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My Internship Experience as a 13-Year-Old

shalinshah.me

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Re: My Internship Experience as a 13-Year-Old

#71

Post by SiVal »

ruswick wrote: post #47
rzc wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had an engineering internship when I was 14. Definitely missed out on whatever kids my age were doing that summer, but I was too much of a nerd to even have wanted to do anything else. I think it worked out for the better, and I hope it does for Shalin too. To Shalin: Kill those SAT's and get into the school of your dreams. It is absolutely worth it.

I'm currently 17 and have done internships for both of the previous summers. Although getting experience was both edifying and fun, there was still a huge opportunity cost. I would have preferred to spend a bit more of my summer indulging my personal interests. Although it was certainly a great experience, I'm unsure about whether or not I'll look back in ten years and wish that I had taken advantage of my summers. A…

enslaving oneself to the cult of standardized tests is worth it

It sounds like you are describing enslaving oneself to the cult of elite schools. Standardized tests are just one stepping stone. Standardized tests are a much smaller issue if your focus is on amazing achievements in the real world rather than the amazing achievement of getting in to a luxury-brand school.

Re: My Internship Experience as a 13-Year-Old

#72

Post by randac »

corin_ wrote: post #56
OvidNaso wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about the legion of animation programming that's commissioned every year?

Like I said, I agree with his conclusion that lots of kids still watch cartoons, just pointing out that his knowing a few kids who do isn't proof of this. To put it into HN cliché phrasing: the plural of anecdote is not data, even if the anecdote matches the data.

How is what yeukhon stated anything other than an anecdote?

Re: My Internship Experience as a 13-Year-Old

#73

Post by nej »

onedev wrote: post #5

Man when I was that age, my only concern in the world was trading Pokemon cards after school. I wouldn't have given up that carefree experience for the world. I don't know how I feel when I read about things like this. It starts off as jealousy that the kids started their "career" at such a young age, then respect towards them for the same reason, but then I feel sad because at the end of the day I feel like they're…

I was thinking on the same page as you but realized, if I had been introduced the concept of programming and picking up a project to do at that age I would've done it. I mean, I didn't miss out too much since I started programming when I was 14, but I can't imagine that I wouldn't have had as much interest at the age of 12 as I did when I was 14. I guess it all just matters what kind of environment you are surrounded in at those ages.

Re: My Internship Experience as a 13-Year-Old

#74

Post by mercer »

scotty79 wrote: post #67
onedev wrote: post #5

Man when I was that age, my only concern in the world was trading Pokemon cards after school. I wouldn't have given up that carefree experience for the world. I don't know how I feel when I read about things like this. It starts off as jealousy that the kids started their "career" at such a young age, then respect towards them for the same reason, but then I feel sad because at the end of the day I feel like they're…

> I wouldn't have given up that carefree experience for the world. How do people get that feeling? I don't remember being carefree ever in my life. I can imagine being carefree but I also can imagine taking a walk on the surface of Mercury. Childhood is such a crappy time filled with school, illness taking forever, boredom taking forever, being tired, hurt and in pain. Each time I finished some school I felt awesome…

Interesting perspective. I had the luck, in hindsight, to have ridiculous amounts of freedom until the age of 16. I was homeschooled with my brothers (and eventually two close friends of the same age) and a fresh-out-of-teacher-school 'teacher' who wasn't very good, but was our friend. We had school at her apartment and then all had lunch at my house.

Then from age 13 on I was allowed to work at home, where I would usually either skip my homework or use the answer booklet to do it quickly. On a given day, I would spend at most four hours on 'school' and then do whatever I wanted. At first I probably abused this freedom, which led to boredom. So very soon, I started reading every book I could get my hand on, learned some programming and spend most of my early afternoons to evenings playing with kids in the neighbourhood.

Then at the age of sixteen I returned to 'normal' life and had massive difficulties adjusting to the regular school system, but I made it through and went on the university.

Experiences such as yours solidify my view that the school system we all grow up with is flawed. It teaches us that learning isn't fun, and makes us do silly things and jump through pointless hoops.

To be fair, school has to deal with all sorts of kids. If others had been given my freedom they might not have gravitated towards learning, and failed horribly upon returning to regular life. But I'm sure there are many like me, and I hate the thought that they had to put up with the kind of stuff you describe.

