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I enjoyed reading your articles below: https://tyler.vc/dropping-out https://tyler.vc/dropping-out https://tyler.vc/education https://tyler.vc/education http

I enjoyed reading your articles below: https://tyler.vc/dropping-out https://tyler.vc/dropping-out https://tyler.vc/education https://tyler.vc/education https://tyler.vc/dropping-out-revisited https://tyler.vc/dropping-out-revisited Is there anything you would have done differently in your career trajectory / educational path if you started over?

tylermenezes 7y ago
Thanks! :) It's been a while since I've written anything so I'm glad to hear you thought they were interesting! More than anything I wish I'd explored more "unrelated" fields like bio, finance, medicine, cooking, (...) when I had the free time of a student. There are a lot of very interesting problems that don't fit neatly into a single career path. But it's much harder to make time for learning for the hell of it at 28 than it was at 18.
- OJFord 7y ago
  That's a depressing comment to read at nearer-28-than-18. I'd hate to be older than 28 and read it!
  - bguerra 7y ago
    >28 year old here. There is actually quite a bit of reassurance in that comment. I'm a full time developer and part-time student. I read through the articles linked above because I'm trying to decide on continuing my studies in the fall after receiving a promotion at work. The return I get from my work projects far outweighs what I've learned in school and I'm getting paid for it! That comment shares a feeling I _don't_ want to have. If I have any motivation to learn something, why waste it on forced material that may not be relevant to me. I'm leaning towards not taking classes. Instead I can focus on learning technologies to integrate into systems I've built. I can read more for fun (which I was able to do this summer). I can finish that game I've been working minutes at a time for the last few years. I can build that bookshelf that I desperately need, to replace the particle board one that's falling apart in my room. No hate here. If you're younger than 28 (or not) and you have regrets after reading it, you can still change that path. It might just take a bit more work or motivation that you were putting elsewhere.
  - nostrademons 7y ago
    I'm 38. It only gets harder. I'm glad that I read/learned/experienced a whole lot in my early 20s, so that at least I have that broad background of history, economics, finance, culture, etc. to draw on now that most of my attention is split between my kid, marriage, and startup and reading ~5 books/year is much more likely than reading ~5 books/week. (It does remain possible, though, and I'd like to think that I haven't totally stagnated in my learning.)
- keiferski 7y ago
  I quit my full-time job at 28 to embark on a rigorous self-education plan, precisely because I felt the same way as you. Sure, you will lose out on optimizing your salary if you jump off the career path train. But is that really a good strategy for living an interesting life? Even then, you may find that broadening your educational base leads to deeper and more lucrative opportunities in the future. If you make something a priority, it’s possible.
  - kenneth 7y ago
    I'm 28 and at the height of my career, but I've just started making education a priority again. Still working full, but also taking 3h of intensive classes every day in something completely unrelated to my work (learning Chinese). Learning again feels good!
    - keiferski 7y ago
      Nice! Good luck with Chinese.

tylermenezes 7y ago

Thanks! :) It's been a while since I've written anything so I'm glad to hear you thought they were interesting! More than anything I wish I'd explored more "unrelated" fields like bio, finance, medicine, cooking, (...) when I had the free time of a student. There are a lot of very interesting problems that don't fit neatly into a single career path. But it's much harder to make time for learning for the hell of it at 28 than it was at 18.

OJFord 7y ago
That's a depressing comment to read at nearer-28-than-18. I'd hate to be older than 28 and read it!
- bguerra 7y ago
  >28 year old here. There is actually quite a bit of reassurance in that comment. I'm a full time developer and part-time student. I read through the articles linked above because I'm trying to decide on continuing my studies in the fall after receiving a promotion at work. The return I get from my work projects far outweighs what I've learned in school and I'm getting paid for it! That comment shares a feeling I _don't_ want to have. If I have any motivation to learn something, why waste it on forced material that may not be relevant to me. I'm leaning towards not taking classes. Instead I can focus on learning technologies to integrate into systems I've built. I can read more for fun (which I was able to do this summer). I can finish that game I've been working minutes at a time for the last few years. I can build that bookshelf that I desperately need, to replace the particle board one that's falling apart in my room. No hate here. If you're younger than 28 (or not) and you have regrets after reading it, you can still change that path. It might just take a bit more work or motivation that you were putting elsewhere.
- nostrademons 7y ago
  I'm 38. It only gets harder. I'm glad that I read/learned/experienced a whole lot in my early 20s, so that at least I have that broad background of history, economics, finance, culture, etc. to draw on now that most of my attention is split between my kid, marriage, and startup and reading ~5 books/year is much more likely than reading ~5 books/week. (It does remain possible, though, and I'd like to think that I haven't totally stagnated in my learning.)
keiferski 7y ago
I quit my full-time job at 28 to embark on a rigorous self-education plan, precisely because I felt the same way as you. Sure, you will lose out on optimizing your salary if you jump off the career path train. But is that really a good strategy for living an interesting life? Even then, you may find that broadening your educational base leads to deeper and more lucrative opportunities in the future. If you make something a priority, it’s possible.
- kenneth 7y ago
  I'm 28 and at the height of my career, but I've just started making education a priority again. Still working full, but also taking 3h of intensive classes every day in something completely unrelated to my work (learning Chinese). Learning again feels good!
  - keiferski 7y ago
    Nice! Good luck with Chinese.