Flash Flash Revolution - View Single Post - Having a difficult time deciding what to do with my life.

**Cavernio** · 11-30-2012, 07:52 AM

I don't call myself unemployed anymore, but a homemaker. Marry a woman with a good job

My mental health and apparently physical health started falling apart when I started a psychology degree, and everything sort of messed up from there. I do know one very important lesson though, you fail when you stop trying, not the other way around. And if you hate what you're doing, you won't try unless you've got other strong reasons to keep going, eg: kids.

I too found math to be waaaay harder after highschool, but I think a lot of that is because in highschool you actually DO a lot more math. Half of the class or more is doing problems, not being taught them. And only some profs will give you weekly assignments to turn in. You really have to give yourself more time to do homework and study, because lectures are just that, lectures.

Programming is very mentally demanding, but it's not really math. My vaguely formed opinion about it is that if you don't seem to have a problem with some basic concepts it, you'll be fine. If, however, even with a lot of effort and a good teacher or tutor and it still all feels greek, then you probably shouldn't be doing it. It all builds on itself. There are definitely careers that involve minimal programming. I wouldn't call programming boring or repetitive. It's not data entry. It requires a lot of thinking things through. Even a program which *should* be the same as one you just wrote will have something different about it. There can be a very high level of frustration though, as the only pleasure one can get from debugging is not doing it anymore. Rather like being told you have to hit your head against a wall and how nice it feels when you stop :-p

UNB has an excellent CS program with an even better co-op program. You work a semester, study a semester, and the jobs they offer are from all across Canada and are diverse and are screened well so you won't be stuck doing data entry (like some people I knew at Guelph who were in cs co-op). It also has 5 or 6 subspecialties that you choose from eventually, all geared towards different career paths in the field. So you could become a network administrator, for example, or if you love it you could go on and work on theoretical stuff. I believe they also offer some sort of hybrid electrical engineering/CS degree.
You would, of course, have to get your highschool courses done first.

I don't really know all this, but you have to be careful about what your college teaches. I've just heard too many stories of people doing college only to find out that their accreditation was good for nothing. I would personally choose college only for programs that universities don't offer degrees in. Anything hands-on, or artistic, or something like accounting or human resources.

If you want a lot of money and don't want to do physical labour, I can only think of starting your own business, or university. (I'm sure there's other ways of making lots of money than I can think about though, it's just me.) If, on the other hand, you want to work ASAP and the thought of 4+ more years of education is horrible, there's plenty of administrative or not physically demanding technician jobs that I'm sure colleges can train you for in a year or 2. Those I would call boring and/or repetitive though.

You really seem like a person who should be pursuing higher education. It's the best way to avoid repetition/meniality.

11-30-2012, 07:52 AM	#25
Cavernio sunshine and rainbows Join Date: Feb 2006 Age: 41 Posts: 1,987	Re: Having a difficult time deciding what to do with my life. I don't call myself unemployed anymore, but a homemaker. Marry a woman with a good job My mental health and apparently physical health started falling apart when I started a psychology degree, and everything sort of messed up from there. I do know one very important lesson though, you fail when you stop trying, not the other way around. And if you hate what you're doing, you won't try unless you've got other strong reasons to keep going, eg: kids. I too found math to be waaaay harder after highschool, but I think a lot of that is because in highschool you actually DO a lot more math. Half of the class or more is doing problems, not being taught them. And only some profs will give you weekly assignments to turn in. You really have to give yourself more time to do homework and study, because lectures are just that, lectures. Programming is very mentally demanding, but it's not really math. My vaguely formed opinion about it is that if you don't seem to have a problem with some basic concepts it, you'll be fine. If, however, even with a lot of effort and a good teacher or tutor and it still all feels greek, then you probably shouldn't be doing it. It all builds on itself. There are definitely careers that involve minimal programming. I wouldn't call programming boring or repetitive. It's not data entry. It requires a lot of thinking things through. Even a program which should be the same as one you just wrote will have something different about it. There can be a very high level of frustration though, as the only pleasure one can get from debugging is not doing it anymore. Rather like being told you have to hit your head against a wall and how nice it feels when you stop :-p UNB has an excellent CS program with an even better co-op program. You work a semester, study a semester, and the jobs they offer are from all across Canada and are diverse and are screened well so you won't be stuck doing data entry (like some people I knew at Guelph who were in cs co-op). It also has 5 or 6 subspecialties that you choose from eventually, all geared towards different career paths in the field. So you could become a network administrator, for example, or if you love it you could go on and work on theoretical stuff. I believe they also offer some sort of hybrid electrical engineering/CS degree. You would, of course, have to get your highschool courses done first. I don't really know all this, but you have to be careful about what your college teaches. I've just heard too many stories of people doing college only to find out that their accreditation was good for nothing. I would personally choose college only for programs that universities don't offer degrees in. Anything hands-on, or artistic, or something like accounting or human resources. If you want a lot of money and don't want to do physical labour, I can only think of starting your own business, or university. (I'm sure there's other ways of making lots of money than I can think about though, it's just me.) If, on the other hand, you want to work ASAP and the thought of 4+ more years of education is horrible, there's plenty of administrative or not physically demanding technician jobs that I'm sure colleges can train you for in a year or 2. Those I would call boring and/or repetitive though. You really seem like a person who should be pursuing higher education. It's the best way to avoid repetition/meniality. Last edited by Cavernio; 11-30-2012 at 07:59 AM..