I mulled over this overnight, and of the myriad of things I'd want to say managed to narrow it down to just two things:
Find a community to share with. - Learning is all about feedback. Whether it is Stack Overflow, DEV, or something more specific to the tech you're learning, it is important to share, ask questions, and be open to listening.
Build something useful or valuable to you. - My first website was some boxes that calculated the quadratic formula, because I didn't want to do my homework. I think as much as we want to add value to the world, it is much easier and digestable to start with yourself. And who knows? What's useful to you might be useful to someone else too.
Regarding college, I'm one of the people who managed to go through it. I won't make a recommendation, but will instead just share my experience.
The fundamental thing I learned is this: college teaches computer science, but jobs require software engineering. Another way to phrase it, college best prepares you to become a college professor, not an industry worker.
5 weeks of training at my first job did more to prepare me for the job (and other adjacent jobs) than 4 years in university. Things I learned in those 5 weeks that I never learned at college include:
Automated testing (seriously, how on earth does college fail to teach the single-most fundamental thing about engineering?)
Agile software delivery
Refactoring and evolutionary design
Working on cross-functional teams (aka, not just devs)
Dealing with stakeholders
All that said, college did provide an opportunity to learn a bunch of things I was able to transfer, mostly tons of raw practice on stuff I was unfamiliar with, exposure to a diveristy of sub-fields, git and linux, and algorithmic problem solving. I wouldn't have landed my job without any of that. Could those things be learned elsewhere? Almost certainly, as long as it doesn't sacrifice Point #1 at the top.
I remember college for the experiences I had with a bunch of people going through the same thing. In the end, it was less about what I learned and more about who I was with while learning.
Thanks for this awesome, well thought out response Timothy. I really appreciate your personal take on college and what you benefited from your experience going to a university.
This will be one of the comments that will most definietly give Stevie from insight into the college vs. non-college paths.
Thank you for investing the time to create such a thoughtful response.
I mulled over this overnight, and of the myriad of things I'd want to say managed to narrow it down to just two things:
Regarding college, I'm one of the people who managed to go through it. I won't make a recommendation, but will instead just share my experience.
The fundamental thing I learned is this: college teaches computer science, but jobs require software engineering. Another way to phrase it, college best prepares you to become a college professor, not an industry worker.
5 weeks of training at my first job did more to prepare me for the job (and other adjacent jobs) than 4 years in university. Things I learned in those 5 weeks that I never learned at college include:
All that said, college did provide an opportunity to learn a bunch of things I was able to transfer, mostly tons of raw practice on stuff I was unfamiliar with, exposure to a diveristy of sub-fields, git and linux, and algorithmic problem solving. I wouldn't have landed my job without any of that. Could those things be learned elsewhere? Almost certainly, as long as it doesn't sacrifice Point #1 at the top.
I remember college for the experiences I had with a bunch of people going through the same thing. In the end, it was less about what I learned and more about who I was with while learning.
Thanks for this awesome, well thought out response Timothy. I really appreciate your personal take on college and what you benefited from your experience going to a university.
This will be one of the comments that will most definietly give Stevie from insight into the college vs. non-college paths.
Thank you for investing the time to create such a thoughtful response.
You are right, I have been spend my high school life on Point #2. But without college, I believe I won't get the Point #1.