Erai Sedai he/him Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I'm 23 and working full time. And man it sucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navybrandt he/him Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I guess I'm one of the old men here. 40 years old with 4 children - 2 of them adults! I have a Bachelors degree in Nuclear Engineering, a Masters degree in Systems Engineering, and I'm working on a PhD in Engineering Management. As others have said, college isn't about going out and partying. You're there to get an education and most of what they teach you you'll actually use in your job (at least with technical-type degrees). I'm not saying don't have fun, just don't do as much partying as the typical young guy. Save it for the weekends and don't show up to class tired or hung over. Do your homework on time and actually study for tests. If you like being treated as an adult, then act like one. Part of being an adult is delaying pleasure until it's appropriate. A lot of the pressure college students feel is because they put things off until the last minute. There will be the occasional professor that forgets you have a life other than his/her class, but most of the time, if you work on your classes a little bit every day, you'll do fine, have plenty of time, and not be stressed. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vineyarddawg Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I guess I'm one of the old men here. 40 years old with 4 children - 2 of them adults! I have a Bachelors degree in Nuclear Engineering, a Masters degree in Systems Engineering, and I'm working on a PhD in Engineering Management. As others have said, college isn't about going out and partying. You're there to get an education and most of what they teach you you'll actually use in your job (at least with technical-type degrees). I'm not saying don't have fun, just don't do as much partying as the typical young guy. Save it for the weekends and don't show up to class tired or hung over. Do your homework on time and actually study for tests. If you like being treated as an adult, then act like one. Part of being an adult is delaying pleasure until it's appropriate. A lot of the pressure college students feel is because they put things off until the last minute. There will be the occasional professor that forgets you have a life other than his/her class, but most of the time, if you work on your classes a little bit every day, you'll do fine, have plenty of time, and not be stressed. Old man high five! I graduated from college/university/whatever-you-want-to-call-it 17 years ago. That "learning to act like a responsible adult" thing was kind of tricky for me, though. It was one of the lessons that took me the longest to learn. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaymyth she/her Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I'm one of the older guard - 37, married, no kids, but managing this whole adulting thing pretty well, all things considered. I mean, my life is kind of weird; I have an elementary education degree, and I work for a bank in merchant support. You'd be surprised how often training dedicated to helping you handle small children translates over to a customer service support role. (Or, if you've worked in customer service, you probably wouldn't be surprised at all.) I was pretty directionless when I was college-aged. I was still suffering from the bitter disappointment of my childhood, which was finally getting old enough to understand that Starfleet Academy wasn't real. I wanted to be a starship captain, and couldn't figure out what else would be as good. So I bounced around from physics to music and eventually to teaching, and wound up working in a completely different industry than any of it. That's the way life goes sometimes. I wish this site had existed when I was in middle school, but I started high school a year before Elantris was published. And now I feel old. Aheeheeheeheehee! Stop feeling old. I graduated high school a full decade before you did. AND I AM STILL YOUNG, DAGNABBIT 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSilverDragon he/him Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 So, I'm a special case. I'm in collage, and high school, so yeah... College is way more fun than high school, but it is more work, so the trade off is pretty fair. Calculus!!!!!! I'm loving it so much, I'm just sad that we have to take tests. Why can't we just sit in class and learn stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navybrandt he/him Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Calculus 2 is the hardest math class I ever had. Once you get past that, calc 3 and differential equations is pretty easy (given a solid foundation in calc 2). I haven't done any truly advanced, way-up stuff that a Math major might do though. My favorite classes are actually in Probability & Statistics. @Kaymyth, yes, dealing with children is very much like dealing with customers - or subordinates - or superiors - or people in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little wilson she/her Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I got my Bachelor's almost 4 years ago, and I'm pretty sure there's no amount of money that would get me to go back. I've almost got all of my debt paid off, and I have no desire to accrue more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navybrandt he/him Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Oh yeah, the Navy, Veterans Affairs, and my job have paid for all my school. Great benefits for veterans and at my job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xaladin he/him Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Calculus 2 is the hardest math class I ever had. Once you get past that, calc 3 and differential equations is pretty easy (given a solid foundation in calc 2). I haven't done any truly advanced, way-up stuff that a Math major might do though. My favorite classes are actually in Probability & Statistics. @Kaymyth, yes, dealing with children is very much like dealing with customers - or subordinates - or superiors - or people in general. After diff eq's (if you choose a pure math route) it's a little different (but super fun), because you prove everything, and you are never allowed to use anything you don't know how to prove. I like it this way because there is no magic, no "just believe." Only facts proven based on axioms and earlier theorems. Also, math programs don't really have "weed-out" classes (you could argue calc II is a weed-out class, but that's about it) because they don't get crowds of people who actually want to study math. The name "mathematics" scares away everybody who doesn't belong. I am the opposite of engineers and physicists. They find things easier or more worthwhile when there are applications in real life. I find things in real life hard to understand. The more removed from real life and the more safely embedded in clean logicland a topic is, the more comfortable I am with it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xaladin he/him Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 So, I'm a special case. I'm in collage, and high school, so yeah... College is way more fun than high school, but it is more work, so the trade off is pretty fair. Calculus!!!!!! I'm loving it so much, I'm just sad that we have to take tests. Why can't we just sit in class and learn stuff? You will be surprised how much you can learn from books. For example: I can suggest Logical Labyrinths by Raymond Smullyan or The Calculus Gallery by William Dunham And pretty much any book published by Springer will be worth your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious Anamaximder he/him Posted May 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I am probably the youngest person here. If anyone wants to challenge that step foward. Despite being in sixth grade, I know 5 languages ( spoken fluently), and am taking math classes with smart seniors in high school. Middle school sucks. