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How do I stay motivated at university?

Singularity73

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Hey everyone, I'm 20 years old in my second year of university and I really don't like it, just the learning method sucks. I'm a programmer and I love building things, not sitting in a lecture theater listening to a professor talk through the same slides he's used for 10 years. Absorbing as much (mostly useless) information that I can to pass an exam and then forget it all in a month or so. I hardly remember anything from my first year! Paying £9k/year for this (from student loans), it's ridiculous!

I don't plan on dropping out, although it has crossed my mind so many times now. I'm studying computer science which is heavily in demand so the degree could be very useful to get a job so I have income while I work on a side business. I'm also living with friends subject to a joint tenancy agreement so it's not easy to leave (I'm about 4 hours away from my parents as well).

I probably wouldn't have gone to university if I knew what I know now, if only I had discovered Udemy earlier! It's amazing! I feel like I've learnt so much more from that platform than uni, and stuff that is actually relevant in industry! And also all the books I've read, the things you learn from books like TMF really shifts your mindset!

My motivation is almost completely gone with uni work and course material, etc. All I want to do is work on Quiznetic, which is my current fastlane project. Should I just try and scrape by the course so I can dedicate more time to my projects? Or put them on hold and fully commit to university?

Any advice? Thank you for your time!

Sorry if this is in the wrong category by the way, some of the options (including the college category) were grayed out?
 
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Should I just try and scrape by the course so I can dedicate more time to my projects? Or put them on hold and fully commit to university?

Figure out what the average GPA is for a graduating class. Hit that average or slightly above every semester. Once you know you have that average, spend the rest of your time on other pursuits.

For example, if the average is 3.1, then aim for 3.2, and don't give a crap about increasing your GPA to a 4.0. That's not that goal. Average/slightly above average is.
 

Singularity73

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then what would you have done instead? Why can't you do it now?
Well I would probably have got a web development job since I've done a lot of web development as a hobby and it doesn't necessarily require a degree- there are many developers without degrees. But yeah, it's a bit tricky for me to leave now so I think my best option is to grind through it.
 
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Singularity73

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Figure out what the average GPA is for a graduating class. Hit that average or slightly above every semester. Once you know you have that average, spend the rest of your time on other pursuits.

For example, if the average is 3.1, then aim for 3.2, and don't give a crap about increasing your GPA to a 4.0. That's not that goal. Average/slightly above average is.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, this is basically what I think I'm going to do. I'm in the UK so not quite sure how GPA works, but aiming for the average sounds like a good option so I don't overload. I used to really want to get a 1st class degree (which is 70%+), but now I really don't see this as important haha
 

Ayanle Farah

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I'm in the same position pretty much in that I don't give a shit about what I'm studying in uni or the job that awaits me after 3 years but I don't have a choice aslong as nothing is moving forward on the business front, life sucks sometimes.

If I made enough money from my business and things started looking promising, I'd drop out in a heartbeat but I'm a long way from making that happen.
 

Singularity73

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I'm in the same position pretty much in that I don't give a sh*t about what I'm studying in uni or the job that awaits me after 3 years but I don't have a choice aslong as nothing is moving forward on the business front, life sucks sometimes.

If I made enough money from my business and things started looking promising, I'd drop out in a heartbeat but I'm a long way from making that happen.

Wow yes we are in the same boat indeed! What I'm doing is getting up at 6AM (I hope to make this 5AM soon) and working on my business for an hour so I make sure I'm making progress on it each day. I treat it like a priority :)

I believe this is a good strategy for getting everything done. I mean there are always ways to make more time by cutting out distractions and getting up early, etc. It's just when it comes down to doing the uni work it always feels pointless to me, like I don't need to know this! So getting the motivation is difficult, I'd much rather be working on my business.
 
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Grades only matter if:
  • You're planning to go to grad school
  • Your first job out of school (after your first job you take it off your resume)
  • Your parents will kill you if you get bad grades
Otherwise, it doesn't matter.

Prioritize what matters to you.
 
