I earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in computer science consecutively and was very proud of it. I worked in the field until the age of 33, when I married my husband, whom I met the year prior during the pandemic, and decided to stop working to focus on being a trophy wife full-time. I’m currently considering getting a PhD, since I have a lot of time on my hands, to complete the academic “trifecta”.
I have a bachelor’s but quite honestly, in my current job, I don’t need it. The only reason why I got it was just to have that shiny title on my resume. The job I have barely requires anything I learned in school and school was a lot harder than my current job. So, all in all, it’s a nice to have but not needed.
My Bachelor’s degree let me emigrate, so no complaints there.
But having knowledge of exactly how screwed the world is right now is pretty cursed.
A couple years of university in engineering then co outer science, dropped out due to a combination of stress and financial issues. Worked since then at menial jobs and up to a decent position in software development and learned a lot more through job experience than in an educational setting.
That isn’t to knock dedicated educational institutions, but that learning can and does happen outside of those settings too. Would have preferred to finish the degree, but at this point it would be a lot of money to have a piece of paper that HR checks off a list.
I’ve only graduated high school and nothing more. I’m fine with how I ended up (making $34k after taxes and insurance deductions), but wouldn’t mind making more. I just don’t like the idea of investing tons of money into education with no long term plan and especially not putting it into classes I couldn’t care less about.
PhD in physics. Worked in academia for a while after that, but getting permanent positions is hard so I sold out and am now chilling in an engineering job.
I have a bachelor’s degree and technical master’s degree in the field I’m working in. The master’s degree has been useful in my line of work. I wouldn’t get a doctorate in my field because I don’t want to do research, even if it would be cool crashing trucks into barriers.
High School diploma. I just simply knew how horrible my schooling has gotten up until graduating, that going to college wasn’t an option even if I wanted to. Extended education is not entirely off the table for me, it’s just a matter of getting in position to deal with what costs if any, comes from it.
I only completed a couple of college classes and could never “find myself.” I started when 3d animation was “new” and every class ended up being photoshop 101 over and over so I stopped. I started up again studying computer repair technology but was more interested in physically repairing things only to find that no one does that, you just buy a new computer.
Even though I have a love for science I never felt intelligent enough to go for a degree in that field nor did I have any interest in the story I hear about the constant begging for grants that comes with the field so I never attempted to study it.
I went through a trade school for HVAC, but because of the area I live in it was more like 6+hours of traffic and 7 hours of work so being miserable every day I decided to call it quits.
Now I’m still single (at 39) working in a factory, renting a poorly insulated garage “apartment,” spending $300/month in heating bills because of it, and still miserable. My retirement plan is a nitrogen suffocation device I’ve been thinking about manufacturing when the time comes.
1/10 wouldn’t recommend.
You got this, I had to fight tooth and nail to get where I’m at today. And I still struggle, I struggle a lot. But what get me through everyday is being able to be at peace with myself.
I had to live in the woods with a canvas tent with a wood stove and a old Vietnam era cot I picked up at a thrift shop for $10. Yeah life was hell back then. Winters in the western United States were to harsh so I hopped trains and hitch hiked to the east coast were there was less distance between things and it was warmer. Things did get better, I was educated in machining during high school and I picked up fixing transmissions in a automotive shop to earn money and have somewhere warm to stay during the day. Sooner or later after some saving I was able to get an apartments, while the place was a shit hole, no working heat or ac. I was happy to have a roof over my head. After about a year and bonus from the shop I worked at I bought the place I was living in for $25,000 and fixed it up. Once computers got into vehicles that’s where I picked up electronics and decided I liked it enough to take a 8 hour course on it and began learning how to program on a old window 95 machine I found in the garbage. Yeah later got into IT and left the transmission shop and now I get paid decently but still paying off my debts.
Lesson learned, don’t co-sign for you friend who wants to buy a house right after highschool.
But my advice for you, don’t give up. Even if the light at the end of the tunnel is a train, just hop it and see where it takes you. That’s what I did, and I’m glad I didn’t jump in front of it.
