| Corey McCleskey wrote on Sun, 09 April 2006 14:54 |
I would love to have a formal education, and the idea alone of being in a place of study with like minds seems like a dream.
(in fact when i was like 14-15 i always wanted to go to M.I.T.)
but unfourtunately the world I live in made this all quite difficult. (I lived on my own at sixteen)
<snip>
...(in fact probably the reason for this train of thought is because I turned 25 two days ago and realised I still havent made it back)
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Corey, don't get down on yourself. I had similar experiences in my life and I still ended up doing what I'd hoped.
I tried the community college route right out of high school and crashed and burned half way through the 2nd year. I was too smart for my own good and had skated through high school without ever learning how to work. I did great in the subjects that interested me, but blew off the stuff that didn't. If nothing else I proved once again that you can't make it through college on nothing but last minute cramming sessions and good test taking skills.
Once I was out on my own, I found a job as an electronics tech that paid peanuts, but gained me experience and training. Eventually I parleyed that experience into a decent job with a larger company that had tuition reimbursement. The company paid the costs, but I still had to work full time while going to school. 5 years of hell (and no life) later I had a EE degree (at the age of 36). Now I am a senior engineer and get to do hardware/software design and get to solve tough problems and play with lots of cool toys from companies like Agilent/LaCroy/Tektronics etc. I love the work I do although there are issues involving management and macroeconomic trends that make life less than perfect.
The point is that if you have what it takes and aren't afraid of hard work, people will take a chance on you. I would have preferred to go to a top engineering school right out of high school, but based on where my head was at the time, I probably would have failed there also. Going back as an adult made me realize how easy school really is. The instructor tells you what to do, you do it, you get the A. All it takes is good work habits and a bit of effort. By the way I graduated with a 4.0 GPA. It's not that I am a super genius, it's just that school is really aimed at kids who are too busy partying to spend much time working. Treat school like a job and it is easy to succeed.
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Topic: realistic future in this industry? (Read 5199 times)