What is College for?

droppedit
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 13:36:25 +0000

I’m all in with what Steve Jobs said at his Stanford commencement address: it’s about making dots that’ll be connected later. That’s college, imho. You’re required to take some classes and can choose others that are interesting. All of them are adding “tools” to your mental tool chest; they’re some of the dots in your life. Will you use them later on? Who knows! But you’ll have them ready if you do.

To me, the most important thing in school is to pursue things that are interesting at the moment, without worrying about how it’ll fit into a career. In HS I loved one particular rock band and their album art (this was back in the Stone Age). I was in a computer programming class and decided to write a program on the school’s Apple II that would draw the band’s logo with a “laser beam” in an infinite loop. There was no reason behind it other than it was cool. Next thing I know, someone placed the computer and monitor at the room’s window and there was a crowd outside watching it. Cool! I didn’t know it at the time but it was a major “dot”. Ten years later I created a popular screensaver and my general interest in computer graphics resulted in a career and business. Also note that my obsession with that band led me to want to play guitar … but I couldn’t afford the effect pedals, so I bought ICs and breadboarded them into my own effects. Another dot. That led to me majoring in EE in college. There was no plan behind all this, just interest at the moment.

When I look at the classes available to D18 at her top choice college I see “dots” everywhere. It’s pretty incredible. I hope she get admitted there!