I resign...

[WarHampster]

I understand why you quit... my school is starting to pile on the work as well.

I'm taking some Java classes this year, I guess that might be helpful for game development...

[Telstar5]

Sorry to dig up an old topic, but I wanted to say something (because I always do, and always need to)

Never put something you don't like in front of something you do like.

EDIT: by that, I was commenting on the first post about school > programming

I can't stand sixth form (high school to you American chums) at the moment. It's just a place for me to go for 12 hours a day (seriously, I have a long commute). I wouldn't mind if I were using computers... the school constantly updates the computing network, and I'm good friends with the admin. But the school management constantly offer the younger generation more opportunities and qualifications, and they don't recognise or simply don't care about talented computer enthusiasts (read: nerds). I'm a programmer, I produce stuff for them, but generally, nobody cares.

Sorry for the harsh language, but it's true. If you're good at making games, then make games. I guarantee you'd enjoy telling me about your latest platformer over your geometry homework. If school gets in the way of programming and you just want to code free, then drop school or try and get a specialist course. I dunno about America or wherever you guys come from, but here in the UK you can get a BTEC qualification or an apprenticeship for free. You just turn up to the college on their open days or give them a call.

(I have noticed now that people in the US have to stay in school until 18, not 16. I stayed at school and I'm 17. I wish I hadn't. I'm just going to be carrying around D-F grades from my mid-range education for the rest of my life to show every employer how worthless and pathetic I am. Oh well!

Oh wait, I just realised. You need school to get a high paying job. One sec guys, let me get my uniform...

Okay, would you like your groceries in paper bags or plastic?

[Tireas Dragon]

Huh?

[WarHampster]

If you want to take that attitude, enjoy your future as a garbage truck driver.

As for me, I'd rather endure school for now and then use it to allow me to do what I love later in life - when it can actually make me money.

[Telstar5]

If you want to take that attitude, enjoy your future as a garbage truck driver.

As for me, I'd rather endure school for now and then use it to allow me to do what I love later in life - when it can actually make me money.

Hey, I work for the same department as the garbage truck drivers, the people who keep your streets clean, your libraries dust free and your classroom tables shiny. We do exist, you know!

Although I do see your point. But it's wrong to think that doing amazing in school - or even average - will actually get you anywhere, most people I know who went on to get degrees in things they loved ended up with really shitty jobs that they hate, and they're constantly in debt. That's no way to be happy. Say, come to think of it, you could go and do a course and get a masters degree in games design and end up being under control of a games company producing shovelware. In that respect, if you wanted to be in control of the kind of games you design, you should study business and learn to program at the same time. Err, I'm going off on a tangent...

Personally, I take the laid back kind of view - if you think you can do it, you probably can. Most if not all software companies were started by people who didn't have degrees or amazing education, they were just smart and decent programmers.

Besides, if you endure school, it'll take over your entire damn life and you'll probably forget how to program. That kept happening to me a lot. I opened up RealBasic and I didn't know what I'd written, how it worked or if it worked, so now I'm using every second on keeping the programmer within alive. 5 weeks from now, and I'll be out of school a year early. From then until this autumn/next spring, I can concentrate my mind entirely on programming, then I can get a head start on the computing course I plan to do next year. Maybe if my self employment works well enough, I won't need to take the course.

Err, anyway, that's my two cents. I'd translate that into pence, but I can't due to the sketchy economy...

[WarHampster]

For me, what it comes down to is balancing school and stuff I like. And, In the US anyways, a good education will get you somewhere. Maybe that somewhere won't be your dream job, but good grades + collage will at least give you the opportunity to make a decent amount of money... and with a decent amount of money, you can afford to spend time doing what you like.

Of course, thats all assuming that you have enough money to get into a good collage... sadly, you'll probably get ignored by most companies if you're not at a top tier collage.

Basically what I'm saying is that you shouldn't just dismiss school... you should get through it and then sort out your life, so you don't miss any opportunities that you might be able to get.  

For example, my school offers lots of cool computer science courses that are only for kids who do well in math and other basic computer stuff... so I pushed myself to do well in math and now I'm on my way to a full year of computer science independent study.

[Telstar5]

Well, I'm glad for you! It's great that your school offers those kind of opportunities and advanced classes and such. And I do agree, it's not good to dismiss school - but at the moment I'm doing A-levels which is different to GCSE's which came before it. GCSE's allow you to get a job, and those are important. A-levels just push you into depression.

I'm not sure how to compare GCSE and A-level to an, err, I'm going to assume American school system... If I read correctly, GCSE would be compared to Senior High School level, except GCSE's have examinations and coursework (kinda like projects, units, whatever you call them. I think in the US, there are separate subjects for things like geometry and algebra. We have them in combined Math class) and I believe A-Level is equivalent to an undergraduate program/community college/tech institution qualification, except again we have exams and there is no graduation ceremonies for either GCSE or A level.

Anyhow, in the countryside where I live, they like to put people into two categories; people who become lawyers and work for big companies to bankrupt single parents, or people who go into the army and are forced to kill innocent people. (no offence to the lawyers or soldiers amongst us) Neither particularly appeal to me, so I gotta make do, unfortunately. I suppose school is like a train track, you follow it correctly and you get there. Starting from scratch is like having just some ground. You need to make the bricks, shape the rails, build the train and hope that it all fits together. If it does, then other people come along and bring their tracks and trains with them. If you fuck up, oh well, take it all apart and build it again. Wait, why am I talking about train sets?

Because it's past Telstar's bedtime and he's delirious, that's why. Hmm. Maybe I should consider sleeping.

[WarHampster]

You're right about math being separated into sections (our history classes are as well... right now I'm taking geometry and ancient world history). I'm in 9th grade (the first level of highschool in the US, I'm only 15). Your A-Level sounds a lot like AP classes in the US... are they basically collage-level courses with a nasty exam at the end?

[Telstar5]

Really? I thought you were much older. When you turn 16/17, I guarantee you'll have the same attitude as me (surprisingly, I loved school when I was 15ish, but I stopped that crap and started living )

Yep, that sounds exactly like A-Level. Nasty exams, we're talking 12 sheets of paper in 3 hours, and lots of exams one after the other. I have my last set coming up in 4 weeks, 6 days. After my last exam I don't have to come to school anymore. I'd take every day off until my exam if it wasn't for the constant essays. They call off the 3 lessons per day I have almost every week, so I'm just wasting my time at school not doing a damn thing from 6am to 6pm.

[GMG Tim]

When you turn 21, you'll realize college is all worth it. =D

Ghost

[Telstar5]

College is never worth it.

Except, perhaps, just... living off of one of your friends who happens to go to university. That would be a great way to live for free, at least then you can *pretend* you went to university, and then emerge in your mid-twenties by getting just a slightly worse job than someone who went and got a degree in something specific and ended up with a better-than-your-crappy-job sort of a job, which is still crappy, but not as bad as the job that someone like me might get.

[Gnome]

why does everyone dredge up this topic, its my least favorite...