
Ask HN: Would you get a degree in something you know or something new? - rootsudo
Essentially I&#x27;m a jack of all trades, something I really want to escape and go more into specialization.<p>I&#x27;m leaving work to take a year or two off, finish school and then go back at it.<p>I&#x27;m reviewing WGU, and it fits perfectly in my plans to relocate to another country (Philippines), live cheaply and solidify my resume.<p>The thing is, I&#x27;m a bit confused at which step I should take.<p>What do you guys suggest?<p>1. Go the way of reviewing what you know, solidify my foundation w&#x2F; new certs and finally a degree. (e.g. IT&#x2F;NetSec&#x2F;Administration.)<p>or<p>2. Go into that Data Science&#x2F;Database thing. I don&#x27;t have any experience at all besides doing some simple copy&#x2F;paste from tuts on the net and LAMP stacks for simple applications&#x2F;hosted services.
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sky_projektor
Naturally, my choice would be something I do not know or wish to learn more.
But at the same time there can not be an entry into some course module if you
do not have the requisite basic degrees in the field you want to study. Eg, I
want to study Astrophysics/ Aviation by my qualifying degrees are no where
near the field I wish to study. Whatever is hot, especially in disciplines
such as computer science or IT can be learnt through self study. But when the
choice is something beyond available technology can offer? Good question! Made
me reconsider my aspirations & dreams versus my capabilities & priorities.

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mattbgates
I always said this to people thinking about college and what to do: Study
something you want to know more about, do what you love.

I could have gone to college for programming, computer science, etc. I
would've ended up hating it. Why? Because there were class requirements that I
knew I wasn't good at and I know have nothing to do with programming [at
least, the programming that I do]. Sure, taking those classes may have made me
a stronger person and made me understand things in a different way, maybe
think logically different, but I was completely turned off by some of the
course requirements. I'm still a programmer even if I don't understand
calculus, trigonometry, discrete models, and I suck at statistical analysis. I
couldn't do any of it if my life depended on it. But I totally get data
arrays, multidimensional arrays, and databases, and I can pick up programming
languages fairly quickly via comparison of syntax.

I studied something I wanted to know more about: psychology.

Earned a Bachelors of Science in Psychology.

I had absolutely no intentions of ever becoming a programmer, a web developer,
a web designer, a software engineer, whatever name you want to give. I wanted
to get as far away from computers as possible. I wanted to help people
discover their career paths and figure out what they wanted to do with their
lives. What happened to me? I ended up desperate for a job to pay my student
loans, and so I applied for any and every job across the board. Who responded?
A software company. I had to use the knowledge of programming that I taught
myself when I was 12 to get a job because no one seemed to want to hire a
recent graduate with a psychology degree.

The software company hired me and the rest is history. I mean, I've moved on
since then, but I've remained in the programming world, as a web developer. I
have yet to go back for my Master's Degree, but I've been using the
combination of what I learned and what I love to start my own business and
trying to develop web apps that are useful to the world.

Did I give up psychology? Not at all. In fact, I just found another way to
help people: I created a website dedicated to understanding jobs, careers, and
the workplace with the intention of helping people find their path in life.
Confessions of the Professions:
[http://www.confessionsoftheprofessions.com](http://www.confessionsoftheprofessions.com)

You can predict life as much as you want. You can make all your plans. Dream.
Set goals. Have an idea of what you want to do. But the possibility that it
can change and go in any direction is always there. Embrace wherever life
takes you.

The choice is up to you. Always learn things. Gain experience. Never forget:
enjoy your life.

