

Drop out of uni and go freelance? - joshuahornby

So here is the question, I hate Uni I'm not a education person, can not revise to save my life and don't enjoy it. Is it the right move to drop out and go freelance? While teaching my self JavaScript, PHP and ruby? There's no point doing something you dont enjoy? Right?
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ColinWright
A few things to think about. This isn't advice, they are questions that might
help you think about the right things.

If you can't apply yourself to studying things that you're not totally
fascinated by (but which might be useful in ways you can't yet imagine) what
makes you think you'll be able to deal with the tedious parts of freelancing,
like finding clients, tracking your time, invoicing, bookkeeping, tax returns,
documentation, and half a hundred tedious other tasks?

Where is your portfolio? What are your skills? You talk about teaching
yourself JavaScript, PHP and Ruby, what is it that you can do already?

Where are you going to get your clients from? How much will you charge them?
What is your expected cash-flow? How will you support yourself while looking
for you first 20 gigs?

There's more, but I'm certainly not going to offer advice or opinions until I
know more about who you are and what you can do. Even then, why are you
seeking validation from a group of strangers? I would guess that you've made
up your mind, and are asking the question of people who you know, _en masse,_
to be anti-formal education.

Or have I got that wrong?

So my suggestion is this: write a proper blog post outlining your plans, and
pointing at work you've done. Then let people critique that.

And yes, sometimes there is a point in doing stuff you don't enjoy. I don't
enjoy invoicing, bookkeeping, or doing my tax return, just to give three
examples. In truth, I don't much enjoy eating either, but that's a different
story.

~~~
joshuahornby
The reason i am thinking about dropping out of uni isn't because i don't enjoy
it as such its more that the education system isn't for me. I am not someone
who does great in exams and don't enjoy the british education system.

My portfolio as the moment is one humble website..
<http://breakanycontract.com/>

Its not great but its a start, and everyone has to start somewhere right?

The reason i ask because i wondered if other people maybe have been in the
same boat as me and could offer some insight.

I also have my site which is a WIP.. www.joshhornby.co.uk

~~~
ColinWright
What are you studying? What Uni are you at? How are you spending your spare
time? Are you already learning Ruby? PHP? Python? Do any uni departments offer
service courses in these subjects?

Uni isn't for everyone, but there's a _lot_ to be gained if you use your time
well, far, far more than you think. If you want to be a
freelancer/entrepreneur/business person then you need to be able to think
laterally, and make the most of every situation. Uni can be expensive, but
there are more opportunities there than there are outside.

And speaking entirely for myself, you'd make a better impression if you
correctly put apostrophes in "it's" and correctly capitalised "I". These
things make a difference if you want to impress people and get them to give
you money. The impression here is that you don't pay attention to the sort of
nit-picking detail that makes a difference in a web site.

And if I sound harsh, wait till you get your first real client from the wild.
And in the interests of full disclosure, I got a PhD and did enjoy my time at
university, but I did a _lot_ of stuff outside my coursework/studies, and the
benefits from that are still being felt 30 years later.

~~~
joshuahornby
Multimedia Internet Technology at Salford Uni. I am not currently working on
any of these no, but i feel these will be important for future success?

Outside of uni i am trying to understand how websites are build and the skills
needed. And i take on board your comment on the small details, this is
something i do need to work on.

~~~
ColinWright
Sounds a lot to me like you're on the wrong course, and you're not learning
about what you want to be doing.

I strongly urge you to find a lecturer in the department and tell them that
the course is nothing like you expected, that you're not really interested in
the material being presented, and that you'd like to be challenged more, and
see what they say. If you're intended to drop out anyway then you have very
little to lose from this, and possibly everything to gain.

Tell them that when studying stuff you find interesting you have no trouble
putting in the work and time. Ask if it's possible to design your own course
of study.

If you go into freelancing, these sorts of negotiations will be essential. If
you can't do it now, you need to learn. If you don't want to bother, what
makes you think you'll be able to make a living freelancing? Studying
something you're not really interested in is nastily similar to finishing the
last fiddly bits of a web site before getting paid.

Leaving now is a potential waste of a great opportunity. Look to exploit it
before you discard it.

~~~
joshuahornby
Thank you for you advice. But the point still remains that exams and all the
education learning side aren't for me. Teaching my self and learning on the
job so to speak sounds much more like me.

