Life Sucks

[blewisjr]

Yea life sucks. Here I am a college dropout working at a deadend job. When I get home from work I sit down and tinker deeper and deeper into linux then go to bed and go to work in the morning. Recently I have been trying to get into a Tech Institute for Computer Networking Systems and it seems I will be stuck in my dead end life forever. My credit sucks due to making crap wages and barely being able to pay the important bills let alone my school loans. Therefore I state why the hell does a piece of paper have to be so damn expensive. As far as I go looks like I will be suck making crap the rest of my life. *cry*

[ArPaNET]

Why did you drop out of college?

[blewisjr]

why? The short story. No schools I was able to attend aka near to home offered the major I wanted. Specifically networking and security. Just recently a Technical school near me opened a associates degree program in the field I want to study. Now I am having a hard time getting the money to go back to school. The long story lets not go there :P

[Boogymantroy]

Just to throw my two bits in, you could go the route that I went and enjoy yourself a little military career and get that college taken care of, along with the student loans. For me it was a small price to pay for a better chance at things.

[Godsrock37]

ive always thought the military route was an awesome route for those who could stomach it. not saying that those who cant are weak... its just a hard lifestyle for a few years. I seriously considered going to the naval academy (free college and its really good) but personally couldnt stomach all the super hard core structure and military discipline and workouts and yadda yadda. But those things can be so good for you and pay for college and stuff which is always cool. and serving your country can be cool too

[madskaster]

you don't need a degree to get into IT. I'm a sys admin in silicon valley and i dropped out of college for basically the same reason. I would suggest trying to get into the help desk of an outsource company. You will get to work on a ton of different types of systems and you will learn stuff way faster than any school can teach you. In IT a degree dosn't mean squat its all about what you know and being able to show it.

[blewisjr]

already tried the military thing 3 years ago. They would not accept me because of the disease I have in the discs in my spine. Help desk route might be an option. The only issue from there is getting a job above that at some point without the paper. All the jobs I see say it requires a piece of damn paper.

[JPnyc]

I agre with madskaster, you don't need a degree for plenty of IT jobs, just the skills.

[nihil]

Hmmmm,

When I get home from work I sit down and tinker deeper and deeper into linux then go to bed and go to work in the morning.

Probably not the most marketable of skills, particularly for a new starter in helpdesk or support. Most employers are looking for Windows and Windows applications skills.

No schools I was able to attend aka near to home offered the major I wanted. Specifically networking and security.

You really must learn not to be so picky, and accept that which is available and affordable.

All the jobs I see say it requires a piece of damn paper.

And when you have the piece of paper, they will say that they want hands on experience.

Basically the more specialised your college education is, the less employable you are. Because what you have learned is obsolete and impractical. Why do you think people go for certification, if that were not the case?

I would say that you should look at a more general course like computer science, administration and so on. Once you have your feet under the table, you may get the opportunity to specialise, but that will only come from within IMO.

A long time ago one of my tasks was visiting colleges recruiting for a World leading accountancy firm. I was instructed NOT to select anyone with an accountancy degree.

Good luck

[blewisjr]

The school I am trying to get into is not very specialized. It is the broad sense of networking. Covers windows and linux administration as well as some programming, databases and a whole slew of other stuff. When graduated it offers positions from help desk up to network security admin. Currently getting the last bit of money I need is the major issue.