11 ms·

Man when I was that age, my only concern in the world was trading Pokemon cards after school. I wouldn't have given up that carefree experience for the world.

• eugeneross 13y ago
  Great point. The way I see it, the journey will always be better than the destination.
• yeukhon 13y ago
  The world has changed so much since then. I am only 22 so I think we are pretty much the same age. Kids don't even watch cartoon now. They play games on ipad and make vine videos...
  • philangist 13y ago
    Kids definitely still watch cartoons. A lot. Source: currently watching Regular Show with my 4 younger siblings.
    • corin_ 13y ago
      While I agree with your conclusion, one household of data isn't particularly relevant to what most children do.
      • OvidNaso 13y ago
        How about the legion of animation programming that's commissioned every year?
        • corin_ 13y ago
          Like I said, I agree with his conclusion that lots of kids still watch cartoons, just pointing out that his knowing a few kids who do isn't proof of this. To put it into HN cliché phrasing: the plural of anecdote is not data, even if the anecdote matches the data.
          • randac 13y ago
            How is what yeukhon stated anything other than an anecdote?
            • yeukhon 13y ago
              I totally think you guys are right about me not having proof either. I think we both can say some people do and some don't, but a lot more younger children are spending time doing things that we once didn't do for those who grew up in the late 80s and 90s - people who grew like from this period of time should had a reasonable access to a machine - be it PC, gameboy or PS1.
      • dinkumthinkum 13y ago
        Well, it's just patently false. It may be the case in the mind of some in the echo chamber ... but as I seem to almost regularly need to remind on HN ... there is a whole world outside the party line view of what the world is like ... namely, what the world is really like. :)
  • yareally 13y ago
    There's also a lack of cartoons to even attempt to watch outside of the Cartoon Network. Parents were worried about their kids watching too much cartoons, but seem to mostly turn a blind eye to overusing tablets, phones and PCs.
• shainvs 13y ago
  The thing is, I really like coding, and it gives the same amount of fun as trading pokemon cards probably did to you. Interning is a way for me to use my skills in the outside world versus just working at home.
  • cheesylard 13y ago
    > Interning is a way for me to use my skills in the outside world versus just working at home. > working at home. > working
    • cheesylard 13y ago
      ...I realize I kind of sound like a dick there. Good on you for the internship and all, but if you think of it as work you're gonna burn yourself out. Ah who am I kidding you're not gonna listen to any of this, lol. You'll figure it out on your own, I guess, and then take a 4 year break from programming, partying and doing a lot of drugs. And then come back to it after realizing that you liked programming the whole time. ..or you'll just burn out. Or you might get hit by a truck or something.
      • visakanv 13y ago
        Curious about your personal trajectory. Did you overwork yourself when you were young?
        • cheesylard 13y ago
          Not really. My story is kind of unrelated to that little anecdote. I started coding at like, 12. It was mostly fun little "side" projects like game addons and personal websites. I was praised amongst my friends as the "programmer genius" and I built a reputation online. Eventually I ended up landing myself a web programming job when I turned 16, ended up hating it. Got another internship offer at 17 at a legit web search company. I hated that too. I eventually decided I hated programming and stopped going to the search company (eventually got laid off for truancy). I spent my senior year of HS and freshman year of college partying a lot getting bad grades with no real direction. Then I discovered C.
• rzc 13y ago
  I had an engineering internship when I was 14. Definitely missed out on whatever kids my age were doing that summer, but I was too much of a nerd to even have wanted to do anything else. I think it worked out for the better, and I hope it does for Shalin too. To Shalin: Kill those SAT's and get into the school of your dreams. It is absolutely worth it.
  • shainvs 13y ago
    Thanks for the great advice! I really want to get into Stanford :)
  • ruswick 13y ago
    I'm currently 17 and have done internships for both of the previous summers. Although getting experience was both edifying and fun, there was still a huge opportunity cost. I would have preferred to spend a bit more of my summer indulging my personal interests. Although it was certainly a great experience, I'm unsure about whether or not I'll look back in ten years and wish that I had taken advantage of my summers. As for the second point, I'm not sure whether internships really create an appreciable advantage at elite schools. Based on anecdotal evidence and some cursory research, I would posit that most qualified applicants to elite schools will have one if not two internships for major organizations. Many will have done academic research. I know a guy who is attempting to get his research on binary star systems published (his first choice is MIT). Careers start early. Internships are definitely desirable things to have, I don't think that they differentiate students. If anything, they are a prerequisite. Trying to get into college is hard. From what I've experienced, I'm not sure if enslaving oneself to the cult of standardized tests is worth it. The OP seems to have a fair idea of what he wants to do, and has a non-trivial amount of ability. He should think critically about whether or not college is worth it. I would definitely not endorse the long, arduous process of maximizing attractiveness to colleges during one's high school career in the unequivocal way that you did. One's career aspirations and expectations are highly personal things.
