

Ask HN: What did you do (or wish you did) when you got out of highschool? - kdude63

Basically, I graduate from highschool in a week and have no idea what I should do.<p>I currently live in a small town in Northern California where there&#x27;s not much room for opportunity... So far my plan is to get a minimum-wage job and save up until I can afford to move to Sacramento, where I have a couple friends I can live with and obviously better job opportunities. I plan on going to college and getting a degree in CS afterwards, and then try to make my way into the tech industry.<p>Is this a bad idea? ... What should I do if so?
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privatedan
Why take a minimum wage job when you can probably contract yourself out doing
a number of different things? I worked part-time one summer for $6/hr ( ~ 0.75
higher than minimum wage ) in between sophomore/junior year in high school.
Towards the end of the summer, I started mowing some lawns for some people I
knew and was making ~$20 per lawn ( which took about an hour each ).

Next summer, I figured if I only mowed one lawn a day, I'd make the same $$$.
Ended up mowing 10+ lawns a week at $25-40 a piece ( I averaged ~$20 - $25/hr
depending on the week ). My favorite move was to go to my customer's neighbors
and say "Hi! I'm cutting Sam's lawn for $x. If you let me cut your lawn for $x
- $5, I'll knock $5 off Sam's lawn as well. Get your lawn cut and save your
neighbor some cash." That worked pretty well and kept my transit time down.

