by Tiffany White

A Look Back: My Year of Traditional Computer Science Learning vs. Self-Teaching

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Much like Robb from this story, I’ve ditched the traditional computer science degree route and decided on pursuing my education outside the classroom and in my apartment.

Part of my decision was because continuing to get financial aid was going to be impossible — I am a non-traditional student that has been attempting to get a degree for almost half of her life. There is only so much money that the government will loan you to finish a Bachelor’s degree.

At the time I started back in 2002, I wanted to cash in on the networking part of computers. I then decided I wanted to build computers instead of networking them, because software really wasn’t a thing.

Along the way, I changed my major again and dropped out several times, leaving my financial aid status in limbo.

I went back in 2008, on and off until I could get the grades needed to attend a university instead of a community college, as I had been doing for all that time.

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I got accepted to university for fall of last year and took the computer science route. Universities were actively encouraging women to do this. They had a little retreat for women to check out their computer science program, showing us the eye-popping salaries of recent grads.

I was all for it. I had been learning at Free Code Camp and Treehouse for a year or so, and thought I was ready to learn in a more structured environment.

The first semester was interesting. I enjoyed learning from my professor who, at the end of the semester, offered to be my mentor. I felt like I was making good strides. I got a C in that class after bombing the final project. I had a B up until that point. We used Java as our gateway into object-oriented programming, and I didn’t find it particularly convincing.

I started this semester with full hope of doing well. My professor was quirky and funny, and used GitHub for assignments (all universities and professors should do this). But I found myself longing to work on Free Code Camp and Treehouse, those free or low-cost alternatives to the slow churn I was going through at university.

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As the semester wore on, I began to deteriorate. I was frustrated, anxious, falling behind. I was distracted by the other classes I had to take, which had nothing to do with computer science. I was unhappy and anxious all the time. I didn’t have time to work on anything that meant anything to me. I didn’t have time to take care of myself either — and exercise and sleep are valuable to your mental focus.

It wore on me.

I emailed my mentor and told her I was thinking of dropping out. She told me to stop by, so she could try and convince me not to. I never went to see her.

I talked to several people who were self-taught. So much of what I was hearing was that it was easier to get a job with a computer science degree. That I’d have to work super hard to get a job as a self-taught developer.

I watched Travis Neilson on YouTube, the creator of DevTips. He is self-taught, and now works at Google in Mountain View. It took him three years to get his first paying gig.

I thought: time. That’s all I need. And dedication.

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I run a biweekly podcast, and I interviewed one of my favorite self-taught developers on Saturday. We talked about self-teaching, and doing things that are difficult, because that’s how you learn.

I came away renewed and excited. I knew I was going to quit college. I worried that I’d be letting so many people down, but they were actually quite supportive.

Opportunities

During a tweet storm on Twitter about my quitting school, a guy I have networked with in the area who runs the largest tech meetup in Pittsburgh, and who also went to the university I was quitting, saw my tweets. He advised me not to quit, but said that if I did choose to, he had an opportunity for me to work on experimental programming projects he needed to run the non-profits he was working with.

Take-Aways

You’ll hear it a lot — you need that computer science degree to get anywhere in this field. But that isn’t true. Networking, time, and work ethic are what you need to succeed. Free Code Camp is a great resource and with the newly-expanded curriculum, you’ll get plenty of practice.

I’ve decided to go with free and low-cost resources instead of plunging further into debt. I don’t advise dropping out of school for everyone, but I’m confident that it was the right choice for me.