I wasted four years of my life – don't make the same mistake
theguardian.com
I wasted four years of my life – don't make the same mistake
1–10 of 71 posts
Re: I wasted four years of my life – don't make the same mistake
#2I really look forward to a world filled with only engineering majors -- sounds exciting.
Re: I wasted four years of my life – don't make the same mistake
#3I really look forward to a world filled with only engineering majors -- sounds exciting.
I am guessing this is sarcasm but the mind boggles at how much progress could be made if more people went into science and engineering majors. Not just due to their increased direct contributions, but also the effect it would have on political discourse and culture. We could do a lot worse.
Re: I wasted four years of my life – don't make the same mistake
#4I'd have to agree on the gender role issue. I'm a father of two daughters and want them to be whatever they want to be. I don't agree with the statement that everyone needs to learn how to code, or the fact that language and art are a waste of time. If everyone knew and did the same things, the world would kinda suck (and finding a good paying job would be impossible.)
Re: I wasted four years of my life – don't make the same mistake
#5"I'm hoping that my daughter will embrace her inner geek and want to change the world."
And what if she don't have an inner geek...?
You didn't waste time. You lived. And now you are judging the younger yourself, and saying "I made mistakes", but you can't know what life would have been if you studied maths. Maybe this article would have the same title, and end with "Don't make mistakes like I do, follow your heart and study art".
But we love to have girls in IT. Welcome.
Re: I wasted four years of my life – don't make the same mistake
#6My friend has this exact same degree (spanish and french), she wandered off to get a masters in International Development and then went on to create various programs around north-east Africa and Central America.
Who says it's a worthless degree? It just sounds like this author didn't manage to do anything with it.
Also good writing (taught by these 'useless' BA degrees) is a damned handy thing to have. I know people that have gone into marketing, tendering, publicity, reporting, technical writing ... the list goes on... it's possibly longer than the one for STEM degrees, which can pin your skills to one sector or role.
edit: quoting her response: "That is an absolutely preposterous article!! If I hadn't studied Spanish and French I couldn't have worked abroad and I wouldn't have the job I have now. Language skills are vital! If she had written this about a history degree then maybe..."
Re: I wasted four years of my life – don't make the same mistake
#7I'd have to agree on the gender role issue. I'm a father of two daughters and want them to be whatever they want to be. I don't agree with the statement that everyone needs to learn how to code, or the fact that language and art are a waste of time. If everyone knew and did the same things, the world would kinda suck (and finding a good paying job would be impossible.)
> I don't agree with the statement that[...]language and art are a waste of time
I agree with you, they're excellent hobbies.
Re: I wasted four years of my life – don't make the same mistake
#8" I saw myself as an accomplished novelist or an interpreter for the EU."
Yes, following your dream is, most of the time, waste of time.
On serious note "My teachers recommended that I study economics and statistics as my A-level subjects" she were given choice and good advice. She chose to pursue what seemed best to her, and now she is saying "choices still heavily gender stereotyped". IF she was about to go to engineering and someone would have forced her to choose linguistics THEN it would be "gender stereotypes"/oppression problem. Now it's her inability to think ahead that got her waste 4 years, and it's her inability to accept her own mistake that leads her to cursing "gender stereotypes". I am amazed word "patriarchy" wasn't used in article.
"I'm hoping that my daughter will embrace her inner geek and want to change the world." Suggestion: Instead of pushing to one direction let child explore and choose.
Hellban in: 5... 4..
Re: I wasted four years of my life – don't make the same mistake
#9There's a huge difference between what you may fall in love with and what pays the bills, but to categorize what she fell in love with as a waste is... well, a waste. I don't know how hard it would be to pursue literature and technology (I don't imagine there are many places that would cater to this since they're seen as disparate), but there are ways to accomplish this.
I also don't think it's a good idea to push technology as a general field on anyone, gender be damned, if their heart isn't in it. It's good to try your hand to see if that's something you want to follow, but goals without passion fizzle quickly and that may not be enough to support yourself.
There are also cases where people have pursued technology only to feel deeply unfulfilled and/or unchallenged and move on to something else. Just because tech is everywhere, doesn't mean it's the only thing around.
Re: I wasted four years of my life – don't make the same mistake
#10I really look forward to a world filled with only engineering majors -- sounds exciting.
I am guessing this is sarcasm but the mind boggles at how much progress could be made if more people went into science and engineering majors. Not just due to their increased direct contributions, but also the effect it would have on political discourse and culture. We could do a lot worse.
It's difficult to overstate how misguided this is. Engineering types are already seen as the ones who picked the right major, so we're seeing a flood of people heading into those fields.
The result thus far has been that we have more ways than ever before to target advertisements and share stupid pictures of ourselves and offer interpretations of rap lyrics. Has this improved western culture, as far as you're concerned?