

Ask HN: I'm a 14yo HS student. How can I improve my situation? - Khroma

Sorry if the title sounds whiny. I'm currently in HS and I have been doing development since I was eleven. I'm doing web development now but I have several limitations. I don't know how I can schedule my time. There always seems to be too much school work, but I know that there are a lot of people like me who do activities outside of programming and manage to found many websites.<p>I’m facing limitations because I don't have any money to even buy a $20 VPS or a domain name. I don’t have a bank account so I can't buy books from the Internet. What's your advice for overcoming these, what should I do to improve my situation, and how should I schedule my time?
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michaeldhopkins
1\. Read this article and follow the advice. If it works for college in three
semesters, it will work for high school in eight semesters
[http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/05/10-tips-for-
college...](http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/05/10-tips-for-college-
students/)

2\. Solve the bank account problem by buying prepaid debit cards. If you
really need 30 dollars for VPS and a domain name (and I agree with others that
free services are the way to go here), you can get that quickly by walking
around asking to weed gardens or mow lawns.

3\. You need to get connected, so go to meetups, try to get informational
interviews with local software companies, etc.

------
timerickson
I'm going to address the monetary issues as others will be better at talking
to time management/school work than I.

First off, don't buy books. Pleeeeenty of great reading for absolutely free
online. Just dig around a little.

Talk to your parents about setting up a VisaBuxx card in your name. It has all
the controls and such they'll love and will give you the oppertunity of
purchasing things online.
<http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/prepaid/visa_buxx.html>

As for a domain name, $7.49 with a coupon for Godaddy.com
<http://www.retailmenot.com/view/godaddy.com>

As for VPS. A one year contract with Linode (10% off if you buy a whole year)
will get you 512mb RAM, 200GB of transfer for $216. I'd consider selling your
iPod or something to cover that, if a VPS is really important to you... you
can always setup LAMP locally to learn server setup and programming at no
cost.

------
techietim
As a soon to graduate high school senior and someone who seems to have the
same interests as you, here are some of my thoughts:

1\. Stay on the ball with your school work. I regret doing this myself.
Freshman and sophomore year I had a decent average (85-90%), however, junior
year I just got lazy. Most of my classes went down into the 70s and I was not
enjoying myself. I'm in my final semester now, I have been accepted to
university, but I'll most likely have to take out a big student loan as my
average isn't good enough for most scholarships. I could have done better in
those last two years of high school, but I didn't know how to manage my time.
I'm getting better with it now, thankfully, and two tips I have for you are:
(a) write down what homework you have for the evening on an ipod, notebook, or
whatever you are guaranteed to look at once you get home. As soon as you get
home, before you visit HN, reddit, or play any games(!), do that homework!
You'll be able to focus better if you're not distracted by anything else, and
you won't have to rush to finish it before bed (b) find time to do as much
work as you can at school. If you happen to have a free period, study hall, or
lunch break, take advantage of that. If you have something to do, find
somewhere quite to work and JUST DO IT. You'll feel so much better after
completing it and then you won't have to spend time at home on it. Don't let
your friends talk you out of doing your homework to spend time with them, as
there will be opportunities for that later. There's a due date on assignments,
and you'll most likely not have another chance to get it done.

2\. I've attended the canada-wide national science fair two times (hopefully a
third. I'll find out soon), and this is something where one has to spend TONS
of their free time working on a project. My projects were programming related,
so I got to do what I enjoy doing and I won some cash and prizes doing so.
However, there are huge time management issue with this. This is where finding
those spare moments at school to do homework and assignments is really
important.

3\. Don't worry about a VPS. I know the feeling of wanting one though, but
I've had to resist. There's just no practical reason why you actually NEED
one. Before you buy something, ask yourself if it's something you actually
need. If you would like to get a domain name (which can be helpful if you're
advertising yourself on Kijiji or Craigslist for web dev.), you could just
have a static HTML page (which most domain registrars allow you to have free),
and have it link to your work (Github, etc.)