    • SiVal 13y ago
      enslaving oneself to the cult of standardized tests is worth it It sounds like you are describing enslaving oneself to the cult of elite schools. Standardized tests are just one stepping stone. Standardized tests are a much smaller issue if your focus is on amazing achievements in the real world rather than the amazing achievement of getting in to a luxury-brand school.
• mwilcox 13y ago
  When I was 13 (2005) I would have LOVED to do something like this. I tried to reach out for some experience but all that got me was a job making a website for a local charity (wildlife sanctuary society). I think I was 12 at that time. I already was making my own things but that drove me even further to run projects that I could call my own.
• xerophtye 13y ago
  Ok i recently realized that i had started game development at a VERY young age. Apparently i was 8 or 9 back then. Me and cousin of the same age, worked on Macromedia Flash. I am not saying we built the most amazing games back then, but it was a start. Sure I had briefcase full of pokemon cards (which i took to trade meetings) but that doesn't mean I didnt have time for game dev. I dont know about OP but for us it was never a "career" thing. It was "play". We had fun making that stuff. Amongst all the other fun things we used to do, game dev was just another one of em =)
• dinkumthinkum 13y ago
  I hear you. But I think its good overall. However, I think it would be nice if the kid was introduced to coding and was coding for fun and not thinking of YC or as michalochurch like's to say "VCistan." I think its good to start from a passion for technology devoid of the echo chamber politics. But he seems like he has a good head on his shoulders ... I would agree though, add more fun and less startup, at least for a few years.
• scotty79 13y ago
  > I wouldn't have given up that carefree experience for the world. How do people get that feeling? I don't remember being carefree ever in my life. I can imagine being carefree but I also can imagine taking a walk on the surface of Mercury. Childhood is such a crappy time filled with school, illness taking forever, boredom taking forever, being tired, hurt and in pain. Each time I finished some school I felt awesome because I knew I won't have to deal with that crap and those teachers anymore. Best thing about school is that when holidays come you can forget all you learned last year. No-one will ever examine you on that. I remember growing up as progressing freedom to not do the stuff I don't want to do. Life was definitely easier as it went. The joy I remember from childhood was reading books about physics and chemistry and running experiments in my head. I'd be delighted if someone gave me internship in some lab where I could help with actually performing them.
  • nnash 13y ago
    >How do people get that feeling? It's more about the nostalgia of childhood and the memories you make as a kid.
  • mercer 13y ago
    Interesting perspective. I had the luck, in hindsight, to have ridiculous amounts of freedom until the age of 16. I was homeschooled with my brothers (and eventually two close friends of the same age) and a fresh-out-of-teacher-school 'teacher' who wasn't very good, but was our friend. We had school at her apartment and then all had lunch at my house. Then from age 13 on I was allowed to work at home, where I would usually either skip my homework or use the answer booklet to do it quickly. On a given day, I would spend at most four hours on 'school' and then do whatever I wanted. At first I probably abused this freedom, which led to boredom. So very soon, I started reading every book I could get my hand on, learned some programming and spend most of my early afternoons to evenings playing with kids in the neighbourhood. Then at the age of sixteen I returned to 'normal' life and had massive difficulties adjusting to the regular school system, but I made it through and went on the university. Experiences such as yours solidify my view that the school system we all grow up with is flawed. It teaches us that learning isn't fun, and makes us do silly things and jump through pointless hoops. To be fair, school has to deal with all sorts of kids. If others had been given my freedom they might not have gravitated towards learning, and failed horribly upon returning to regular life. But I'm sure there are many like me, and I hate the thought that they had to put up with the kind of stuff you describe.
• nej 13y ago
  I was thinking on the same page as you but realized, if I had been introduced the concept of programming and picking up a project to do at that age I would've done it. I mean, I didn't miss out too much since I started programming when I was 14, but I can't imagine that I wouldn't have had as much interest at the age of 12 as I did when I was 14. I guess it all just matters what kind of environment you are surrounded in at those ages.