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Ayanle Farah

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Wow yes we are in the same boat indeed! What I'm doing is getting up at 6AM (I hope to make this 5AM soon) and working on my business for an hour so I make sure I'm making progress on it each day. I treat it like a priority :)

I believe this is a good strategy for getting everything done. I mean there are always ways to make more time by cutting out distractions and getting up early, etc. It's just when it comes down to doing the uni work it always feels pointless to me, like I don't need to know this! So getting the motivation is difficult, I'd much rather be working on my business.
That's great, I've been thinking of doing the same actually, waking up early to make progress on my business everyday.

It's not easy to sleep early though, so I'm working on that.
 

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I hardly remember anything from my first year!

That's on you. If it's worth remembering, then you should have taken steps to make sure you remember it.

Basically life is what you make it. You're in this situation so you can either bitch and moan about it for the remainder of the course. Or you can decide that whilst it's not ideal, you will sharpen up your entrepreneurial mindset by looking for opportunity.

Seek out interesting people, look at extra curricula activities, use uni resources to the max.

Also why don't you seek out professors and ask them about concepts you've learned on Udemy? This will give you the live feedback that internet courses can't.

Become the kind of student that professors are dying to see and converse with.

Remember everyone goes on about Bill Gates dropping out of college. This isn't true, he dropped out of Harvard Business School after he'd already graduated, and he did so because he met Paul Allen and then went on to start Microsoft.

I bet he wasn't moaning about what a waste of time it all was.

You're the horse, the uni is the lake, it's up to you to take a drink.
 
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Roli

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Grades only matter if:
  • You're planning to go to grad school
  • Your first job out of school (after your first job you take it off your resume)
  • Your parents will kill you if you get bad grades
Otherwise, it doesn't matter.

Prioritize what matters to you.

Why does Uni have to be about getting grades? Surely it's about learning valuable skills, meeting potential future partners, contacts, etc. Also about using resources that might otherwise cost you loads of money if you were to pay yourself.

Sure, lots of people go to uni just to get grades, they are living the scripted life. However, being an entrepreneur is all about searching for opportunity wherever you are.

So screw the grades, those will come naturally if you simply apply yourself in the correct way. However those aren't the end goal.
 

Roli

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I dropped out, that worked for me.

Your experience may differ slightly.

Perhaps an elaboration of your situation then and now, would be more helpful to the OP and any future readers of this thread.
 

ZF Lee

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I'm still in uni, but I didn't find it as bad as I thought it would be. But not every uni has good lecturers or academic resources-that I can understand.

Figure out what the average GPA is for a graduating class. Hit that average or slightly above every semester. Once you know you have that average, spend the rest of your time on other pursuits.

For example, if the average is 3.1, then aim for 3.2, and don't give a crap about increasing your GPA to a 4.0. That's not that goal. Average/slightly above average is.
Bingo!

I don't think you really need to hit a 4 anyway, to even get a regular job. Around the 3 mark is good, provided you have some internship or club experience on the side. You would be shocked to find out how hard college folks find it to score well, despite the many comforts or help they get academically.

Why does Uni have to be about getting grades? Surely it's about learning valuable skills, meeting potential future partners, contacts, etc. Also about using resources that might otherwise cost you loads of money if you were to pay yourself.
I love lecturers who talk about their research and past job experience. They become 'pseudo mentors'.

Academicians do the thinking. We do the monetization. :playful:

Also, on learning skills, I compared my practice in delegating tasks of group projects, which involve editing, advising and centralised meetings..and its actually not much different than say, organizing a full-blown freelance/ productivized services firm. Except you can't fire the folks when you like it. :playful:But for bad team members, we have the option of private peer evaluations in dire situations, from my uni.

I'm a programmer and I love building things, not sitting in a lecture theater listening to a professor talk through the same slides he's used for 10 years. Absorbing as much (mostly useless) information that I can to pass an exam and then forget it all in a month or so.
OK, you don't have to go to all the lectures. If they have a limit on how many lectures you can skip, just go for the minimum limit.

