, and you don't want to miss the content of the first three lecture because you have no idea what Professor Mushmouth-McDoesn't-Hand-Out-Outlines said.

Anyways, take care of yourself, and try not to de-orbit anything onto my house, eh?

Thanks for the good times, A_C. Come back for a visit and I'll plant for Fallout and see if we get that elusive Happy_Citizen again.

Good luck! An education is worth the sacrifice and I'm sure you'll do well.

Jer

Advice about college:

Enjoy it. It's a time of learning and finding yourself. It can be the greatest time in your life, if you let it. Stretch yourself both intellectually and socially. It's not just about learning from books it's also about learning who you are. Soak it all in.

Wow... goodbye AC, it's always sad to see a familiar face leave.

Best of luck with your education

Aside from the advice people have already stated (always going to class is huge), I would also suggest actively participating in class. If you have a question, ask it. If you don't feel comfortable talking in front of a lot of strangers, corner the prof. after class. The fact is, if the person asigning the grades knows who you are and knows that you've expended some effort trying to learn the material, you are more likely to get a better grade.

Also, in engineering especially, keep your grade point average above 3.2 - D may stand for diploma, but it also stands for unemployeD. With a 3.2 you can probably get a free ride to grad school (the rule of thumb being: if you have to pay for engineering grad school, you shouldn't be in engineering grad school) or get you a job without experience (assuming you're going into the traditional fields - (i.e. not computer/software engineering - because co-ops and interns in traditional engineering fields rarely do any actual engineering work anyway). Still, co-oping and interning can help get you a job at the places you co-op or intern at.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you will get screwed by the school. Just accept it. It doesn't matter where you go or what you study, the school will a) sell more parking permits than there are parking spaces, b) neglect to tell you that XYZ 120 is a required class to graduate in your major, c) lose some important form that you turned in, etc. When things like that happen, just remember that your goal is a degree, and that 1 (or 3) more semester(s) extra because of someone else's mistake is small potatoes compared to the rest of your (hopefully) long life. 4-6 years out of 90, which should make the remaining 65 more comfortable.

And just think, when you're out of school, you'll have all weekends to play the game.

EDIT: BTW, UT Austin is an awesome engineering school. Easily in the top 10 in the nation (probably top 5, to be honest).

God Bless you AC. I've seen your posts for years and while I didn't always agree with you I did always value your opinion. You are one of a select few on these boards I can say has a truly deep appreciation for this game and a great head on your shoulders. I'll pray for you and that you find success in your chosen field. I thank you for all your stimulating posts and sometimes hard headed opinions that led to so many heated yet fun conversations. Go with God man and may you find happiness in your life and if you ever get a chance drop on by and say hi to the gang from time to time

Patrick 'Lord_of_Time' Brusio

I've been following these boards for years, despite not having posting rights, and I've come to know you as a thoughtful individual who has had a lot to contribute here. No doubt you'll do the same in the world of academics.

Congratulations on your choice to pursue higher education and good luck!

Well, good-bye and good luck.

All of the advice here is good, I won't repeat it.

As somebody who was also the first in the family to go on to higher education, I have one more suggestion: Be prepared to try harder than you did to get this far. In families where the parents have been to college, they tend to pass on the study habits early. Mine didn't have that experience, and I got through school with good grades mostly on being smart and showing up. In college, you probably can expect to have to study and work on assignments much more than you did in high school, for the same grades -- especially when you move on to the university.

Community colleges are, in my experience great at actually teaching. Universities, again just in my experience, can be more about figuring out how to teach yourself. Professors sometimes don't even want to deal with undergraduates. You have to know how to study and research. You seem to have a solid language ability, so you should be well capable of this. Just be prepared.

I was a first gen college student in my family as well and let's just say I graduated before you were born without getting into how long before you were born...

There's a lot of good advice here from the gang so I will only add the two things that tripped me up and nearly got me:

1. You are stopping playing this wonderful game. I would stay up way too late playing games (DND, Risk, and eventually some games on my Apple II). You must keep that focus that you have because it is right.

2. Don't let a guidance counselor guide you on a bad path. I knew classes before 9am would not work for me but I got pressured into an 8am and darn near lost my scholarships because of it (fortunately I could take it pass/fail which did not affect my GPA so I had to fail it).

Good luck and have fun and look forward in several years to returning to this game which I not only believe will still be around but will be even better.