What mistakes of yours do you really regret. Why?
5 comments
Sometimes I really regret the computer science major. The things I learned were right, but the credential was wrong -- it basically certified me as sufficiently trained to work in IT cubicle hell. (It was really a math degree at its core, and it made me a problem-solving generalist, which is not what Industry wants.) I considered dropping it, but it was so easy to do what I needed for the additional credential -- it was a matter of two classes I wouldn't otherwise have taken.
I regret not recognizing the intensely political nature of my masters' degree program before it was too late to do anything about it. I've thought about going back to a different school, getting the PhD, and trying to scale the ivory tower, but I don't think the payoff I can realistically expect is worth the investment. It's not like a PhD in Renaissance music theory makes you any more employable in the "real world," and academic positions are few and far between, and there is so much of a surplus of good professors that some of the best are eking out a living teaching as adjuncts at community college.
I regret not recognizing the intensely political nature of my masters' degree program before it was too late to do anything about it. I've thought about going back to a different school, getting the PhD, and trying to scale the ivory tower, but I don't think the payoff I can realistically expect is worth the investment. It's not like a PhD in Renaissance music theory makes you any more employable in the "real world," and academic positions are few and far between, and there is so much of a surplus of good professors that some of the best are eking out a living teaching as adjuncts at community college.
I regret having waited until I m 26 before I took concrete/tangible steps towards my own start-up. A large part of the blame goes towards thinking that there will be a "right-time" for all this and a "right-idea". :)
But, now that I have taken the steps, I feel __liberated__. And I m not worried so much about failing. And that owes a great deal to the people behind this site, and the content posted here, and the interactions that happen here.
But, now that I have taken the steps, I feel __liberated__. And I m not worried so much about failing. And that owes a great deal to the people behind this site, and the content posted here, and the interactions that happen here.
Not communicating and collaborating with other "geeks" in Uni, especially being one myself. I had always been interested in doing my own projects at Uni, but never had it struck me that it would be very beneficial to form a group and start something (like a startup?).
Not learning to code the moment I thought about starting an internet company.
To back up, I'm now almost 40; I finished my PhD when I was 30 after working on-and-off for several years. (I didn't get married until a few weeks ago, actually -- so I didn't have family issues holding me back.) When I did get into the ivory tower and started teaching, I became disgusted with the academic mentality and was fortunate enough to find my way out into my own startup with a "good" problem, and contacts to customers.
The CS/CmpE degrees taught me irreplaceable critical thinking skills. I regret not having even thought about the possibility of starting my own gig. I also regret not having developed or appreciated developing a network of contacts until I was in my 30s; I have found access to investors, entrepreneurs, etc. as not only wonderful from a pragmatic perspective, but also (and more importantly) for vetting out ideas.