~~~
ColinWright
That's fair enough. It sounds like you've made up your mind, so I wish the the
very best.

There are people here on HN and in other places who can help and offer advice.
My advice now is to do stuff, lots of stuff, to show that you've done the work
and are willing and able to take advantage of advice they offer.

Remember, 90% of everything is crap, so you need to do 10, perhaps 20 or even
30 times as much work as you want for your final output.

Volume, along with introspection (so-called "deliberate practice [1]) and
"taste" [2] will be your friends.

[1]
[http://programmer.97things.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/Do_Lot...](http://programmer.97things.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/Do_Lots_of_Deliberate_Practice)

[2] <http://www.paulgraham.com/taste.html>

~~~
joshuahornby
To all of the above, thank you for your feedback. My plan is to try and get
through the next month of term and pass the exams. I then have the whole of
summer to work on things and see if I can gain some experience. I need to give
my self as many 'open doors' as I can. Thanks again.

------
DanBC
Are you in the UK?

There are significant financial implications to dropping out; especially if
you might ever want to go to university again.

You'll also need to explain the gap to potential employers, but I guess some
solid freelancing would be okay on your CV.

I suggest you start talking to people at your University and explain the
problems you're having. They should be able to provide some help.

There's not much you can do about hating it. But there are things you can do
about revision. There are many different systems for revision and note-taking.

Cornell Notes: (<http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/cornellnotes.html>)

Study Skills: (<http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/study.html>)

Doing something you don't enjoy shows employers that you have the ability to
grind through unpleasant experiences. It prepares you for work - sometimes
jobs are great, but often there are irritants.

How many hours are you doing at Uni? Now include the extra hours you spend at
home / library. Now include some free time for social activity. Now include
some time for paid work. Do you have 15 - 30 minutes left per day? That's time
that can be used for learning Javascript, PHP, and Ruby.

In my opinion discipline is a learned skill. It's a good idea to learn it
early, if at all possible.

Having said all this, if university is actively making you miserable, and you
think you're at risk of depression, then you need to get better advice. You
could defer, or you could drop out.

And please, don't think that dropping out is bad. It's certainly a valid
choice.

Good Luck!

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jat1
Consider the experience at Uni as a challenge. Try and do your best to make it
through, it is valuable and it gives you the confidence to make it through
something your not particularly enjoying (which will happen again either in
the work place or freelancing) but it will also keep your social network quite
large and give you a qualification which in the UK does matter. See if you can
transfer onto a course that is more interesting to you, or at least some
modules. The uni probably has an advisor you can speak to about it. What year
are you in?

I struggled with exams, but I found that at uni a large percentage of the
assessments was based on assignments and projects. This meant I did not have
to worry so much about the exams and was able to get good marks.

Enjoy uni, it really is a good experience and I wish I could go back (I am
aware that technically I could, but age wouldn't be on my side this time)!

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bdfh42
Freelance without a portfolio of completed projects or strong skills sounds
like a recipe for hard times.

~~~
joshuahornby
Yes this is a worry. How do I get the experience though?

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tnigtbtnight
Freelance while at Uni? I did that and I was studying a Chemistry degree...

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mtrimpe
I also dropped out of Uni, in my case because I was hiding my real orientation
behind copious amounts of alcohol, and went on to freelance and did quite
well.

I'm still wish I finished though, I still get uncomfortable when I have to
share that I didn't finish Uni, I still defend myself when the issue comes up
and I still wonder what my life would have been like if I did finish.

I always told myself that I was smart enough to finish but just didn't want
to. Recently a friend said to me that if I _really_ was that smart, I would've
finished it anyhow, which really hit home.

So my advice, if you're really _that_ smart just finish it next to all your
other stuff. If you're not really _that_ smart, just grind it out and become a
stronger (and smarter) man through it.

~~~
joshuahornby
It bores me to death and the time taken learning about pointless stuff could
be used learning something useful in my eyes anyway. My only worry is if I go
freelance I'll drop off the radar, my plan is freelance then go to some design
studios show them my work and say please please please hire me!!

~~~
dnlhoust
What's stopping you doing that now in your free time?

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rprasad
Stay in UNI, and do freelance at the same time. That way, by the time you
finish, you'll have a decent client base from which to do freelancing full-
time.

~~~
joshuahornby
I agree, and looks like i will be heading that way.