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I am probably the youngest person here. If anyone wants to challenge that step foward. Despite being in sixth grade, I know 5 languages ( spoken fluently), and am taking math classes with smart seniors in high school. Middle school sucks. Wow. Considered skipping a grade?Just from curiosity, which languages? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zas678 he/him Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Her name is secretly Kaise. I'm in college! I enjoy it, but it's been somewhat similar to High School, because I was taking a lot of AP credits, etc in High School. I enjoy it, and (so far) don't have any debt. Though I don't think that'll last for long..... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjustice99 she/her Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Im in high school! (currently 10th grade) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarcasm she/her Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I am probably the youngest person here. If anyone wants to challenge that step foward. Despite being in sixth grade, I know 5 languages ( spoken fluently), and am taking math classes with smart seniors in high school. Middle school sucks. Wow...I'm close, but not as young as you. I'm in seventh grade and I'm turning 13 in exactly an hour and 30 minutes. I can also speak five languages: Aleithi, Aonic, Sanderson profanity, sarcasm, and Mandarin. Oh, and the occasional English. So six languages. Fluent in all of them And that's impressive-what math courses are you currently taking? 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaa he/him Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) I'm turning 30 next year and I kind of miss my college days. I only got a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from a small college (not a full university), but it was still quite fun. The school was in the middle of a business district full of tall buildings. For me this was a better learning environment than the isolated gardens of some Philippine universities. (That's one of my quirks: loving the city more than "nature"). Anyway, I miss being able to just learn and experiment with stuff without having to deal with the business repercussions of my actions. I miss not having to think about business at all, to be honest. A few years ago I tried getting a Master's degree through an "open university" where most of the classes are online, mainly so I can study and work at the same time. I had to give up on it because the multiplied strain of simultaneous deadlines (from both my boss and my professors) almost broke my soul. Nowadays I dream of saving enough money and/or getting a nice scholarship so I can be a full-time student once again for a few years. Meanwhile I try to learn as much as I can about stuff I'm interested in via the Internet (Wikipedia and Coursera, mostly). Edited May 14, 2015 by skaa 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 (edited) I had to give up on it because the multiplied strain of simultaneous deadlines I see what you did there. Take an upvote. Edited May 15, 2015 by Delightful 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious Anamaximder he/him Posted May 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 I'm turning 30 next year and I kind of miss my college days. I only got a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from a small college (not a full university), but it was still quite fun. The school was in the middle of a business district full of tall buildings. For me this was a better learning environment than the isolated gardens of some Philippine universities. (That's one of my quirks: loving the city more than "nature"). Anyway, I miss being able to just learn and experiment with stuff without having to deal with the business repercussions of my actions. I miss not having to think about business at all, to be honest. A few years ago I tried getting a Master's degree through an "open university" where most of the classes are online, mainly so I can study and work at the same time. I had to give up on it because the multiplied strain of simultaneous deadlines (from both my boss and my professors) almost broke my soul. Nowadays I dream of saving enough money and/or getting a nice scholarship so I can be a full-time student once again for a few years. Meanwhile I try to learn as much as I can about stuff I'm interested in via the Internet (Wikipedia and Coursera, mostly). Try Khan Academy. Might be a bit too easy though. I am on Calculus Advanced. Delightful, I have skipped a grade. Plan is to skip 8th and 10th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 (edited) Try Khan Academy. Might be a bit too easy though. I am on Calculus Advanced. Delightful, I have skipped a grade. Plan is to skip 8th and 10th.Why those in particular, if you don't mind my asking? Edited May 15, 2015 by Delightful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious Anamaximder he/him Posted May 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 (edited) Math cirruculum and other stuff. Its really hard to understand. Might be skipping 9th. I am not Kaise. I am male. Edited May 15, 2015 by Venture Mistborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaymyth she/her Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 Try Khan Academy. Might be a bit too easy though. I am on Calculus Advanced. Delightful, I have skipped a grade. Plan is to skip 8th and 10th. The best part would be when a surprise pop quiz comes up, and you could shake your fist and scream to the sky, "KHAAAAAN!" Come on, someone had to make that joke. 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curiosity he/him Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 I skipped most math curriculum and learned most of algebra in 6th grade and most of differential calculus in 8th grade. I never got ahold of inequalities or matrices or definite integration until I actually took Algebra 2 and AP Calculus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid King he/him Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 The best part would be when a surprise pop quiz comes up, and you could shake your fist and scream to the sky, "KHAAAAAN!" Come on, someone had to make that joke. Actually, I have done that. But usually it's because questions are bugged and the hints give you the exact same answer as the one you put in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the Gleeman he/him Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 I found this in the 7th grade and have been a member off and on since. I can't say I know quite as many languages, though I am proficient in quite a few and can understand a few more using cognates. I've understood calc from around 8th grade, but have still had to go through lower classes. The good thing is, this gives me a nap in the middle of the day. I'm mostly proficient in music, history, and languages though (just no sciences, I don't do sciences). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarcasm she/her Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 And I though I was prodigious... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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