seriesoftubes

You asked a great question. I wish I had a better answer for you, but that's one big and obvious limitation of the internet- I can only give general advice to you because I hardly know anything about you.

My three short bits of general advice to anyone in your stage of life are:

1) Relax and enjoy life

2) Try to differentiate yourself in a positive light as much as possible (both on and off paper).

3) Keep on seeking the answers like you are doing right now. You can never get what you don't ask for. Don't limit yourself by not asking for things.

It doesn't matter how old you are-- you can be 5 years old or 48-- there is no denying that computer programming is good mental exercise, an amazing creative outlet, and (if you're any good) a skill that can make or break your career.

I'm 23 and I never got any compsci/programming training in college. I'm now working part-time and learning programming (Java, .NET, SQL, web scripting) full-time.

Why? 3 reasons.

1) I am sick and tired of not knowing how to create solutions that add real, measurable value to almost any human task imaginable. In 2 years, I'll be able to do so much more than I ever imagined in any office setting.

2) Good programmers have the job I dream of: being able to use their minds all day to create cool stuff that other people depend on. Top talent gets paid pretty well.

3) The big secret that no one tells you in college is that if you want any decent office job in which you'll be using your mind instead of bullshit "management" or "leadership" (i.e. wielding social prowess to get what you want) skills, you're going to be programming. Want to make a spreadsheet? Guess what, John Walkenbach, the maker of the Excel Bible, says that even if you're just making a basic spreadsheet, it helps to think about it as object-oriented programming. And he's right. Especially if you're a power user of Excel, Excel == Programming. Period. Same with just about any other MS Office program.

The bottom line is that if you use a computer at work, like it or not, your freaking livelihood hinges on your ability to create and manage software and/or hardware. You might as well know what the hell you're doing.

I agree--especially when you're talking about forcing bad kids to attend school against their will. The bad kids in urban schools wind up not learning jack, even if they don't drop out. I know this because I've taught 12th graders in a failing urban school where the graduation rate < 50%.

Even worse, forcing bad kids to attend school against their will diminishes the quality of good kids' educations. The good kids are the ones whose powerful minds actually stand a chance of improving civilization in big ways.

Not saying I was a great, great student (I was in the top 3% of a huge public HS, but plenty of other kids were smarter than me), but if I had known how badly I was getting screwed over by taking classes with bullies/people who did not want to learn anything in school except that Jesus is God and every non-Christian is going to Hell, I would've tried to switch schools at a very young age. If I only knew then what I know now...