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Ask HN: 19, developer, burnt out, advice please

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Re: Ask HN: 19, developer, burnt out, advice please

#11

Post by dinedal »

grobolom wrote: post #10

Definitely go to college. As much as it seems like that stupid piece of paper they call a degree is worthless and doesn't teach you anything, it shows more than that; it shows that you have the dedication to follow through with something difficult (difficult aka. boring as hell in the case of community college) and that you have some basic skills. It's awesome that you already have a ton of experience under your belt…

Also, if you get stuck in a community college make your first year or two mostly gen-eds, and transfer to a better school after proving yourself. Most bigger university's run the community colleges anyway and will let you transfer between the two easily, so pick your community college based on what it can provide to you in transfers.

Re: Ask HN: 19, developer, burnt out, advice please

#12

Post by citricsquid »

jkaljundi wrote: post #9

If you want to build software that interests you, do become a startup entrepreneur. Your product, your decisions, doing what you enjoy. Why go to school, if you are not sure what your passion is? Only do that if you are 110% sure that's what you want to do the rest of your life. Take some time off. Do sports, have fun, talk to friends and other people more. Discuss actively the things you like and don't like. Enjoy w…

The networking aspect of school might help him, although I guess now with the internet and all these accessible events he might be fine without it :)

Re: Ask HN: 19, developer, burnt out, advice please

#13

Post by jraines »

An option:

It's almost winter. Ski resorts are hiring. You can meet awesome people in a very low pressure work environment (hey -- a non-college ready made social scene that doesn't cost 40K a year) and have access to head-clearing, soul uplifting physical activity that beats the hell out of jogging. And you'll still have the time and energy to code if you want. And if you want it to be not just a distraction, well, it's a big time industry with connections to other big time industries, and it's really easy to meet and talk with the higher ups at the resort about how your talents might find a place in that world that's not just shovelling snow or selling tickets.

Caveat: I also upvoted the "go to college" comment.

Re: Ask HN: 19, developer, burnt out, advice please

#14

Post by Sindrome »

I think you definitely need to change things up. Try taking up a new platform on the side. Take a new job. Go to school and work part-time.

You don't have any kids, mortgage, etc... so the world is pretty much yours to conquer if you really wanted to. You can try whatever you like to find your passion. What's the worst that could happen. You run up a few thousand dollars of debt at age 21. Most of your peers will be around 30k in debt once they finish college.

Re: Ask HN: 19, developer, burnt out, advice please

#15

Post by SabrinaDent »

I realized I only enjoy software if I'm building what I want to build or something that interests me.

You know what? It's called work because it isn't fun. Most people do a day job to pay the bills. It's part of being a grown-up and it comes with commitments and responsibilities that yeah, sort of suck a lot of the time. Even if you're lucky enough to do something you love for a living (and I am) it isn't passionate enthusiasm all of the time.

If you can contract on the side with projects you're passionate about or build your own projects, that's how a lot of people stay engaged with the work. If you don't want to be a software developer at all, though, college seems like a good option only if you're going back to find a new area you're genuinely enthusiastic about.

Re: Ask HN: 19, developer, burnt out, advice please

#17

Post by tjarratt »

jraines wrote: post #13

An option: It's almost winter. Ski resorts are hiring. You can meet awesome people in a very low pressure work environment (hey -- a non-college ready made social scene that doesn't cost 40K a year) and have access to head-clearing, soul uplifting physical activity that beats the hell out of jogging. And you'll still have the time and energy to code if you want. And if you want it to be not just a distraction, well,…

Upvoting this idea. I've spent quite a few weeks up in cabins producing code that I had a hard time concentrating on elsewhere. Easy access to lots of people with interesting stories (who are generally willing to listen to what you have to say) and opportunities to clear your mind with some intense exercise makes ski resorts a clear winner in my book.

Now that I think about it, quite a few of the good developers and engineers I know are either ski bums, or worked in a ski resort when they got out of secondary school / university.

Re: Ask HN: 19, developer, burnt out, advice please

#18

Post by garrettgillas »

What you said pretty accurately described my high school experience. I'm 28 now. After HS I bummed around 2 different colleges over 6 semesters and 4 different majors. I never liked what I was learning very much so eventually I just left because I had a full-time job as a sysadmin that had been doing while attending school.

Since then I've been doing web development at a couple different smaller agencies. Usually either the job is great and the pay sucks or vice versa. That's my experience at least. It sounds pretty ungrateful now that I'm saying it.

Anyway, a couple of moths ago the owners of my company said that they were going to move to out of state and that all (5) of us were going to work from home. At first I resisted, but then I realized that this could be an opportunity. Despite the monotony of working at home, I have been a lot more free to work on my side projects and the MVP for my startup eyeclash is launching this month. I can honestly say that I've never felt better about the work that I am doing.

So I guess my point is, don't expect the way you feel to change with the scenery. College really didn't help me much with my personal aspirations and neither did most of the jobs I've had. Working on my own stuff and collaborating with others on "side projects" (aka possible startups) is really the only thing that has been able to bring me the satisfaction that it sounds like you are looking for.

Re: Ask HN: 19, developer, burnt out, advice please

#19

Post by locopati »

petervandijck wrote: post #3

Take a year of. Travel the world. For real.

Since you have tech skills, earn some money on short-term contract and take off for 6-12mo travelling. Can get around Europe or Asia for much cheaper than you might think (biggest expense is getting there and even then you can find good deals on tickets). You'll meet a lot of people, expand your horizons, and have clear head-space to think about what excites you and how you want to live your life.

Re: Ask HN: 19, developer, burnt out, advice please

#20

Post by notahacker »

jraines wrote: post #13

An option: It's almost winter. Ski resorts are hiring. You can meet awesome people in a very low pressure work environment (hey -- a non-college ready made social scene that doesn't cost 40K a year) and have access to head-clearing, soul uplifting physical activity that beats the hell out of jogging. And you'll still have the time and energy to code if you want. And if you want it to be not just a distraction, well,…

It's summer all year round in South-East Asia. It takes surprisingly little money to travel around that part of the world (most of the cost is getting there). It's stunningly varied, beautiful, and full of other people your age doing exactly the same thing. You can experience high culture, close-to-nature solitude and mindless hedonism at beach parties.

You'll also get to meet people from the other side of the world living often much simpler lifestyles, some of which might seem amazing and some which seem horrendous - you'll realise both how challenging and lucrative the work you've been doing is and how little that matters.

Caveat: I also upvoted the "go get a job that sucks comment",

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