My son's best friend is likely to be the school's valedictorian... and he's not taking the ACT or SAT this year... because he doesn't plant to go to college.
And why wouldn't such a bright young man want to go to college? Because he wants to be a professional gamer... because there's are "millions of dollars in it" and even just qualifying for a tournament can "net me 40 to 60 thousand."
So he spends every waking moment playing video games. Every day. All day.
I learned this because my son was complaining his best friend never wants to do anything but play video games, and the only way to get him to come over anymore is for me to set up a lan network for them to game on.
> My son's best friend is likely to be the school's valedictorian... and he's not > taking the ACT or SAT this year... because he doesn't plant to go to college. > > And why wouldn't such a bright young man want to go to college? Because he wants to > be a professional gamer... because there's are "millions of dollars in it" and even > just qualifying for a tournament can "net me 40 to 60 thousand." > > So he spends every waking moment playing video games. Every day. All day. > > I learned this because my son was complaining his best friend never wants to do > anything but play video games, and the only way to get him to come over anymore is > for me to set up a lan network for them to game on.
I knew several people at that age who were smart and talented and just pissed it all away. Most of the ones I knew weren't even chasing some silly pipe dream, they just gave up, took menial jobs, and moaned about how awful their lives were. If your son's friend is really going to be the valedictorian, at least he'll have some options if/when he wakes up and realizes he's wasting his time.
It won't be pissed away. It'll be about a year before he finds no money with it and then goes to college. Kids need a year off out of high school anyway unless they really know what they want to do, and none of them do. Pushing college too soon can end up with them going for the wrong degree.
> My son's best friend is likely to be the school's valedictorian... and he's not > taking the ACT or SAT this year... because he doesn't plant to go to college. > > And why wouldn't such a bright young man want to go to college? Because he wants to > be a professional gamer... because there's are "millions of dollars in it" and even > just qualifying for a tournament can "net me 40 to 60 thousand." > > So he spends every waking moment playing video games. Every day. All day. > > I learned this because my son was complaining his best friend never wants to do > anything but play video games, and the only way to get him to come over anymore is > for me to set up a lan network for them to game on.
Tell your son to tell him what happens if he injures himself in a way that leaves him unable to play videogames. What then? Without an education or a degree he won't be able to hold any job.
> Tell your son to tell him what happens if he injures himself in a way that leaves him > unable to play videogames. What then? Without an education or a degree he won't be > able to hold any job.
I don't know if that's the strongest argument against it. Even with an education, you can still end up with a disability that leaves you unable to work in your field.
> Kids need a year off out of high school anyway unless they > really know what they want to do, and none of them do. Pushing college too soon can > end up with them going for the wrong degree.
I kind of disagree with this. Sure, if a kid has no clue, it's a waste of money for him to go to college and "find himself". But if he at least has an idea of what he wants to do, I think it's much better to jump in straight out of high school. You can always make course corrections as you go along. Taking a year off, it can be too easy to let inertia take over. Next thing you know, you're a middle aged guy working in a convenience store for 8 bucks an hour.
I guess it depends on the personality type. I know for me, taking a year off would have been a disaster.
I have friends who ended up with majors they never used. Their degrees are only helpful with jobs that ask for a bachelors degree with no specifics for major. Some really unusable stuff like anthropology, psychology, English... There was no career guidance whatsoever in high school back then, not sure what it's like now.
> > Tell your son to tell him what happens if he injures himself in a way that leaves > him > > unable to play videogames. What then? Without an education or a degree he won't be > > able to hold any job. > > I don't know if that's the strongest argument against it. Even with an education, you > can still end up with a disability that leaves you unable to work in your field.
A lawyer can still practice law with an injured hand. A "cyber" "athlete"... well, probably not. :P
> I have friends who ended up with majors they never used. Their degrees are only > helpful with jobs that ask for a bachelors degree with no specifics for major. Some > really unusable stuff like anthropology, psychology, English... There was no career > guidance whatsoever in high school back then, not sure what it's like now.
I was an English major.
Fortunately for me I had a minor in poetry and playwrite to fall back on... thank God for that, eh?
(I don't think he's kidding)
I'm not! Smit's write! Colleges don't care what you major in, so long as you pay your tuition. Bastards.