For my case, lectures are not compulsory. So I don't go for them all unless I check out the slides posted online and find something difficult that needs more explanations.

But if you have lab or tutorials, by all means go. The active practicing of theory for exams (or real-life business, if you will) does help.

IMO, I don't think you totally forget the info. I think it might chalk down to unconscious competence.
Which is to say that when the time comes for you to use it, your body just moves and do it. For me, when I do excel data science, I don't think, "I press X button and Y button". I just click, click, click, type, and the output comes out. :cool:
 
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Singularity73

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That's on you. If it's worth remembering, then you should have taken steps to make sure you remember it.

Basically life is what you make it. You're in this situation so you can either bitch and moan about it for the remainder of the course. Or you can decide that whilst it's not ideal, you will sharpen up your entrepreneurial mindset by looking for opportunity.

Seek out interesting people, look at extra curricula activities, use uni resources to the max.

Also why don't you seek out professors and ask them about concepts you've learned on Udemy? This will give you the live feedback that internet courses can't.

Become the kind of student that professors are dying to see and converse with.

Remember everyone goes on about Bill Gates dropping out of college. This isn't true, he dropped out of Harvard Business School after he'd already graduated, and he did so because he met Paul Allen and then went on to start Microsoft.

I bet he wasn't moaning about what a waste of time it all was.

You're the horse, the uni is the lake, it's up to you to take a drink.
Thank you for your reply. I guess I just couldn't (and still don't tbh) see how I would need much of the stuff I learnt in my first year, so I did not make the effort to remember it. I completely understand that it's my fault though, I shouldn't have made the impression that it wasn't.

You do have some good points. I have been trying to take advantage of some of the opportunities available. I joined the public speaking society because I hate public speaking and wanted to overcome my fears and become more confident. I'm only 3 weeks in and I already know this was a good decision, as I'm slowly improving! I have met some cool people that go there as well.

Maybe I should make more of an effort to talk to the professors about things. The stuff I learnt on Udemy isn't really relevant to what they do however. I'm just not really sure how to connect with them when I'm not that interested in the things they teach.

Apologies if my post came across as a bitching and moaning post. I didn't mean that, my frustrations might have leaked through a bit haha :)
 

Singularity73

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I'm still in uni, but I didn't find it as bad as I thought it would be. But not every uni has good lecturers or academic resources-that I can understand.


Bingo!

I don't think you really need to hit a 4 anyway, to even get a regular job. Around the 3 mark is good, provided you have some internship or club experience on the side. You would be shocked to find out how hard college folks find it to score well, despite the many comforts or help they get academically.


I love lecturers who talk about their research and past job experience. They become 'pseudo mentors'.

Academicians do the thinking. We do the monetization. :playful:

Also, on learning skills, I compared my practice in delegating tasks of group projects, which involve editing, advising and centralised meetings..and its actually not much different than say, organizing a full-blown freelance/ productivized services firm. Except you can't fire the folks when you like it. :playful:But for bad team members, we have the option of private peer evaluations in dire situations, from my uni.


OK, you don't have to go to all the lectures. If they have a limit on how many lectures you can skip, just go for the minimum limit.

For my case, lectures are not compulsory. So I don't go for them all unless I check out the slides posted online and find something difficult that needs more explanations.

But if you have lab or tutorials, by all means go. The active practicing of theory for exams (or real-life business, if you will) does help.

IMO, I don't think you totally forget the info. I think it might chalk down to unconscious competence.
Which is to say that when the time comes for you to use it, your body just moves and do it. For me, when I do excel data science, I don't think, "I press X button and Y button". I just click, click, click, type, and the output comes out. :cool:

Thanks, yeah I do skip the occasional lectures, especially the evening ones at like 4-6 where I just fall asleep lol! Luckily the slides are available and lectures are recorded as well, but I do have to catch up as I'm starting to fall behind! Most of the labs are worthwhile I agree.
 

