My college experience was rather disappointing. As someone pressured into going to College (Mom was a school teacher), I gave in and attended a 4 year SUNY University (Oneonta, New York). I knew college wasn't cheap so through high school I worked at a local grocery store making $5.20/hr. (minimum wage) to earn as much as I could, which ended up being around $8,000. Our household income was decent (~$130,000) but my parents made it very clear that all loans will be my responsibility to pay back, I would be getting no assistance from them. Perhaps they felt that I'd be more likely to graduate given the risk.

I've always had a strong interest in computer art (3d modeling / animation, video games, special effects) and SUNY Oneonta was one of the few schools at the time that offered a program in that field (without leaving New York). In my free time through high school I would dabble in Photoshop, 3DS Max, Maya, etc. I wouldn't say that I ever became exceptionally good, but my interests continued to grow. I was genuinely excited for college.

The first thing I learned was wow, college is way more expensive than I imagined! Students were required to live on campus, pay for the maximum meal plan, unable to have a car for the first two years (relied heavily on public transportation), cost of books, cost of art/class supplies, cost of food / grocery items. With a full course load, finding the time to work a part time job felt impossible. I spent most of my free time on school work and staying up very late some nights working on large art assignments - painting, drawing, mixed media, ceramics and so on. The first two years of college were mostly "core" classes, meaning I wasn't able to take classes pertaining to my major (computer art) until I've completed them. It was high school all over again, almost identical classes.

Finally, 2 years down, 2 to go and I was excited to finally take some computer art courses. I quickly signed up for 3d modeling, animation, web design, anything I could get my hands on. Almost immediately, I was disappointed. The courses being taught were below my current knowledge level (even advanced courses). For example, the web design courses were still entirely using tables for layout with Photoshop "slices" when the rest of the world was primarily using divs/css. Everything was very outdated brief overviews of the basics. I couldn't believe that such basic courses would result in me obtaining a major in this field? It also made me feel inadequate when preparing to find a job after school.

It was about this time that I took on an internship at a local web design/development company (of about 5 people). My interests quickly changed from Computer Art to Web Development. I really enjoyed building websites, working with customers and trying new things. After my internship ended I was hired by this company for $15/hr, which sounded really great out of school. Not long after, the management eventually began struggling with finances and I left that company, taking a graphic designer position to keep money in my account. College ended and my total debt was ~$77,000, ouch...

Six months pass since graduating and my student loans are now coming in, ~$1,200 a month was my starting payment. I was making $14.86/hr. and life was really hard. I did everything I could do to reduce my payments which eventually dropped to ~$700 / month, but with rent, vehicle expenses, health insurance, food, etc, I was missing payments and defaulted on one of my loans. My credit was destroyed, I was living check to check (barely)... I resented college.

Today, I am in my early 30's working as a Software Developer. My credit is slowly repairing (just bought a house last year!) and I am making triple my old salary. I wish that I had more time in college to truly learn what I wanted to do and explore a bit more instead of taking the "core" classes the first two years re-learning "western civilization" and "earth science". If I could go back in time I'd get a proper Computer Science degree, instead of being a Software Developer with a Bachelors of Arts. I know the position I have now would not have been offered to me if I didn't have a college degree (CEO is very fond of college graduates), but it certainly came at a cost... I have two young kids now and I often wonder, will I also recommend they go to college?