> I have friends who ended up with majors they never used. Their degrees are only > helpful with jobs that ask for a bachelors degree with no specifics for major. Some > really unusable stuff like anthropology, psychology, English... There was no career > guidance whatsoever in high school back then, not sure what it's like now.
The problem is a lot of kids pick a major that sounds interesting, and don't think it through any further than that. Someone needs to push them to think about what happens after. If you want to study one of the "pure" subjects, and you plan to do research and teach and stay in academia, fine. But if you think you're just going to wander out into the street and someone is just going to hand you a job, maybe you should consider something else. The plan may change radically by graduation, but you should still have one going in.
I have a music degree, and today I'm a computer programmer. I went in planning to study music technology and become a recording engineer. 2-3 years in, I discovered that the pro recording industry was imploding, and I was basically never going to make any money doing it. I started readjusting my focus, and eventually landed an internship and then a job doing QA for a music software company. After 10 years of QA, I started writing more and more code and eventually became a developer. So I'm not technically working in the field I studied, but at the same time, I never would have ended up where I am today without the experiences I had and contacts I made in college.
> My son's best friend is likely to be the school's valedictorian... and he's not > taking the ACT or SAT this year... because he doesn't plant to go to college. > > And why wouldn't such a bright young man want to go to college? Because he wants to > be a professional gamer... because there's are "millions of dollars in it" and even > just qualifying for a tournament can "net me 40 to 60 thousand."
Has he even played any tournaments yet? Is he ranked yet? It is a whole different experience than sitting in your man cave playing games. Many times there is an added element of time pressure. If he is any good, he may make it. If not the problem will sort itself out in 2-3 years and his parents basically say 'get out and stop playing video games all the time'.
Just because you are smart does not mean you are good at life. Just means your are smart. Its what you do with it that makes a difference.
Also being good at one game does not necessarily translate into good skills in another. For example I am pretty good at SMB. However, in a FPS I am usually the one being crushed...
> Has he even played any tournaments yet? Is he ranked yet?
Bingo. My point exactly. It's a delicate balance dealing with teenagers. My son clearly was put-out by my initial mockery of his friend skipping the ACT's to pursue a professional gamer career with zero experience at it. I had to dial it back and be like, "It's ok to have a dream, but you also need a day job to fall back on."
> Also being good at one game does not necessarily translate into good skills in > another.
Another point I tried to make. He may be crushing at league of legends now, but when this game fades away... can he translate to another that is paying big rewards to gamers. Plus, my son said the big names in that game all live in a giant mansion... yeah, as hosted guests... they don't own the mansion... it's their "apartment building" basically, like a dormer for gamers... and when the party is over, they go home with nothing.
Worth noting the top US earner is Andy Dinh $54,619.97 from five tournaments. Hardly mansion money. The average competing player doesn't even rank any money.
I know I'm being a buzz kill for my son... but reality is even a more harsh buzz kill than me.
> Worth noting the top US earner is Andy Dinh $54,619.97 from five tournaments. Hardly > mansion money. The average competing player doesn't even rank any money.
All true, with the caveat that college currently looks even worse for non-MEST majors. Even law school grads are having trouble getting hired.
> > Kids need a year off out of high school anyway unless they > > really know what they want to do, and none of them do. Pushing college too soon can > > end up with them going for the wrong degree. > > I kind of disagree with this. Sure, if a kid has no clue, it's a waste of money for > him to go to college and "find himself". But if he at least has an idea of what he > wants to do, I think it's much better to jump in straight out of high school. You can > always make course corrections as you go along. Taking a year off, it can be too easy > to let inertia take over. Next thing you know, you're a middle aged guy working in a > convenience store for 8 bucks an hour. > > I guess it depends on the personality type. I know for me, taking a year off would > have been a disaster.
The problem is that college is disgustingly expensive these days, and you literally cannot afford to make mistakes.
The best way to handle college is to make your child go to the local community college and get a generic "Liberal Arts" Associate degree before transferring to an in-state 4-year college for their Bachelor degree. A generic liberal arts degree is more-or-less the first two years of classes that all 4-year schools make you take anyway.
Doing the first two years at a local community college has definite benefits. The biggest of which is that it's much, much cheaper than a 4-year school. They live at home and commute to school, which gives them a little freedom, but lets them ease into being an independent adult so they don't end up in a hospital with alcohol poisoning after a frat party. Classes are generally easier, and there's almost zero admissions requirements and no competition for spots. If they screw up a little and end up taking 3 years to finish their degree, no biggie due to the lower cost.
