Advice to a Junior in High School?

[Robert Kern]

In article <Ivw2b.1305$Ce2.314 at clmboh1-nws5.columbus.rr.com>,
	"Howard Nease" <hnease at midsouth.rr.com> writes:

[snip]

> Does anyone have any advice for me and my future? What should I study in
> college? 

Well, in addition to what everyone else has said, I would recommend
taking some classes that hone your ability to analyze numerical data.
There ought to be classes from a variety of departments at your college
that can teach you this skill. It's likely *one* of them will catch your
interest. In my experience, that core skill is easily transfered between
fields. Once you learn how to handle the numbers, it doesn't matter if
they are temperature readings or stock prices.

That skill will open a large number of career paths where your CS skills
and interests are respected and used. Many of them pay well, too.

Of course, that doesn't help you in the slightest if you're just not
interested in those fields. Use your college experience to explore (lots
of things really, but let's focus on the career aspects here ;-)). When
you visit colleges, try to ask the older kids if they had the
opportunity to "shop around" and discover what they really wanted to do.
To get you started, I'll tell you right now that Caltech is not such a
place.

> Will the market for jobs get better? 

Probably. Six years is a *long* time for the computer world.

For that matter, six years is a long time for a person your age, too.
I'm quite sure you will be a very different person when you graduate
from college. Trust me: I'm six years ahead of you. ;-)

And for now, forget us old fogies, go out, and have some fun, goddammit!

-- 
Robert Kern
kern at caltech.edu

"In the fields of hell where the grass grows high
 Are the graves of dreams allowed to die."
  -- Richard Harter