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Ask HN: I have yet to do the one thing I wish before I die

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Ask HN: I have yet to do the one thing I wish before I die

#1
The thing I want to do is to go back to college full time and major in mathematics. I would like to get a master's/advanced degree in math ("maths" if you are non-US :) ) and while doing so, ponder and study the queen of sciences.

I've made it to 41 years old. I am a software engineer, and I'm so-so at it. I self-studied my way to a C++ programming job after working my way from network admin to web developer to programmer to software engineer since 1999. I'm not even all that great at math. But I failed my first programming course back in 1985, but I am now a well-paid professional. I know if I do a math program full time and work really hard, I can at least get to "good".

My one true joy is solving problems and I even enjoy figuring out proofs. I have taken enough math courses to know I thoroughly enjoy the subject. But there are no evening programs anywhere near my home to study math. There are no part-time programs. I would have to quit my job and find a way to finance myself through a proper math program.

I am willing to give up my current lifestyle and live in poverty to pursue this goal.

My question is, why shouldn't I do it? What lies at the other end of the goal? Am I crazy? Have any of you done such a thing? It feels like I am throwing my life to the wind. But if I don’t do it, I will regret it the rest of my life. Advice appreciated.

Re: Ask HN: I have yet to do the one thing I wish before I die

#2
Unless you have other responsibilities that you haven't mentioned, like, say, a wife and children, there's no reason you shouldn't do exactly what you want to do with your life.

Money, beyond subsistence, isn't really correlated with increased happiness, as numerous studies have shown. Just make sure you always have a reasonable level of health insurance coverage. Otherwise, I can't think of any good reason not to do what you want.

At the very least, if you find you really don't enjoy it and that it isn't worth giving up two or three or four more years of your life to schooling, you'll put that nagging question of "should I..." to rest, and it'll only cost you a few grand and one semester. I find that having those kinds of questions nagging at my mind is far more detrimental to my emotional well-being than the actual outcomes.

Re: Ask HN: I have yet to do the one thing I wish before I die

#4
You really ought to closely examine your own motives for wanting a math degree. Having said that we usually end up regretting the things we did not do more than the things we actually did.. go for it, and if you don't like it, you can always find another job.

Re: Ask HN: I have yet to do the one thing I wish before I die

#5
post #2

Unless you have other responsibilities that you haven't mentioned, like, say, a wife and children, there's no reason you shouldn't do exactly what you want to do with your life. Money, beyond subsistence, isn't really correlated with increased happiness, as numerous studies have shown. Just make sure you always have a reasonable level of health insurance coverage. Otherwise, I can't think of any good reason not to do…

I agree. One other thing to consider is retirement, though.

Re: Ask HN: I have yet to do the one thing I wish before I die

#6
short version : If you do it full-time, don't sign up for an undergrad program to get a diploma. Get good advice (from the department) for the courses that you want to take and go for those. Don't be a fool signing up for Measure Theory before you're comfortable with calculus, though.

long version :

The best reason I can think of NOT to do it is that you'll be doing a few interesting courses compared to the interesting ones.

I did a bachelor's degree in math and a master's degree right after (Number Theory, yay !). In all the undergrad years, the most interesting courses were the introductory courses to "Real Analysis" and "Group/Ring Theory". "Complex Analysis" was pretty awesome too, but not as eye-opening as the two previous ones.

The program had a lot of padding. I had to take introductory courses to computer science. The data structure class was also an eye-opening experience, but the 5 other mandatory CS courses were boring.

After doing all the math stuff, I want to study artificial intelligence so I went to some other place as a non-classified student. I studied full-time there, took 5 courses each term, but got no diploma for that year. What happened after that is not relevant to the story. The point is, I took a lot of very interesting courses because I wasn't limited by what some committee decided should be the school curriculum for an undergrad degree in math. If you don't need the diploma, you don't have to follow the department rules. You can always register for specific courses and take those. I had a 55 year old marine officer registered in my Real Analysis class. He was a pretty fun guy, but he had some problems following the material. He was doing a better job than most undergrads, though.

An about online lessons, people underestimate the value that you're getting by being able to dialog with the professor during class. It's not just about being motivated by being forced to do the exercises, it's about being able to ask your algebra prof "why on Earth would I want to diagonalize a matrix !?" and getting a good answer to that.

There are certain key insights to be had while learning math and it's very helpful to be able to check with a prof who knows the material well. Some of the theory in mathematics in presented backwards. If you have hindsight, you know what they're trying to achieve and you can see why it makes sense to start where the book starts. If don't know the destination, it's harder to follow the proof when they don't seem to be going in any direction.

Re: Ask HN: I have yet to do the one thing I wish before I die

#7
Seems like it might be worth separating the goals "learn math" and "get degree." Presumably it's the former you want. And if so, might there not be people good enough nearby that you could hire as private tutors? If there's a university nearby there should be: grad students.

Re: Ask HN: I have yet to do the one thing I wish before I die

#9
hmm... you shouldn't because you have expectations? Do you? You say, "The thing i want to do"... why do you want to do it? What do you expect to get out of it. what is it that you really want? More knowledge? more earning potential? to be around people interested in learning? Analyze what it really is that you want. To have fun?

Re: Ask HN: I have yet to do the one thing I wish before I die

#10
post #5
post #2

Unless you have other responsibilities that you haven't mentioned, like, say, a wife and children, there's no reason you shouldn't do exactly what you want to do with your life. Money, beyond subsistence, isn't really correlated with increased happiness, as numerous studies have shown. Just make sure you always have a reasonable level of health insurance coverage. Otherwise, I can't think of any good reason not to do…

I agree. One other thing to consider is retirement, though.

Agreed on that one, as well. At 41, I would hope he already has a pretty good bit of retirement savings in place. I'm in my early 30s and I, unfortunately, still haven't properly accounted for my retirement (though these days I'm feeling pretty comfortable with that fact, as my company is actually making real money for the first time). Anyway, I don't look forward to not working and I have no plans to ever "retire", but one should definitely be prepared for faculties to decline and value in the market to decline, because, barring miraculous improvements in health care and aging prevention, it happens to all of us eventually, no matter how well we take care of ourselves.
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