ZF Lee

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Thanks, yeah I do skip the occasional lectures, especially the evening ones at like 4-6 where I just fall asleep lol! Luckily the slides are available and lectures are recorded as well, but I do have to catch up as I'm starting to fall behind! Most of the labs are worthwhile I agree.
Hmm. 4-6pm?

I purposely booked my classes to afternoons and evenings, so that I have mornings for Fastlane. But then I discovered that the results were the same, compared with putting classes in the morning.

I used to have a 6-8pm class for General Studies, and yes, folks were zonked out from classes and were playing with their phones in lecture because of lack of interest. Pretty much a shame, as the lecturer was a scholar in the Hindu and Southeast Asian historical texts, and was one of the few Malays I have ever met who actually learned Mandarin. So I simply took a can of coffee to keep me awake to listen to what he had to say...:rofl:

This is somehow similar to business, in the sense that there will be folks who you must avoid, and folks you simply cannot avoid. In the same way as I did for the lecturer above, find folks in the business world whom you simply cannot avoid, and do your best to pay attention to them, and yes, interact actively with them. Even if it comes to this:

upload_2018-10-24_17-8-22.jpeg

On recordings, the lecturer may have a policy on stopping recordings if too many people skip lectures. So I don't advocate pissing him off by disrespecting his time spent to go away from his research, in skipping too many sessions.

That is also another business lesson on commitment. A promise to your academic creed to accept the teaching of lecturers who have definitely did more than us, whether or not they are Fastlane or not.

Do you know how rare commitment is, never mind grades?

Here's a real-life example.

I signed up for a meetup.com session for a local Quora meetup. Then I get a notification from the organiser that it's cancelled due to lack of interest. The last meeting, the poor guy was the only one present.

Knowing the Malaysian Quora scene relatively well, I realised that the Quora writers generally have a great range of business and intellectual prowess. Do you know how frustrating it is to not be able to tap into a network of great people in 1-2 hours? And to think of it, the Quora folks could have easily popped by after work....not like they were enslaved to their work.

Lack of commitment. That is the root of poverty.

Another real-life example.

Last semester, I had a management presentation on employee traits. I had four in a group, including myself. One guy, from China- he's not as clever, but he will put in the work once you help him. The other two were either drastic introverts or freeloaders.

I was like you. I thought of skimping it and letting the project go to the dogs.

Then I remembered Fastlane principles of providing value.

This is what I did:
  • I knew the folks were gonna suck at research. So I gave them each some links to look at, after delegating tasks
  • I set a quarterly (every 4 days) practice of following up on progress. Threw up a Google Docs for everyone to pop in their submissions
  • Opened private Whatsapp channels for each member for more personal feedback/advice/complaints
  • Had a few feedback sessions, as well as a practice session to see how they pitch.

We did well for the presentation.

I see my team mate from China every now and then, since we are now taking different units. I know he respects me, because he asks how I am, gives me some tips on units he has taken and addresses me by name.

In university, a common running gig is that you don't address folks or professors by the name, simply because you don't know them. In fact, we had a few exams, where the kids actually didn't know the names of their own tutors to write down on the exam papers for grading.

Apparently, my management lecturer was paying attention to me (more than I thought of), because when I took up a social entrepreneurship (third-year) elective unit this semester, which is under the School of Management, I was surprised to find her in my first lecture.

She: Aren't you from the first-years?
Me: Yeah? (scratches my head)

We divided ourselves into groups for our group assignment (which is another tale), and the lecturer came to my group. As I have said, I was the only first-year biz student in a group of third-years.

She said this of me, "ZF Lee may be a first year, but he's actually very hardworking. He'll help you out a lot."

A 'referral'.

And that was when I knew that my commitment to academics, Fastlane or not, did pay off. I had been recognised for what I had done. I'm glad to have broken the negative student norm of not knowing their lecturers, and vice versa. That's commitment.


