That was an incredibly long article. I like the (now I can't seem to figure out who it is from) quote, "I'm sorry this letter is so long, I didn't have time to make it shorter." There was a lot of history-of-the-band in the middle that didn't really feel absolutely necessary. It started to feel like a lot of fan self indulgence.
That said, it did convey the very important lesson: don't go into debt. When talking about bands going on a meteoric rise, being pushed by their record labels, you're talking about bands going into debt to the record label. As long as you're not in debt, you don't have people banging on your door asking for money. And that's when you can do whatever you want to do, make things as good as you want to make them, and create something truly special.
It sounds like that is what happened to Phish when they first broke up, instead they fell into a kind of perceived debt to their production staff. They weren't very interested in playing, but they couldn't do whatever it was they actually wanted to do, because they had people to pay.
And based on my own experiences with debt, I can see how that feeling can lead to substance abuse. My own life has become so incredibly much happier now that I know I don't have that debt hanging over me. And it comes back whenever I have someone knocking on my door, saying I owe them money (i.e. taxes).
So stay out of debt, kids. Whatever you do, stay out of debt. College isn't worth it. Believe me, people were starting to question whether or not college was worth the debt when I started 10 years ago, and the situation has certainly not improved over time.
The article was long, you summarized it nicely. But I love the last line of your comment;
"College isn't worth it. Believe me, people were starting to question whether or not college was worth the debt when I started 10 years ago, and the situation has certainly not improved over time."
You know, I wish someone would have told me this when I was 18 (21 now). You DO NOT need a college education. Sure, it helps, no doubt. But IMO it only really helps if it is one of the top schools (MIT, Stanford, Harvard etc) and if you look at tuition costs often times those schools aren't that much more expensive then some B/C level school.
I think the problem started with the parents of my generation. My parents (along with their peers) were taught college was the universal way to succeed which transferred over into what adults preached to kids my age. I think being in college (back in the day) made you stand out. But with every kid being taught that same thing, how can you stand out if everyone is doing the same thing? Doesn't it defeat the purpose? Sure, the argument is it makes you a well rounded student, no doubt it does that. But spending 80k+ on learning about the annual rainfall in Brazil doesn't do you much good for your job prospects.
I think my generation should make their own education. I personally dropped out of school to learn software, got accepted into Dev Bootcamp and will be continuing my education there. Don't ever let school stand in the way of your education.
Here is a great article on the subject. This kid was a Thiel Fellow and has spent the 100k he was rewarded (as part of the fellowship) to write and focus on education. It's a great read and his book looks pretty good.
> This kid was a Thiel Fellow and has spent the 100k he was rewarded (as part of the fellowship) to write and focus on education.
It's never been too clear to me what that Thiel fellow ever really accomplished. On the surface, it seems that he got his fellowship, dropped out, and has since made a tidy business out of talking about his experience. Maybe I'm being too harsh on the guy, but he strikes me as a self-help guru for the education sphere.
> I think my generation should make their own education. I personally dropped out of school to learn software, got accepted into Dev Bootcamp and will be continuing my education there. Don't ever let school stand in the way of your education.
Somewhat ironically, my interest in pursuing a full CS/EE education increased dramatically after attending DBC. Either way, congrats & good luck. I have nothing but praise for the staff there. I'm sure it will be a positive experience.
Depends on what you pay for it. It is also one of the jobs that you can potentially learn without a degree. Sure, it might eventually pay for itself, but that is a long time of living in debt that is not fun.
I got the complete opposite message from this article. The Phish guys basically spent their college years creating the platform for their future success - would that have ever happened if they'd gone into the workforce instead? Or if they'd had the pressure of "I'm a full time musician" rather than "I'm at college, it's cool if I just want to jam for 8 hours a day because I love it".
Just because people drop out of college or don't use their degree, doesn't mean it's not worth it.
All of your points on debt though are excellent. Be aware that there is such a thing as good debt, but it's not a common experience whereas your lessons are well worth sharing.
You're reinforcing my point. If you go to college, spend money on tuition, and don't use your degree, you've wasted all that money--that you likely went into massive debt to acquire--for something you could have done without spending all of that money on tuition.
I'm not saying "don't spend time not working to train for what you want to do". Don't conflate education with learning. I'm saying "don't spend money on colleges". My old university, a public school, advertises "$8 to $10k a semester for in-state students living on campus full-time". Having been through their system I know whatever they advertise is a crock of shit, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt here for a minute. Holy shit, $20k a year for just crappy place to live and shitty food to eat--if that is how you are treating it because you won't end up using your degree--is insanely expensive.
So after 3 years of this, you've spent upwards of $60k on no degree. I don't think the degree itself would have been worth $80k to finish it (actually, more like $100k, because most of the people I now didn't finish their computer science degrees there in 4 years, me included). I'd have much rather ended those 5 years with project experience--and business experience!--under my belt and a little money because I'd been selling my own projects.
We talk about runways with startups and how working lean extends your runway because the money is a fixed entity. Going to college is just not working lean. You're spending upwards of $55/day, just to live and practice your craft. There are LOTS of ways to live on a lot less than $55/day.
College provides a community and environment, one that served Phish well. College is a lot more than class. You can't look at their success and say what they did was wrong -- it worked for them.
But anyway, Phish went to college in a different generation.
The advantages of college are numerous and can be far, far greater than the award of a degree. For me, college was a fantastic opportunity to develop as a person. Even if I'd fallen out of high school into the job I have now (which I wouldn't have, because a prerequisite is an engineering degree), I wouldn't have had nearly the opportunities to meet people, develop myself, take up hobbies, discover what I enjoy (and don't enjoy) in life - basically, to grow. A 9-5 is very restrictive compared to the freedom of long summers, flexible working hours and impromtu socialising of college.
It's worth saying that not everyone gets the same out of it. I know enough people who sat stoned on their couch for 3 or 4 years to know that every individual extracts a different amount of value from college. Additionally, I live in the UK, where fees were (until last year anyway) $5000 a year. Some of the fees people face at US colleges are outrageous. The experience is simply not worth $50,000/year.
Why should even the ideal version of this "Life Experience" cost anything to anyone? Why does it have to take place at a college?
And so you're telling me that now you have a job, your personal development has ceased? that you don't develop yourself, try to meet people, take up hobbies, or discover what you enjoy?
This is the problem! When you're in massive amounts of debt, you're constantly working. You become a slave to a wage and you are less than a whole person.
Why would you ever work a 9 to 5 for someone else unless you had no choice?
That said, it did convey the very important lesson: don't go into debt. When talking about bands going on a meteoric rise, being pushed by their record labels, you're talking about bands going into debt to the record label. As long as you're not in debt, you don't have people banging on your door asking for money. And that's when you can do whatever you want to do, make things as good as you want to make them, and create something truly special.
It sounds like that is what happened to Phish when they first broke up, instead they fell into a kind of perceived debt to their production staff. They weren't very interested in playing, but they couldn't do whatever it was they actually wanted to do, because they had people to pay.
And based on my own experiences with debt, I can see how that feeling can lead to substance abuse. My own life has become so incredibly much happier now that I know I don't have that debt hanging over me. And it comes back whenever I have someone knocking on my door, saying I owe them money (i.e. taxes).
So stay out of debt, kids. Whatever you do, stay out of debt. College isn't worth it. Believe me, people were starting to question whether or not college was worth the debt when I started 10 years ago, and the situation has certainly not improved over time.