4\. As others have pointed out, there are many free resources online. You just
have to look.

~~~
cmos
About science fairs: I used to spend my summers working on my science fair
project, then in the US (MA) win local and regional fairs to eventually get to
the State Science Fair, where you could win $1k-3k in cash 'scholarships'.
Better than a summer job, and looks good for college.

------
reason
Personally, I would attend to my educational duties, and try to enjoy these
years the best I can. That's not to say you shouldn't give attention to your
development interests -- you absolutely should. Just don't worry too much
about optimizing every second for maximum productivity. You're still really,
really young, and have many years ahead of you to bury your head down in your
work and really make progress. Plus, in my opinion, abandoning high school
work wouldn't be the wisest thing to do. Make sure you stay on top of it; I
don't think you'll regret it.

As for VPS, you could use free hosting services like Heroku and Google App
Engine to play with some ideas. And for books, what type are you looking for?
There are tons of free resources online to learn everything you could possibly
imagine regarding web development (see other comments here for links). For
someone strapped for cash, seek out resources online -- the same goes for
those who've got money, too.

For scheduling time, like I said, don't worry too much about it. You might
want to make a very rough schedule to stick to (like finish homework by 8pm,
do programming tutorials for an hour, and work on an idea for another 3 or 4).
But don't break your back sticking to it. Go out and enjoy being a kid.

------
redlightbulb
I made a lot of movies in High School and had similar problems (lack of
time/resources). My solution? Boot strapping.

I used my Dads cheap video camera and some terrible movie editing software to
make a Dvd of the Spring Dance recital, then got the dance department to take
orders for DVDs from eager parents. By making everyone pay upfront, I was
never at risk. With a $5 markup ($2 for me, $3 for the Dance Department), I
suddenly was a lot closer to being able to buy better equipment.

Get OK at making really simple websites using free tools - there are tons of
people who will gladly pay you if you can set up a good looking blog for their
knitting group or fundraiser. Suddenly you'll have some money. Invest it in
yourself to learn more complex and advanced things (through materials or just
money to pay for your projects). Those new projects will lead to new jobs. New
jobs means more money. You get the idea.

As for time? Its always a struggle. I got most of my work done during school
vacations (spring break, summer vacation) and weekends. It helps if your
friends are also your 'business' partners.

Good luck!

------
iqster
Google's app engine and Amazon's EC2 both offer free tiers. Windows Azure
might offer a free tier too. I think for App engine, you might not need a
credit card number.

My suggestion is don't waste cash on domain names and physical books. You can
use the free subdomains that you get from App Engine for now. If you write
something awesome that people start using, you might be able to make some cash
off of that. For now, you should focus on learning and building.

For time, I'd suggest coding really early or really late. Basically, when you
have few distractions. Blast the music on and give at least 2 hours per coding
session.

Best of luck to you!

------
ryot
Trouble scheduling time in HS? Ha! Try doing an engineering degree, my friend.

That being said, I would recommend "being a kid" for a bit while you still
can. You're already very much ahead of the curve when it comes to programming
and development it looks like (14? Holy cow that's awesome). I honestly don't
think your situation needs much improvement, it sounds great.

Focus on school first though - if you're getting a lot of work at 14 then it
sounds like you're going to a good one. As for money, you could always get a
summer job and save up for the domains and books you want to purchase.

------
rcavezza
I have extra server space - I can host your stuff. Send me an email -
bob[at]easyunsubscriber.com

------
imechura
Where are you located? You want books, I have books. You could also find more
value than programming in being plugged in to your high school social
activities. By being in touch with what the cool kids and upcoming hipsters
are doing you may have insight into a market that lots of companies would pay
good money for.

BTW, if you had a server and a domain name do you even know what you would do
with it? Not in a technical manner but what problems are you going to solve
with the software you write. Learn how to recognize problems in a market and
offer valuable solutions.

------
sown
Go to community college. I just walked in asked nicely and they let me in.
Drop out of HS if you can. Transfer straight to college. Don't tell any CC
students about your situation because it can make things awkward.

Don't listen to counselors or even parents on this: no one will care about a
HS diploma, especially if you go into development. No one will even ask.

If it ever comes up, casually don't mention you didn't graduate. Just say _I
went to Such-and-such HS_.

------
clojurerocks
Im a social entrepreneur involved with several non profits doing programming
projects. Ive actually be brainstorming an organization that uses these
projects to help people like yourself learn about the industry and the tools.
As such if youd like to help out and thus learn about programming wed be open
to having you involved. So you can learn from the projects and from myself as
well as other people on the projects.

Please let me know if interested. Thanks.