 
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Singularity73

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I purposely booked my classes to afternoons and evenings, so that I have mornings for Fastlane. But then I discovered that the results were the same, compared with putting classes in the morning.
Wow you get to book when your classes are? I wish we could do that, we just get handed a timetable and have to make do haha. Sometimes we have 3 lectures in a row in the same room, stretching from 2pm - 6pm and that's when I can't take it and start to doze off D:

On recordings, the lecturer may have a policy on stopping recordings if too many people skip lectures. So I don't advocate pissing him off by disrespecting his time spent to go away from his research, in skipping too many sessions.
From last year, even though near the end of the year there was definitely only about 1/4 of the year group turning up for some lectures, they still recorded them so I don't think they have any kind of policy about that here (phew!). Last year I may have missed about 2 lectures in total, which is pretty good! I was a lot more committed last year though and it was easier to work on projects and uni work at the same time.

In university, a common running gig is that you don't address folks or professors by the name, simply because you don't know them.
Hmm interesting, that's not the case here, we address our lecturers by their first name usually haha

And that was when I knew that my commitment to academics, Fastlane or not, did pay off. I had been recognised for what I had done. I'm glad to have broken the negative student norm of not knowing their lecturers, and vice versa. That's commitment.
Nice story, I like it. I do try to not be one of those students who turns up to 0 lectures and just watches the recordings, because then uni feels like an even more waste of time haha. My tutor knows me fairly well, I went to most of his tutorials last year and he's a cool guy :) I'm going to most lectures, but might skip some evening ones basically because I won't get the information in as well as I'm too tired.

Btw, tonight I have been catching up on lectures and been very productive, so I'm feeling good! I definitely need to try harder to be active in the lecture, taking more notes etc. Easier said than done! As soon as I get a bit lost I start thinking about other stuff. It's great with recordings cos I can pause to try and understand it.
I started taking no notes for a bit and just trying to listen to what was being said since last year I hardly used my notes to revise. But this has just lead to me dozing off, so probably not a good strategy ;)
 

TonyStark

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Perhaps an elaboration of your situation then and now, would be more helpful to the OP and any future readers of this thread.
Sure.

Leaving school allowed me to escape the bubble of formal education, and face the real problems that surrounded my life at it’s core, and the problems of other people.

I never got that experience being inside a classroom.
 

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I joined the public speaking society because I hate public speaking and wanted to overcome my fears and become more confident. I'm only 3 weeks in and I already know this was a good decision, as I'm slowly improving! I have met some cool people that go there as well.

That's what I'm talking about! Public speaking courses are expensive and usually crap, so you're up there.

Maybe I should make more of an effort to talk to the professors about things. The stuff I learnt on Udemy isn't really relevant to what they do however. I'm just not really sure how to connect with them when I'm not that interested in the things they teach.

It doesn't matter if it's relevant, in fact it could be better if it's not!

If I were you I would just try and hook up with a professor whose style you like, even if you don't like his/her content.

Also look to cross reference, hang out with med students and get them to tell you about their stresses and the problems they think they'll face in the future. Swap notes basically. Who knows? Maybe you'll end up coding a medical app that makes gazillions.

Obviously I just plucked med students out of the air, but it could be engineering, art, history, physics, whatever. Mingle, ask questions.

Remember being an entrepreneur is about finding out where value is needed, and then providing that very same value.

Use your time in Uni to do that. The more you look to mix with people who aren't doing what you do, and the more you try and add value to people's lives without expecting anything in return. Then the more opportunity will come your way.

By the end of it, you can look back and say 'Well that was a waste of time and money' or, 'That was a rich experience full of wonder, learning and opportunity, and the connections I made there have helped me further my career and social life.'

I'm not really a biography kinda guy, but the last one I read, Shoe Dog about Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike, details the contacts he made in college and how they helped him in the early days.

So, go forth and mingle!
 
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Singularity73

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That's what I'm talking about! Public speaking courses are expensive and usually crap, so you're up there.



It doesn't matter if it's relevant, in fact it could be better if it's not!

If I were you I would just try and hook up with a professor whose style you like, even if you don't like his/her content.