Once they have a generic liberal arts degree, most in-state 4-year colleges will take all 60 of their credits due to reciprocal agreements when they transfer. Generally, if you already have an Associate degree when you apply to a 4-year school, they just wave you right in without all the SATs and essays and other bullshit that they make kids straight out of high school go through.
So to re-cap the most important bits... it must be a generic "Liberal Arts" degree as that gives you the best chance that they'll take all your credits, and transfer to an in-state 4-year school, again to have the best chance of all credits transferring.
One way to bribe your kid to go for this plan is to offer to buy them a cheap used car for commuting back and forth to community college if they agree to do it. Generally, you save so much money over all, that you still come out way ahead financially.
> The problem is that college is disgustingly expensive these days, and you literally > cannot afford to make mistakes. > > The best way to handle college is to make your child go to the local community > college and get a generic "Liberal Arts" Associate degree before transferring to an > in-state 4-year college for their Bachelor degree. A generic liberal arts degree is > more-or-less the first two years of classes that all 4-year schools make you take > anyway. > > Doing the first two years at a local community college has definite benefits. The > biggest of which is that it's much, much cheaper than a 4-year school. They live at > home and commute to school, which gives them a little freedom, but lets them ease > into being an independent adult so they don't end up in a hospital with alcohol > poisoning after a frat party. Classes are generally easier, and there's almost zero > admissions requirements and no competition for spots. If they screw up a little and > end up taking 3 years to finish their degree, no biggie due to the lower cost. > > Once they have a generic liberal arts degree, most in-state 4-year colleges will take > all 60 of their credits due to reciprocal agreements when they transfer. Generally, > if you already have an Associate degree when you apply to a 4-year school, they just > wave you right in without all the SATs and essays and other bullshit that they make > kids straight out of high school go through. > > So to re-cap the most important bits... it must be a generic "Liberal Arts" degree as > that gives you the best chance that they'll take all your credits, and transfer to an > in-state 4-year school, again to have the best chance of all credits transferring. > > One way to bribe your kid to go for this plan is to offer to buy them a cheap used > car for commuting back and forth to community college if they agree to do it. > Generally, you save so much money over all, that you still come out way ahead > financially.
It's not a terrible plan, but it's one I would have fought against tooth and nail back when I was getting out of high school. Deserved or not, there's a certain amount of stigma attached to community college. Fortunately, the cost of a four year school (actually five, I went to Northeastern) was slightly less outrageous back then, my parents were in decent financial shape, and my dad was pretty gung ho about college anyway.
> > Has he even played any tournaments yet? Is he ranked yet? > > Bingo. My point exactly. It's a delicate balance dealing with teenagers. My son > clearly was put-out by my initial mockery of his friend skipping the ACT's to pursue > a professional gamer career with zero experience at it. I had to dial it back and be > like, "It's ok to have a dream, but you also need a day job to fall back on." > > > Also being good at one game does not necessarily translate into good skills in > > another. > > Another point I tried to make. He may be crushing at league of legends now, but when > this game fades away... can he translate to another that is paying big rewards to > gamers. Plus, my son said the big names in that game all live in a giant mansion... > yeah, as hosted guests... they don't own the mansion... it's their "apartment > building" basically, like a dormer for gamers... and when the party is over, they go > home with nothing. > > Worth noting the top US earner is Andy Dinh $54,619.97 from five tournaments. Hardly > mansion money. The average competing player doesn't even rank any money. > > I know I'm being a buzz kill for my son... but reality is even a more harsh buzz kill > than me.
I've actually had the opportunity to meet some "professional gamers" over the last few years. By and large, they all seem to be fairly well balanced college students who do it mainly because/while: a.) it's fun b.) they're ultracompetitive c.) knowing it can't last d.) having other career plans.
So the story coming from this dude who wants to quit college sounds like an excuse.
Also, didn't Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendell make thousands/millions from licensing rather than prize-winnings?
As something to do, serves as a pretty good example anyhow - despite his success, his run lasted only 4-6 years, and his level of success through gaming is unlikely to come again but rather a product of the times. (Mind you, he maybe doesn't need to work another day in his life) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal1ty
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