What Scala?

[Sean Kelly]

Walter Bright wrote:
> 
> Multiple choice exams were against the rules at Caltech (even though we 
> did have a few huge lecture-based classes).
> 
> I'll still hold forth, however, that you're going to get out of it what 
> you are willing to put into it. If you're only going to target getting a 
> degree, I wouldn't hire you. If you are in college to get the most out 
> of the experience (and there are huge opportunities for that in 
> college), your results will be far better.

Definitely.  I never understood people who were trying for a degree or 
job for money or other reasons instead of because they were interested 
in the work.  If you've got to do it every day then you should enjoy it. 
  I've never met someone who was good in their field if they didn't 
enjoy the work either.

> 90% of the classes I took I selected because they interested me and I 
> thought they were important. I made sure I understood front to back 
> every single homework problem, and every exam problem I got wrong. I 
> also paid for most of it out of a part time and summer job, and I'm sure 
> that paying the tuition bills influenced my attitude as well <g>. I 
> wanted my money's worth.

I'd just like to chime in here that you shouldn't go to college until 
you're ready go all the way through.  I dropped out after three years 
the first time (landed a career by accident and couldn't manage doing 
both), and having that school record when I returned a decade later 
actually hurt me instead of helped me.

When I went back to school I didn't have the luxury of taking what I 
wanted because I had a full-time job as well, and while I managed to 
find some cool courses anyway, I still wish I'd been able to take a few 
that simply weren't offered at a good time.  The biggest struggle the 
second time around were the courses I had to take for distributional 
requirements that I had absolutely no interest in whatsoever.  Leisure 
Studies being one such, for example (it was the only course offered 
online that fit a requirement I had to meet).