Also look to cross reference, hang out with med students and get them to tell you about their stresses and the problems they think they'll face in the future. Swap notes basically. Who knows? Maybe you'll end up coding a medical app that makes gazillions.

Obviously I just plucked med students out of the air, but it could be engineering, art, history, physics, whatever. Mingle, ask questions.

Remember being an entrepreneur is about finding out where value is needed, and then providing that very same value.

Use your time in Uni to do that. The more you look to mix with people who aren't doing what you do, and the more you try and add value to people's lives without expecting anything in return. Then the more opportunity will come your way.

By the end of it, you can look back and say 'Well that was a waste of time and money' or, 'That was a rich experience full of wonder, learning and opportunity, and the connections I made there have helped me further my career and social life.'

I'm not really a biography kinda guy, but the last one I read, Shoe Dog about Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike, details the contacts he made in college and how they helped him in the early days.

So, go forth and mingle!

Excellent post, thanks! It does sound like a good idea to hang out with other students who are doing different things, basically all my friends also study computer science haha :happy: Might be a bit tricky with workload being so high currently but I will do my best.
I might sound a bit stupid asking this but any tips how to actually do it? It's pretty difficult for me to just go up to someone and start a conversation as I'm the introverted sort and I hate the parties and socials :arghh:
 

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I might sound a bit stupid asking this but any tips how to actually do it? It's pretty difficult for me to just go up to someone and start a conversation as I'm the introverted sort and I hate the parties and socials :arghh:

A lecturer used to say in my class,'I understand if you are scared to come and see me. But you might never know that I myself am actually scared to meet with you too.'

So yes, the folks you meet with are probably just about as nervous as you are. Put them at ease by getting to know similar interests and desires. A common goal where everyone can work together and cooperate.

And mind you, you don't need to talk to everyone.

Spend the first few minutes listening to the general convo. If you hear something you think you like or can add better to the convo, chances are, the suitable folks to talk to are there.

Out of a room of ten, I might just talk to 2-3. I only talk to 1 lone person if he seems to be an expert. I like moderated presences. And spend the rest of the time only listening to the others.

The key point of communication is information transfer. A room full of folks will swamp you with too much info. Pick as best as you can, and selectively.

Don't worry if you didn't get much out of the meeting. Not all meetings are created equal. General meetings invite, well, general people.

I feel that just like anything else, speaking and socialising is a habit.

Dale Carnegie's How to a win Friends and Influence people is a good read-up. For a more aggressive read, Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff.
 

Filippos

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I don't plan on dropping out, although it has crossed my mind so many times now. I'm studying computer science which is heavily in demand so the degree could be very useful to get a job so I have income while I work on a side business.

if you can already code, there are thousands of startups, small and medium businesses (SMEs) and freelance platforms looking for people like you and ready to give you money
you don't need a degree to get a job as a programmer ;)
here are some considerable action steps:
1) do a research and find out which niches are paying the most (coding websites, coding apps in Java, etc) and cross-check what exactly you'd like to be doing
(side note: since you have a Tesla photo in your profile, I'd take a wild guess and say you want to work on the automobile industry or any similar industry with mechatronic systems? If yes, I'd suggest to go into C++ for real-time applications and/or standardized interfaces for bus systems)
2) register on a freelance platform like PeoplePerHour.com, freelancer.com, UpWork.com, etc. and build up social proof (get your customers to leave you a review)
3) create a website showcasing this experience and get a job at an awesome SME or start-up, depending on which industry you want to gather more experience in
4) when you feel comfortable that you know enough about an industry (I would say at least after 2 years of work experience), build your own start-up
5) write a book about how you did all that and compete with M.J. hehehehe :rofl:
 
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lowtek

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Stay the course. One of my biggest mistakes in my career was changing away from Comp Sci as an undergrad.

You may not have much interest in the coursework, but it's part of the grind. No matter what you do in life, you're going to have to endure things you don't like. Just get used to it while the consequences are minimal.