Re: My Internship Experience as a 13-Year-Old

#75

Post by k__ »

I think it's still better than those kids who get pregnant at 13...

Everything can be seen as work and fun. If you do something for fun it doesn't feel like work anymore.

I started coding with 15 and it was a good time.

Re: My Internship Experience as a 13-Year-Old

#76

Post by EnderMB »

untitledwiz wrote: post #24

Please, go outside, play and run around. Learn to skate, get a boyfriend/girlfriend. There will be so much opportunity for work later on in life. Definitely spend time coding if that's what you love but don't make it your everything. Develop other aspects of your personality/intelligence/body equally. Best wishes!

Usually, I agree entirely with this state of mind. There's a definite trend of trying to get kids involved in programming at as young an age as possible, especially by those who have kids of their own. Sometimes, I often get the feeling that the kid might not actually care too much for programming, but are being forced to sit through their parents hobby because "it's fun".

However, I used to write code for fun when I was a kid. I still went out with friends, played football, got girlfriends, and did all the usual rebellious teen stuff. However, my downtime (between gaming, watching TV, and other stuff) was spent writing websites and scripts. By thirteen, I was running a fairly sizable web forum, and had written a few addons for vBulletin (albeit, fairly crappy ones). I would have LOVED to work in a real company, working with real developers, and having the chance to work with people that will tell me exactly where I'm going wrong.

I've worked in a few offices where we've had some work experience kids come in, and some that have worked as a part of an apprenticeship. They love working in a real office, and even harsh employers make it as fun as possible.

Re: My Internship Experience as a 13-Year-Old

#77

Post by cheesylard »

cheesylard wrote: post #65
shalinshah wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, I really like coding, and it gives the same amount of fun as trading pokemon cards probably did to you. Interning is a way for me to use my skills in the outside world versus just working at home.

> Interning is a way for me to use my skills in the outside world versus just working at home. > working at home. > working

...I realize I kind of sound like a dick there. Good on you for the internship and all, but if you think of it as work you're gonna burn yourself out.

Ah who am I kidding you're not gonna listen to any of this, lol. You'll figure it out on your own, I guess, and then take a 4 year break from programming, partying and doing a lot of drugs. And then come back to it after realizing that you liked programming the whole time.

..or you'll just burn out. Or you might get hit by a truck or something.

Re: My Internship Experience as a 13-Year-Old

#78

Post by visakanv »

cheesylard wrote: post #77
cheesylard wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Interning is a way for me to use my skills in the outside world versus just working at home. > working at home. > working

...I realize I kind of sound like a dick there. Good on you for the internship and all, but if you think of it as work you're gonna burn yourself out. Ah who am I kidding you're not gonna listen to any of this, lol. You'll figure it out on your own, I guess, and then take a 4 year break from programming, partying and doing a lot of drugs. And then come back to it after realizing that you liked programming the whole t…

Curious about your personal trajectory. Did you overwork yourself when you were young?

Re: My Internship Experience as a 13-Year-Old

#79

Post by visakanv »

Hey Shalin, wonderful to hear from you. It's lovely to see your passion and focus.

I'm curious to hear about your peers. Do you have a group of friends your age that you hang out with, or do you spend most of your time with older people?

Also, random, but what kind of music do you listen to?

Re: My Internship Experience as a 13-Year-Old

#80

Post by ruswick »

SiVal wrote: post #71
ruswick wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm currently 17 and have done internships for both of the previous summers. Although getting experience was both edifying and fun, there was still a huge opportunity cost. I would have preferred to spend a bit more of my summer indulging my personal interests. Although it was certainly a great experience, I'm unsure about whether or not I'll look back in ten years and wish that I had taken advantage of my summers. A…

enslaving oneself to the cult of standardized tests is worth it It sounds like you are describing enslaving oneself to the cult of elite schools . Standardized tests are just one stepping stone. Standardized tests are a much smaller issue if your focus is on amazing achievements in the real world rather than the amazing achievement of getting in to a luxury-brand school.

The parent referred specifically to "the school of your dreams," which implys elite schools. The situation is obviously different for schools outside of the top 25.
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