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All I learned in college was how to work for someone else

stefankendall.com

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Re: All I learned in college was how to work for someone else

#41

Post by jff »

majormajor wrote: post #30
RuggeroAltair wrote: post #23

I understand what you are trying to say, but this article is silly from many points of view. I don't want to answer with wise-ass comments like "you went to the wrong college" and such, so I'll give you a couple of arguments: - College isn't only CS. - Pure (computer or not) science isn't 'working for someone'. It's 'learning how to do (computer) science correctly', hopefully. - Plagiarism is not what you are saying,…

"So, if you quit college for the sake of being an entrepreneur when you are 19 and then you fail, you lost the chance of getting 'more' ready through college." I hear this a lot (frequently even about passing on college for lucrative, if short-term, opportunities), but I don't get it. This isn't amateur athletics where you have to worry about losing your eligibility and wouldn't be able to get in without an athletic…

You can go to college any time, but it's damn nice to be the same age as everyone else there. I'd argue rather that unless you've got a really solid plan, given the choice you should go to college first. You can start a business any time, the only thing you'll miss out on by waiting 4 years is the "Check out this 19-year-old entrepreneur" techcrunch articles.

Re: All I learned in college was how to work for someone else

#42

Post by abr0414 »

Surprise! College is supposed to teach you to be proficient at what most of their students end up doing: working at the corporate level. Whether or not you have the desire to go and do your own thing is really up to you.

At one time I was extremely dissatisfied with my college's cookie cutter curriculum. But I realized that this setup is built to get you in the job market. It was up to me to do the extras.

Re: All I learned in college was how to work for someone else

#43

Post by jblock »

I prefer to take a different perspective: college didn't fail you, you failed at going to college.

College is a place to gain knowledge from those that have more than you. If you see it as anything else (especially anything malicious) then you're looking at it from the wrong angle and coming in with the wrong attitude. A motivated person can gain a lot of insight and knowledge from even the shittiest of situations.

College classes are a completely valid way to learn things. If you think that you're entrepreneurial dreams will be fulfilled if you drop out, then go for it. Some people don't learn that way, and that's just as acceptable. There are problems with higher education, and some places more so than others. But don't be so vain as to denounce the entire institution of higher education from a single anecdotal data point.

Re: All I learned in college was how to work for someone else

#46

Post by tedkalaw »

textminer wrote: post #11

"Pedigree Matters" as an untruth: I wish this were the case. Too many entrepreneurs I know are only entrepreneurs because they have the support system of comfortably wealthy families and the professional network gained at elite schools and fellowships. Would love to hear more about entrepreneurs who live on the edge and try to start a business while also needing to make rent and student loan payments.

It sucks. A lot. I planned on dropping out two years in and ended up having to go back to school because my parents couldn't afford the loan payments at the time - and they wouldn't have to pay while I was in school (which they wanted me to do anyway). Went back and did client work to keep the lights on.

Re: All I learned in college was how to work for someone else

#47

Post by elchupacabra »

stefan_kendall wrote: post #7
barik wrote: post #5

This article was light on details, but I thought it was important to address at least the first point, which has a fundamental misunderstanding right off the bat: "1. Plagiarism is bad. Wrong! If the licensing is right, copy to your heart's content. If you're not in violation of copyright, trademark, or patent, you can do whatever you want with someone else's creation. Sometimes they even give you permission. Did you…

Most open source licensing requires 0 citation. If I copy your formula or recipe, I don't need to cite a thing - you don't own the copyright to your own formula. I could sell your work if I wanted to do so. Plagiarism, as it affected my grading, was copying without attribution. Attribution is rarely required for most licensing, except where it is. These sorts of distinctions are lost in the collegiate machine.

"As it affected my grading"...

Re: All I learned in college was how to work for someone else

#48

Post by dshipper »

You get out of college what you put into it.

I certainly have friends who are learning to "be a cog in a wheel" but that's not at all the only possible outcome of a college education. Insinuating otherwise is questionable at best and incredibly misleading at worst.

Re: All I learned in college was how to work for someone else

#49

Post by daurnimator »

jgmatpdx wrote: post #35
stefan_kendall wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most open source licensing requires 0 citation. If I copy your formula or recipe, I don't need to cite a thing - you don't own the copyright to your own formula. I could sell your work if I wanted to do so. Plagiarism, as it affected my grading, was copying without attribution. Attribution is rarely required for most licensing, except where it is. These sorts of distinctions are lost in the collegiate machine.

The BSD license would like a word with you: "Redistribution of source code must retain the above copyright notice ..." Or how about the Apache license: "You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works that You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and attribution notices from the Source form of the Work," Maybe the MIT license: "The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be includ…

Coming from Lua, where everything is MIT:

"substantial license"

If you copied a couple of functions for a class the uni would have big problems if you provided no attribution; though the license does not require it.

Re: All I learned in college was how to work for someone else

#50

Post by numbsafari »

abr0414 wrote: post #42

Surprise! College is supposed to teach you to be proficient at what most of their students end up doing: working at the corporate level. Whether or not you have the desire to go and do your own thing is really up to you. At one time I was extremely dissatisfied with my college's cookie cutter curriculum. But I realized that this setup is built to get you in the job market. It was up to me to do the extras.

I think it really depends on what college and what program in that college you go to.

The vast majority of my professors were genuinely interested in developing their students as independent thinkers capable of much more than corporate drudgery.

Perhaps the business-end of the university is focused on getting you into the job market (since that's how many people want to evaluate their college experience and investment and hey, somebody's gotta pay the bills). But if you are in a more academically inclined program, I think you'll find that the pursuit of knowledge and a joy of learning is what matters most.

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