

Ask HN: School or Programming? - Nib

I love porgramming, i really &lt;3 it. Im sure most of us in HN do. But, recently, I&#x27;ve been facing a problem...<p>School is getting in the way of programming for me. Our school does&#x27;nt(at all) encourage programming and due to that, I&#x27;m having a tough time balancing between my school life and my coder life. My parents don&#x27;t want me to code, as they think that doing so is causing me to lose interest from studies and probably, even, affects my grade :(<p>What do I do ? my life is getting really complicated lately...
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atmosx
Hello,

The most important value someone can acquire is handling priorities and
finishing tasks whether you like the tasks or no.

Programming can be a hobby or job. Today for you, is probably mostly a hobby
and that's a _very good hobby_. But don't think for a minute that programming
for a client, is as interesting as programming for your self. What keeps you
going is the art of self-discipline. The persistence to do what _you have to
do when you should do it whether you feel like it or not_.

School should be priority No1 for you. School will probably give you access to
a University which will give you access to a world full of opportunities that
now, you can't see, so basically you don't know what you're missing.

For every Zuckerberg, Jobs and Gates there are billion equally brilliant young
men out there who fail everyday. Better fail with a degree that will give you
access to the market than fighting alone, having to prove yourself at every
step.

Generally speaking school or no school, that's up to you. But completing
successfully tasks that you _don 't like_ is paramount if you want to be
successful.

I with you the best of luck :-)

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basdevries
I've dealt with the same problem as you have. In high school, I picked up
programming and before I knew it, I was programming almost all of the time.
It's great to be able to have an idea and build it instantly.

However, life is not just programming. When I was in my senior year of high
school, I got multiple job offers from tech firms in my country to come work
for them. This monday however, I'm starting a university course cs at UVA
(university of Amsterdam). This is not because I love programming less than
studying (the opposite, actually). It is because I'm playing a long-term game
instead of a short one. In colleges, there is so much knowledge right under
your nose, and you get to work with people equally smart. Starting this
monday, I'll be on the frontier of technology.

From there, I can learn, experiment, socialize, and everything else that I
couldn't do while I was building custom CMS systems or optimizing a SQL
database for some lame company.

Your working life can last more than 50 years, so be wise about choosing your
fundamentals.

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mproud
Maybe you need a break from school? Try to line up an internship, or at the
least just some kind of bill-paying job, and start working on something. Then
re-evaluate where you are next year whether you want to re-enter school or
jump into the industry instead.

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koesterd
How old are you and where are you from? What kind of school are you visiting?

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izolate
Don't be a one trick pony. Programming is just _one_ life skill you should
learn. Stay in school and learn the rest.

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claudiug
your life is complicated? go to africa, ebola countries, urakine, iran, then
you will se what is complicated

~~~
Nib
Well, I was talking emotionally, not conditionally... :(