Build a solid portfolio on github, start a blog and a youtube channel. Start making a name and creating stuff and you'll be in the top 1% of programmers. You can write your own check for a job, and build your business on the side.
 

Anandb

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My advice - as a university student - is to make the most of this opportunity. Learn as if you are possessed. Socialise. Join research teams. Pitch business ideas in competitions. Network with professors. Start a side-hustle whilst being in university. Grow it.

If you really are motivated by the fast-lane, then your actions will show it.
 

Singularity73

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A lecturer used to say in my class,'I understand if you are scared to come and see me. But you might never know that I myself am actually scared to meet with you too.'

So yes, the folks you meet with are probably just about as nervous as you are. Put them at ease by getting to know similar interests and desires. A common goal where everyone can work together and cooperate.

And mind you, you don't need to talk to everyone.

Spend the first few minutes listening to the general convo. If you hear something you think you like or can add better to the convo, chances are, the suitable folks to talk to are there.

Out of a room of ten, I might just talk to 2-3. I only talk to 1 lone person if he seems to be an expert. I like moderated presences. And spend the rest of the time only listening to the others.

The key point of communication is information transfer. A room full of folks will swamp you with too much info. Pick as best as you can, and selectively.

Don't worry if you didn't get much out of the meeting. Not all meetings are created equal. General meetings invite, well, general people.

I feel that just like anything else, speaking and socialising is a habit.

Dale Carnegie's How to a win Friends and Influence people is a good read-up. For a more aggressive read, Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff.
Thanks for the tips! How to Win Friends and Influence People is a great book and changed how I thought about socialising, I should probably read it again.
 
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Singularity73

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if you can already code, there are thousands of startups, small and medium businesses (SMEs) and freelance platforms looking for people like you and ready to give you money
you don't need a degree to get a job as a programmer ;)
Absolutely, I understand this. Which is why I kind of regret going to uni and getting into debt from it when it wasn't really necessary. But I think it's too late now, and as others have pointed out there are lots of opportunities at uni.

(side note: since you have a Tesla photo in your profile, I'd take a wild guess and say you want to work on the automobile industry or any similar industry with mechatronic systems? If yes, I'd suggest to go into C++ for real-time applications and/or standardized interfaces for bus systems)
Haha I have Tesla as my profile as I love Tesla, the company and their cars! A Tesla is my dream car :D I'd love to work for Tesla (don't really care for any other automotive company though), but I live in the UK so unlikely I will do that.

My experience is mainly with web development, recently I've been interested in JavaScript frameworks like React which are super fun to work with imo. I don't want to limit my experience with solely web development though, so I'm definitely interested in exploring other paths. My current side project is a web application which uses the MERN stack so I'll be sticking with web dev while I work on that :)

Regarding start ups, I think it'd be super cool to work for a start up and you'd learn loads! I'm hoping to work for a start up after I graduate. But definitely need some proper work experience in industry before I'd create my own haha
 

Singularity73

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Stay the course. One of my biggest mistakes in my career was changing away from Comp Sci as an undergrad.

You may not have much interest in the coursework, but it's part of the grind. No matter what you do in life, you're going to have to endure things you don't like. Just get used to it while the consequences are minimal.

Build a solid portfolio on github, start a blog and a youtube channel. Start making a name and creating stuff and you'll be in the top 1% of programmers. You can write your own check for a job, and build your business on the side.
Completely agree with what you say, the grind is real and I'm starting to embrace that now. Complaining won't help anything.
I've been meaning to start a blog for ages! I just can't think of a niche to start writing about so I haven't made any progress. I mainly want to do it as I've heard it can actually improve your communication skills and I'd also like to build a name for myself to open up more opportunities. I really want to work in the US one day, I think if I have some kind of programming blog with an audience then that could definitely help. But how do I find a niche? :arghh:

I tend to keep most of my repos on github private, at least with my main project which I want to turn into a business. I'm not sure if open source works with something you want to make profitable but I may be wrong.
 

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