I withdrew from college due to depression.
I’ve failed as a Asian, don’t even have an [A] to call myself an [A]sian anymore. 🙃
And my ableist older brother now can say a lot of shit to me, I bet he frels so smug about having his stupid degree.
Oh did I mention this piece of shit cause me childhood trauma when I was 6 years old… wonder why I have depression, huh.
(Oh my brother isn’t just ablelist, hes also racist and a racial supremacist)
High school diploma and a Sec+ certification has gotten me surprisingly far in life, i think i would’ve absolutely hated doing higher education right out of highschool.
But now? I think I’m in the right headspace and i would enjoy college just for the sake of education and furthering my fundamental knowledge. I feel like if i could i would want to retake a lot of math and science before trying college, because i barely graduated highschool.
I have a Masters Degree and a money of IT certs and yeah I am happy with it. I have kicked around the idea of getting a PHD, but that would only be for ego, so I am in no hurry.
I put a few years into a Comp Sci BS at a “new Ivy League” University, realized I didn’t mesh with the teaching style at all (still have a massive chip on my shoulder and strong strong fucking opinions about how coding ought to be taught) and if I had to spend 8 hours a day coding I would kill myself. Also went through a deep depression and some life shit. Got placed on academic probation and effectively took that as my sign it was done.
A few years later I was having trouble finding employment, so I signed up for an Associates degree in Computer Information Systems at a local community college. I was able to transfer a good amount of credits from my first attempt, but the way classes were scheduled I ended up taking two years anyway just with a very light course load.
By the time I graduated I was already employed full time in IT support, with an obvious path upward. I didn’t bother going to the graduation ceremony.
Now I’m the best programmer/scripter on a sysadmin/infraops team, the majority of my workdays are spent scripting automations and shit that no one should ever have to try and do manually (sometimes coding a full 8 hour shift) and I love it.
I’m happy I went back and “finished” things. It was a wildly different and better experience with some more years under me and at an institution where I was actually treated like a human being.
Maybe I could have had the same at the first place with a lighter course load, but I don’t think I had the right mindset or the right teachers, even if I hadn’t been as overwhelmed.
At some point during my second attempt, I finally hit a point with programming where I was able to effectively split the concepts/theory from the writing of the code/execution of the theory. I developed my personal approach to programming that isn’t particularly unique, but I was never really guided towards it by any instructor or learning material.
I will never be a full on Software Developer, a true Computer Scientist. I don’t need or want to be.
I don’t program and script for the sake of it. For the joy of the art. I’m not going to argue CPU architecture, data organization schemes. Vim vs emacs. I program and script because I want to solve problems that no one should have to do manually, especially the fuck not me.
Programming, scripting, and automation are tools. Some of the most amazing tools humanity has ever created. Tools that open opportunities for increased quality of life, efficiency, and leasure time like nothing else. But they’re a tool. Not an ends to themselves. I love them for what they allow us to do.
I can appreciate the artistry, and I’m happy as hell that there are people out there arguing about how things get compiled or interpreted down to machine code.
I can automate the fuck out of things. Script together entire system integrations including full user account lifecycle automation when sales folk lies don’t match up with reality. I am the best programmer on my sysadmin/infrastructure operations team, and I’m the guy the boss puts on projects that we don’t have a failure option for.
I get to do things I’m good at, and that I generally enjoy, for enough pay that I don’t generally have to worry about money. I am immensely blessed and privileged in this regard.
As far as how much of my current situation is due to education? Really hard to say. If I did it again I think I’d start at the community college.
I barely graduated high school and never completed my only semester of community college. My whole life I found it very difficult engaging with formal education and lacked motivation to focus on the synthetic work of school. It always felt meaningless and detached from reality to me. I was eager to be done with school as soon as possible.
I’m very satisfied with how my life turned out and the minimal role of formal education within it.
Too far, I now have no bliss.
I woudnt be making nearly as much as I do now if not for my degree. It opened a lot of doors when times were tough.
