{"id":35,"date":"2019-01-22T22:19:35","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T22:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serioussemicolons.wordpress.com\/?p=35"},"modified":"2019-01-22T22:19:35","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T22:19:35","slug":"why-i-quit-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.bryant.ai\/?p=35","title":{"rendered":"Why I Quit College"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the first things I tell recruiters when they reach out to me is that I don’t have a college degree, since so many postings these days require one. I don’t want to waste my time or theirs discussing a position that I will eventually lose due to my academic status. For the enterprising few that want to know why<\/em> I quit college, the answer is for three simple reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason #1: I suck at physics.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I love physics. I find its concepts and applications fascinating. However, when it comes to the mathematics, modeling, and comprehension of its infinite details I’ve always fallen short of the mark. I have, on my bookshelf next to me, no less than 8 physics texts chock-full of fully-worked physics problems and their solutions, each purchased in more desperation than the last to pass Physics II at my beloved Montgomery College. Through hard work and dedication, I managed to eke out a B, but I knew that my physics career was over at that point in time. And you can’t be an engineer without a solid understanding of physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason #2: Weed-out classes are for the birds.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Engineering is a hard major, often compared to medical or law school in terms of difficulty and cost. Everyone knows this, and so no one should be surprised at having to work hard for a degree of the caliber. However, in my experience this concept seemed to be stretched too far past reality. Classes that I took were built to fail kids out, not just by grades but by stress and drama. Tests with passing scores of 36. Students betraying and backstabbing one another for the professor’s favor. TA’s vying with one another to see who could answer the least number of questions in study hall. I made that last one up, but in what way are these things conducive to learning? I couldn’t think properly from all the noise, and the charm of being an overworked engineering student wore off fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason #3: College is too expensive.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I don’t need to rehash the omnipresent issue of college debt, as it is an issue of massive importance to today’s voting crowd. Students can’t pay it because a degree isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on anymore. Parents are pulling at the collars and wiping away sweat because they cosigned all of these loans that Junior took out to go to business school (not to mention his beaming younger sister with dreams just as ambitious). And to make matters even worse, for-profit colleges are taking advantage of kids by promising them their dreams and billing them in advance, without disclosing the uselessness of their degrees after they “graduate”. The college debt crisis is coming soon, and I refuse to make matters worse for myself than they already are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“So, are you ever going back?”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I very, very <\/em>much hope so. I LOVE learning, in fact my personal motto is Never Stop Learning. <\/em>One day when I have enough financial stability and time to return to academia, you can bet I’ll be the first in line at the registrar’s office. It saddened me greatly to have to pull the plug on my first set of college years, but I couldn’t invest any more money or time into something that wasn’t showing results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s end on a happy note: how awesome am I gonna be when I finally do go back?? Years and years of industry experience?! Heck yes!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll leave you with this awesome quote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe learn from failure, not from success!\u201d  <\/p> Bram Stoker,\u00a0<\/strong>Dracula<\/a> <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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