The Brains, They Are a-Changin'
Today my sister gushed about her daughter's academic prowess. Easy A's, gets achievement awards, etc. Also, she dislikes the spotlight -an impediment for someone aspiring to be an actress - and doesn't talk about her academic prowess. Recently she got an award that most of the other kids thought would go to a prominently intellectual boy, including the boy himself. I don't know if this will gain or diminish their respect for her. You can never tell in middle school.
I had a 3.75 gpa my entire academic career, adjusting for the "O / S / N" system in elementary school. For the unaware, Outstanding, Satisfactory, Needs Improvement. Those easy A's and achievement awards were in my past life. Now I have become an "N" student. In the GPA world, a "D" student. For the last few months I was taking an online course about databases as a "plus" to add for my work. A handful of colleagues did the same. The result was that, on my own, I would have passed the course at best, but the points I ended up with, I got solely by riding their coattails, or to put it bluntly, cheating off their tests.
I fell into software 14 years ago and learned on the job. If I'd started now, at the rate and quality of learning that I demonstrated during the course (when not cheating), I'd likely still be an administrative assistant somewhere. In college I could cram and retain, but not so much now. And I am so, so, so very easily distracted - at home, anyway, where I was watching the videos and taking the quizzes. Part of my problem is the "fell into software" part. I didn't get a degree in it. Mine was a BA in Film/Television Production. Software just became something that I picked up quickly and well enough to start getting jobs with it, and then getting better jobs, but I wouldn't, by any stretch, call it my passion. It became something that I'm good at (but, apparently, not by the standards of that course), but just pays the bills. Specifically, testing software, not writing it.
Of course, potential employers hate hearing stuff like that and want you to love with your heart and soul whatever it is they do, but an interesting thing I've learned over the years is how many people "fell into" software like I did, as opposed to getting a CS degree. It just pays their bills, too. And the ones who did get the degree... eh, sometimes there's an edge, but they're not, to a person, star players, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, I'd hate to take an IQ test today. I think I might fail it. >;-D
I had a 3.75 gpa my entire academic career, adjusting for the "O / S / N" system in elementary school. For the unaware, Outstanding, Satisfactory, Needs Improvement. Those easy A's and achievement awards were in my past life. Now I have become an "N" student. In the GPA world, a "D" student. For the last few months I was taking an online course about databases as a "plus" to add for my work. A handful of colleagues did the same. The result was that, on my own, I would have passed the course at best, but the points I ended up with, I got solely by riding their coattails, or to put it bluntly, cheating off their tests.
I fell into software 14 years ago and learned on the job. If I'd started now, at the rate and quality of learning that I demonstrated during the course (when not cheating), I'd likely still be an administrative assistant somewhere. In college I could cram and retain, but not so much now. And I am so, so, so very easily distracted - at home, anyway, where I was watching the videos and taking the quizzes. Part of my problem is the "fell into software" part. I didn't get a degree in it. Mine was a BA in Film/Television Production. Software just became something that I picked up quickly and well enough to start getting jobs with it, and then getting better jobs, but I wouldn't, by any stretch, call it my passion. It became something that I'm good at (but, apparently, not by the standards of that course), but just pays the bills. Specifically, testing software, not writing it.
Of course, potential employers hate hearing stuff like that and want you to love with your heart and soul whatever it is they do, but an interesting thing I've learned over the years is how many people "fell into" software like I did, as opposed to getting a CS degree. It just pays their bills, too. And the ones who did get the degree... eh, sometimes there's an edge, but they're not, to a person, star players, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, I'd hate to take an IQ test today. I think I might fail it. >;-D