Even if you take a min wage job for stability, try contracting yourself out a
bit on the side and bank that cash. You'll get where you're going quicker.

~~~
bartonfink
That's a hell of a sales tactic in a market where social ties matter. Kudos to
you for figuring it out.

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dav-
Three months after my high school graduation, I moved to Silicon Valley. It
was one of the best choices I could have made.

I grew up in a small desert town with not much room to grow. The opportunities
there were limited for what I wanted to do, and I knew that if I was still
living in that town when I was 40, or even 30, I wouldn't be happy.

Being the procrastinator that I am, I knew that I had to take action
immediately, or I would inevitably fall into a lull of complacence: a mediocre
job, a girlfriend, a dog? And then I would be stuck; eternally glued to this
town that I hated by second-rate obligations. (Not entirely true, people make
drastic changes even with other obligations all the time, but it's not
common.)

I was (and still am) young, and I believe that you should take as many
calculated risks as possible when you're young. Do it before you have a
mortgage, a spouse, a kid. It's so much easier then, because failing doesn't
mean letting your child go hungry, or losing your home and living on the
streets. Worst case, you have to move back in with your parents (assuming
they're supportive).

When I'm laying on my deathbed and analyzing my life, I would rather regret
trying and failing to achieve my dreams than regret not trying at all. When it
gets right down to it, I don't think I would regret failing one bit. Failure
is part of life, and since I've moved here I've failed plenty of times.
Probably more times than I've succeeded. But the value of my few successes
outweighs my many failures, and that's the key.

I've gotten a good job, learned and grown more than I would have imagined
possible, met dozens of amazing people, made lifelong friends, co-founded an
organization, and I'm happier than I've ever been. Not only that, but I'm
excited for the future.

I've still got a long way to go, but I'm so glad that I had the courage and
drive to go out of my comfort zone, into a completely foreign situation, all
alone, and just do it. Granted, I was extremely lucky to have the full support
of my parents and family, but even if I hadn't I think I still would have gone
out and done it.

Of course, this is not advice for everyone. It's not really advice at all,
just my own experience. Yours may vary. Best of luck.

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jf22
I did what I wanted, was lazy, did too many drugs, danced to too much music
and didn't care about the future. Life got messy at some points and I was
almost homeless a couple of times. My career growth was stunted by I ended up
about in the same place, or better, as my peers who "applied themselves".

I took shitty jobs that made me appreciate the perks of sitting behind a desk.
I roamed around a dirt poor social circles which made me appreciate money. I
hung with happy hippies who didn't give a shit about what society said thought
about them and learned what inner peace means.

My perspective about measuring success and failure was changed by my post high
school experiences. I chase goals and dreams differently now because I got all
the fun and partying out of my system and look back on my life with fond
memories of all the excitement I had.

Its like I'm not working hard to I can retire and have fun again you know? I
know what the uninhibited lifestyle is like and the pros and cons. I choose to
live a more calm life because I made a rational decision. Not because I feel
like I'm pressured by social norms or external expectations.

Now I have a good 9-5 job, some freelance clients, two failed saas businesses,
two content sites. I work hard now but only real difference between me and
people in similar situations is our age and how peaceful we are internally.

If everything around me crumbles and I have nothing again I'm sort of ok with
that. I don't worry if I missed out on anything and can relate to the joy and
struggles of entirely different classes of people.

I guess that brings me a sort of peace when I'm working a long night or
putting in extra effort. I just don't get stressed out about things and there
is no nagging voice telling me to relax, I did that already. ;)

If I were you I'd fuck about, take a furniture delivery job, work in a kitchen
and do things only a 20 year old body can handle. Make friends with people who
you'll probably never be able to meet again after your CS career takes off and
overall, relax.

Gain life experience instead of computer experience.

------
27182818284
I think Sacramento might be sub-optimal. I'll throw out a couple other tech
cities that have a much, much, much lower cost of living, but still exciting
developments. I think you can get to these places faster, and then develop
skills or make some money or even attend college. (I'd actually recommend
college first. I know it is fashionable to hate on college right now, but the
overwhelming evidence is that it is still a good thing)

==Kansas City Probably the heart of Silicon Prairie right now, it has amazing
areas like the Kansas City Startup Village where hackers live together in
houses next door to each other powered with Google Fiber. (Need help with
something in iOS? Walk a house down and ask the guys in the other place. That
type of thing) Not only is it a great city with great BBQ, beer and history,
but it the biggest emerging tech scene in the Midwest. This includes, but
isn't limited to [http://eyeverify.com/](http://eyeverify.com/)
[http://www.gethandprint.com/](http://www.gethandprint.com/) etc etc etc

==Lincoln, Nebraska Home of the University of Nebraska, it is an emerging tech
center with new accelerators and venture capital firms in its sister city like
[http://dundeeventurecapital.com/](http://dundeeventurecapital.com/) (Omaha is
an hour away by car) and other avenues for funding like
[http://www.investnebraska.com/](http://www.investnebraska.com/) and the
[http://www.nebraskaangels.org/](http://www.nebraskaangels.org/). The fastest
growing private company in Nebraska is
[http://www.hudl.com/](http://www.hudl.com/), which started as a 3-person
startup, but now has 3 offices in two cities. Similarly, the university is in
the process of launching Innovation Campus which almost doubles the land area
of its campus and includes maker spaces, business accelerators, and more.

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logn
I went straight from HS to college with the help of my parents. But I also
worked half the year full-time and went to school the other half full-time. I
highly recommend this path. Learn basic programming skills first, then enroll
in a CS program, then market yourself to employers and apply to any intern/co-
op positions. I could have never divided my attention between work and school
simultaneously, so I think alternating work and school is ideal.

Also, learning programming before enrolling in a CS program is from my
experience the best path to not failing out. Professors do not really teach
programming. They give assignments and do their best at lectures which doesn't
really help your brain think programmatically.

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spiralhead
If you want to break into the tech industry, the best thing you can do right
now is just start building stuff. Think of a mobile app or a web app that has
a simple purpose that you think would be useful, then use the internet to
teach yourself how to build it. If you can pull that off then you have a very
good shot at a career as a developer. If you can't then you probably either
don't have the drive or the aptitude, in which case you'll be spending a few
more years figuring out what you want to do.

