Gosh you are all just so smart and gifted. Wow, I feel so grateful to be in the cyber-presence of you incredible smart people.
Perhaps someone on this thread can address the issues at hand instead of bragging how they were in accelerated programs when they were kids. Please... grow up and spare us the transparent self-indulgence.
I think it is perfectly reasonable to spend more time on struggling children than gifted children. Our society needs to ensure that the average kid meets a skill level that will prepare him or her for life as a productive member society. Gifted children, by definition, don't need that help. Frankly, if they are gifted then they can find their own, personal path to realize their own destiny. I know know why public schools should spend money on creating more braggadocio Slashdot posters.
One would think that someone with so much surplus time as to research this subject would have a better command of the English language. Of even just a friend who did.
I started my career before getting my degree. I have been very successful as a developer since then, and I currently run my own software contracting company. I'm 29 and I have been back to school off and on for 10 years.
Do I regret not having the degree? Yes, I do. Not because my career is suffering, although things could have turned out much worse - I was lucky - plus I'm also incredibly bright:)
I regret not having the degree because of the sense of personal satisfaction. I'm highly regarded among friends as coworkers as an intelligent, worldly type of person. It pisses me off, and also makes me feel strange, when I interact with dumb-asses that have advanced degrees. Despite the degree, you can be a dumb-ass, and I think I've met most of the people that fall into that category.
To me, I just have to have it. I need it to validate myself. I love computer science, and I'd like to continue academically. AI, Neural Networks, parrallel computing all fascinate me, but now I'm still stuck programming linked lists with 21 year olds who just got their first taste of programming 2 years before.
Ive proven that I can succeed without college, but I never had anything against college in the first place, except that it takes too damn long.
Now, juggling my business, family, and school is very challenging. To answer the original question, I take just 2 classes per semester (plus the summer session). My days are fragmented between work, school, and care of my son, and since I work off-site, I spend my nights making up the work I could get to during the day. I'm lucky to have the flexibility.
Of course this invokes the paradoxical "Expect the unexpected." I once had a VP tell me that, and it took quite a while to explain to him that it is a logical impossibility. Once you expect it, it ceases to be unexpected. Typical cliche ridden mind...
What I have found helpful in my projects (which are usually small teams of 10 developers) is to have another developer work on parts of the system that I have "owned" for a while. If someone is adding a new feature to my structure, its a fresh mind and a fresh pair of eyes. It breaks the code out of my paternal grasp.
Slashdot Mirror
I hear during the autopsy, monkeys spontaneously flew from his butt. More on that in tomorrow's edition.
Gosh you are all just so smart and gifted. Wow, I feel so grateful to be in the cyber-presence of you incredible smart people. Perhaps someone on this thread can address the issues at hand instead of bragging how they were in accelerated programs when they were kids. Please... grow up and spare us the transparent self-indulgence. I think it is perfectly reasonable to spend more time on struggling children than gifted children. Our society needs to ensure that the average kid meets a skill level that will prepare him or her for life as a productive member society. Gifted children, by definition, don't need that help. Frankly, if they are gifted then they can find their own, personal path to realize their own destiny. I know know why public schools should spend money on creating more braggadocio Slashdot posters.
One would think that someone with so much surplus time as to research this subject would have a better command of the English language. Of even just a friend who did.
I started my career before getting my degree. I have been very successful as a developer since then, and I currently run my own software contracting company. I'm 29 and I have been back to school off and on for 10 years.
Do I regret not having the degree? Yes, I do. Not because my career is suffering, although things could have turned out much worse - I was lucky - plus I'm also incredibly bright :)
I regret not having the degree because of the sense of personal satisfaction. I'm highly regarded among friends as coworkers as an intelligent, worldly type of person. It pisses me off, and also makes me feel strange, when I interact with dumb-asses that have advanced degrees. Despite the degree, you can be a dumb-ass, and I think I've met most of the people that fall into that category.
To me, I just have to have it. I need it to validate myself. I love computer science, and I'd like to continue academically. AI, Neural Networks, parrallel computing all fascinate me, but now I'm still stuck programming linked lists with 21 year olds who just got their first taste of programming 2 years before.
Ive proven that I can succeed without college, but I never had anything against college in the first place, except that it takes too damn long.
Now, juggling my business, family, and school is very challenging. To answer the original question, I take just 2 classes per semester (plus the summer session). My days are fragmented between work, school, and care of my son, and since I work off-site, I spend my nights making up the work I could get to during the day. I'm lucky to have the flexibility.
Hope that encourages someone.
Of course this invokes the paradoxical "Expect the unexpected." I once had a VP tell me that, and it took quite a while to explain to him that it is a logical impossibility. Once you expect it, it ceases to be unexpected. Typical cliche ridden mind...
What I have found helpful in my projects (which are usually small teams of 10 developers) is to have another developer work on parts of the system that I have "owned" for a while. If someone is adding a new feature to my structure, its a fresh mind and a fresh pair of eyes. It breaks the code out of my paternal grasp.
Its emotionally taxing, but it's for the best.