~~~
Khroma
Sure, can you tell me more?

~~~
clojurerocks
Can we chat through email instead? Mine is startupz.net@gmail.com

------
bpeters
Reach out locally and find a mentor. He/She could provide you with a
tremendous amount of help and guidance. Perhaps even offer to fund your
projects.

------
Undergrads
I would be happy to provide you with free web hosting and even a domain name
to get you started. Let me know if you're interested.

------
PonyGumbo
Make good use of your summer vacation. Mow some lawns, rake, do whatever you
can to get paid in cash, then open starter checking and savings accounts. If
you need to buy things online (hosting, etc), get a prepaid Visa card from
your local drug store.

------
DanielStraight
There are loads of free books online:

[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/194812/list-of-freely-
ava...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/194812/list-of-freely-available-
programming-books/392926#392926)

~~~
mindcrime
Also:

<http://www.reddit.com/r/csbooks>

<http://www.reddit.com/r/mathbooks>

<http://www.reddit.com/r/eebooks>

<http://www.reddit.com/r/econbooks>

<http://www.reddit.com/r/physicsbooks>

And not just books, but there is a tremendous amount of useful technical
informaation, tutorials, articles, etc. on the web that are free. Heck, you
could spend a lifetime just reading papers from Citeseer or ArXiv.org.

OP: it might help if you told us a little more about what you're interested
in, what kind of projects you're working on, what kinds of things you _want_
to work on, etc.

Also, regarding the money thing... at the risk of stating the obvious, have
you approached your parents or other relatives about funding some of your
ideas? I mean, a domain name + cheap VPS really doesn't cost a lot... maybe
they'd front you what you need to get started, and if you make something that
actually makes money, then so much the better. If not, it's still a valuable
learning experience for a fairly small investment.

~~~
Khroma
I tried to ask them but there's always so many blocks. I have to explain so
much just to get them to do something. It's like an inefficient bureaucracy
with lots of red tape. I can't really contact any of my relatives because they
are in another country. I think they're hostile to the idea because my grades
have been low (although they are improving) ever since we moved to a new state
over winter. They are also worried about my vision...

Right now my main goal is to make money. In the long term I would want to have
several websites set up and do some research in CS. I've only completed one
web app, and it's a really simple one in Sinatra (it's a pastebin...). I plan
to learn Rails, JS, and graphic design with Inkscape.

Thanks for the links!

~~~
mindcrime
_I tried to ask them but there's always so many blocks. I have to explain so
much just to get them to do something. It's like an inefficient bureaucracy
with lots of red tape. I can't really contact any of my relatives because they
are in another country. I think they're hostile to the idea because my grades
have been low (although they are improving) ever since we moved to a new state
over winter. They are also worried about my vision..._

Understood. Another option would be to setup some sort of online "donation
box" thing (like some open source projects do) and just put the word out "help
a high-school kid get a VPS / domain / books" and see if you can raise a few
dollars. I know I'd chip in a few bucks to such a cause myself.

And, as others have mentioned, a summer job is an option. But it doesn't
necessarily have to be mowing lawns or whatever. You already have some coding
skills, and apparently have a computer and a 'net connection... maybe you can
find a scenario where somebody will pay you to build them a basic app or
website or whatever. Unfortunately you probably can't use ODesk or anything
due to your age, but you _might_ be able to set up an "under the table" deal
and get paid via Paypal or something. Hmm... not sure if you can have a PayPal
account if you're < 18, but maybe your parents would be willing to help make
that happen, if there's an age limit?

------
coryl
I used to trade logo/web design work for hosting and domain registrations
(before I had a paypal account). I'm sure you could trade programming work for
those too.

------
jsavimbi
Get thee to Heroku, get thee to GitHub. I'm biased towards the Ruby community,
but there are a great bunch of people there who publish a lot of code and
related information that you can take a lot of advantage of. Also, the Node.js
community is on fire right now and there are a lot of enthusiastic people
constantly contributing. Joyent has free shit as well <https://no.de/>

As far as scheduling your time goes, I would try and use little increments.
Get yourself a calendar and think about small projects with limited feature
sets, setting a max limit of one or two hours of development a day and cross
off each day that you code in red marker. After a couple of weeks you'll
notice a lot of progress. It may help you to focus on specific parts of a
functionality in order to familiarize yourself with larger concepts and gain
expertise, like authentication, messaging, client vs. server javascript, etc.

Most importantly, become a member of a community of developers. That will
expose you to a lot more than just dogmatic handouts from the few people who
actually get involved in online education and aside from making friends and
contacts, may lead to paid work so that you'll be able to line the walls of
home with fancy, outdated programming books like the rest of us.