~~~
kdude63
I know I have the aptitude... drive would be my problem. I just find it
difficult to actually _want_ to work on something. That's not really abnormal
is it?...

~~~
TheAlchemist
Why going into tech industry actually ?

As obvious as it sounds, you should go into the field that you are passionate
about.

As one old dude said a long time ago: "Nothing can stop the man with the right
mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man
with the wrong mental attitude"

~~~
kdude63
Because the tech industry _is_ what I'm passionate about. My lack of drive
comes from things like lack of self-confidence and motivation.

~~~
S4M
You should read the essay "How to do what you love" by pg [0]. One thing he
says is that it's easy to think you love something just because it has lots of
prestige around it. I don't know you, so it is possible that you will love
technology, but from your comment "Because the tech industry _is_ what I'm
passionate about. My lack of drive comes from things like lack of self-
confidence and motivation.", it seems to me that you're into it just because
it seems cool from the outside. At least for me, it's impossible to be
passionate about something and lacking of drive about the same thing.

What is it in the tech industry you are passionate about? Do you like to solve
complex problem through coding? Do you think technology can give you more
leverage? The tech industry is huge, so my advice for you would be first to
find what you really like about technology.

One more thing. Maybe you will find my comment contemptuous, but I promise you
that it is not the case. I am just writing what I would like to have read when
I was younger.

[0] [http://paulgraham.com/love.html](http://paulgraham.com/love.html)

~~~
kdude63
Hm, well now that I look back at the comment I made at 2am, it seems rather
silly to say I'm passionate about the tech industry itself.

The thing is that I've always been fascinated with technology and what it can
do. I love working with it and I love making it work. As far as I'm concerned,
making something useful in Java or putting together a computer is just as much
fun as watching a movie or eating food.

My problem with drive is the whole "do what you're told" thing. I've tried
doing things for a friend, but I often get bored in the middle of it because
I'm just doing what I'm told, and it's not of any particular value or interest
to me. Things that I don't think are just really cool or things that don't
benefit me personally are harder to work on... and I don't think I'm the only
one with this problem.

But anyways, thanks for the link, it's a good read and definitely something to
think about either way.

~~~
spiralhead
Unless you're working for yourself on your own product it's hard to find
something you're 100% passionate about. But the funny thing about that is
working for yourself is one of the hardest things you can ever strive to do.
It is even harder when you get married and have kids because your free time
evaporates to zero. Now is the time to go for independence if you can do it

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JSeymourATL
Bravo for thinking to ask such a profound question. No doubt you'll go far!

Personally, I wish I started a program of autodidacticism earlier. Teaching
myself about business & technical subjects that interested me. Also, make a
habit of reading biographies of great men. Tremendous lessons can be learned
that way.

Finally, read up on Goal Setting and implementing your action plans. *You've
got less time than you think. Get Going Now!

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osmnshkh
I'm in the same position right now. Instead of getting a job where you won't
learn anything, try and get a job or an internship at a startup. I've worked
at a local startup for the past year and it's been an amazing experience. I
learned a lot and met a lot of interesting people.

[https://angel.co/jobs](https://angel.co/jobs)

------
vincentbarr
Travel, without question.

------
joeclark77
Also: NEVER BORROW MONEY FOR ANYTHING if you can help it. How I wish I could
tell my 18-year-old self that!

------
joeclark77
In the "what did you wish you did" category, think about joining the military.
They will pay you more than some minimum-wage job would, give you training and
possibly an exciting tech job like cyber-warfare. (Not to mention the uniform
and the physical training that'll help you attract a good woman!) Maybe you
don't have any sense of duty or patriotism (most of us didn't at your age)...
but you probably will in 15 years, and you'll thank yourself! There are a lot
of us old guys who wish we had served, but I've never met an old veteran who
wishes he _hadn 't_.

Think about the other stuff you're probably planning to do with the next
decade: work some entry-level jobs, live with your parents, sit on the sofa,
play a lot of video games, etc. Why not drive a submarine or work with
satellites or something instead?

~~~
JSeymourATL
*Ditto: Great chance to see the world, and prove yourself. You'll come back with confidence you can't get anywhere else.

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jesusmichael
Jasmine Lynn Schurr...

