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Sparring.

Educashun

By ObviousTroll (Thu May 01, 2008 at 07:55:56 AM EST) (all tags)

Sparring in the ring, sparring in the classroom.

So, tonight is the last step in the black belt testing. At least two hours of sparring against the instructors. In my head I'm calm, but my stomach apparently has other opinions because it's been upset for a couple of days now.

On top of that, I got a packet from Penn State today, thanking me for my interest in grad school.

I've talked about going back for a couple of years now. 10 years ago, I told people I thought an advanced degree for Comp Sci was useless for working programmers, and I believed it. But starting a couple of years ago, I couldn't help but notice that I was having a harder and harder time understanding a lot of the programming topics being discussed on the intarweb, and my company offers tuition reimbursement, so I told my boss I was going to look into it once I got through the karate thing - and one way or another, that time has come.

Looking at the packet, they offer a graduate degree in "Software Engineering" which looks to be more practical than a degree in Comp Sci. Perfect. So why am I so nervous?

Could it be because I haven't been a real school in 21 years? Could I be worried that I'll be as out of place as a dinosaur at a mammal convention? Could it be that I'm worried that I wouldn't be able to handle the work load? The cost? The time? That I'm afraid I'm not as smart as I pose?

Well, yes.

What to do... What to do...

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Sparring. | 16 comments (16 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

Grad school by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #1 Thu May 01, 2008 at 08:05:56 AM EST

Where would I find the time? I might be able to find a spare 2 or 3 hours/week...

I ever win the lottery^* I go back to school, and spend summers traveling.

* This would, of course, require that I actually play the lottery, which I don't, because I am not mathematically challenged.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}

: It would have to be 1 class per term by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #2 Thu May 01, 2008 at 08:18:53 AM EST

I can't see any other way to manage it, especially since Sensei is hinting that he'd like me to teach kenpo one day a week.
I can't decide if he's asking because he needs the help or because he's looking for some way to keep me "involved". He's still trying very hard to grow his business and losing students for any reason probably hurts...

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]
: And, yes, by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #3 Thu May 01, 2008 at 08:19:51 AM EST

like you, I think of lotteries as a "tax on stupidity".

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

Meh by Rogerborg (2.00 / 0) #4 Thu May 01, 2008 at 08:38:35 AM EST

I did a post-graduate degree in Software Engineering, and it was more immediately useful than my Comp Sci. undergrad degree. However, over time, the stuff that I thought was useless theory in Comp. Sci has cropped up again and again, while I could have learned the Software Engineering on the job. And since much of it was about processes, much of it was out of fashion before I learned it.

Chances are that you could be teaching a Software Engineering class, rather than learning from it.

-
Metus amatores matrum compescit, non clementia.

It's a point. by ObviousTroll (4.00 / 1) #5 Thu May 01, 2008 at 08:53:24 AM EST

I guess one of the things that's in my head is whether or not I should be planning a move into management or not and whether formal training in project management, sucking up to the boss and all that stuff would be useful.

And, again, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm following the same road as the COBOLers I used to tease. At this point, all the languages I used to know are obsolete or my knowledge has atrophied to the point that all I really know anymore is C and C is only useful for writing device drivers these days and do I really want to be locked into such a tiny niche?

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

EVERYTHING IS FINE BUT WE NEED MORE BUDGET! by Rogerborg (4.00 / 3) #6 Thu May 01, 2008 at 09:11:24 AM EST

There, you're trained for management.

-
Metus amatores matrum compescit, non clementia.
[ Parent ]

C is a good base. by wiredog (4.00 / 1) #7 Thu May 01, 2008 at 10:22:56 AM EST

Windows is mostly programmed in C#, which is C++ descended. Mac mostly in Objective C, also C descended. Both of those, plus Linux, in C++ or Java (a C++ descended language).

None of them is hard to pick up.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}
[ Parent ]

: Yes/No by ObviousTroll (4.00 / 1) #8 Thu May 01, 2008 at 10:33:38 AM EST

The basic languages are all the same, but the nuances are very different. ObjC's memory management is... different. Not bad, but you have to think about memory differently than you do in Java. For Java and C++ I think the key points are understanding the standard frameworks and libraries rather than the languages themselves, and the last time I did any C++ there weren't any standard libraries yet, you downloaded the open source libraries from the NIH.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

Niches by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #11 Thu May 01, 2008 at 11:43:45 AM EST

Games programmers mostly use C...how are you at 80 hour workdays for low pay? You get free cokes and GTAIV stress breaks! I'm guessing that C++ will be around long enough for my career...though you should probably learn python/perl/ruby or some shit like that. Or better yet, Javascript.
----
_{ウセーバラケダ}
[ Parent ]

IAWTBorg by ambrosen (4.00 / 1) #12 Thu May 01, 2008 at 12:12:27 PM EST

You don't want to go to a university for practical, you want to go to a university for theoretical. Practical's what you pick up on the job.

And, yeah, I didn't especially like the fact that my undergraduate degree course didn't start any C until the second semester, but now I see that the fact I learned how to do things neatly in a language with fully defined semantics, etc, has made my life a lot easier. Same with learning Big O notation: it's not that you don't know that n log n's better than n^2, it's that you see the pattern and instinctively do things the n log n way, as it were. It's all tidiness.

[ Parent ]

Penn State S/E by miker2 (2.00 / 0) #9 Thu May 01, 2008 at 11:38:12 AM EST

A coworker of mine just graduated last year with the Software Engineering from Penn State's Great Valley campus. He said it was challenging but in a good way. Also, Penn State doesn't offer graduate CS degrees outside of their State College campus (not even online).

I've been thinking about the Drexel online masters in CS for a few years so it may be time to finally pull the trigger.

Ah, sociopathy. How warm, how comforting, thy sweet embrace. - MNS

Stop stalking me, dude. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #10 Thu May 01, 2008 at 11:39:43 AM EST

Drexel's my alma mater; PSGV is probably where I'd end up going, if I go.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

Stalking!?! by miker2 (2.00 / 0) #13 Thu May 01, 2008 at 01:40:35 PM EST

We just happen to live kind of close. Speaking of which, I just moved to the lovely Coatesville area (not in the city itself, the eastern part by Thorndale).

A bunch of the folks I work with are PSU or Drexel alumni with some Millersville and other local colleges thrown in.

Ah, sociopathy. How warm, how comforting, thy sweet embrace. - MNS
[ Parent ]

You're a good bit west of me actually. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #14 Thu May 01, 2008 at 03:32:02 PM EST

Phew.

I live in the Phoenixville area. Kimberton, if I'm trying to be pretentious.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

So you're close to where I work. by miker2 (2.00 / 0) #15 Thu May 01, 2008 at 04:12:21 PM EST

Just north of Malvern.

We cut through Phoenixville when we visit friend in Royersford and I looked there for houses before I met my current girlfriend (her commute would be a disaster from Phoenixville).

Ah, sociopathy. How warm, how comforting, thy sweet embrace. - MNS
[ Parent ]

: I used to live in Frazer, 12 years ago. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #16 Thu May 01, 2008 at 11:21:06 PM EST

Now it freaks me out when I see how much development has been done to that whole corridor. It was kind of a brownfields wasteland when I lived there.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

Sparring. | 16 comments (16 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback