What did you study at uni and what was your dream?

jazzzar

Member
Hello sweet people of the forums, this is a pretty straightforward discussion, the question is, what did you study or what are you studying at university?

Is that thing that you were dreaming to study and learn for a lifetime?

If not, what are you planning to somehow be closer to your dream?

I'll start with my own self, I always dreamed of being a computer engineer, however life doesn't always go the way you like it to be, lots of things got in the way of me accomplishing that dream(financial stuff, 3rd world country etc etc), what i'm studying right now is engineering, at the university of my own country (official uni), whete things are a little bit different from other unis, it's 5 years for a degree where the first 2 are just general engineering, you choose your major on the third one, i'm currently in the second year, these first two are the most hard ones, i'm actually not happy with it, but it's the only thing I can do...

How am I trying to be closer to my dream?
Bascially learning lots of stuff about pc's,software and hardware, programming and stuff hoping I can become what i want one day on my own..

Share your story guys :)
 
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chance

predictably random
Forum Staff
Moderator
Bascially learning lots of stuff about pc's,software and hardware, programming and stuff...(snip)
Be sure to include other courses, well outside your major (if you can). Languages, history, literature and art, etc.

You'll spend the rest of your life keeping-up with your chosen field. But university is an opportunity to study other fields you may not get again. (At least not in a classroom setting.)
 

jazzzar

Member
Be sure to include other courses, well outside your major (if you can). Languages, history, literature and art, etc.

You'll spend the rest of your life keeping-up with your chosen field. But university is an opportunity to study other fields you may not get again. (At least not in a classroom setting.)
Actually I'm planning to study computer science once I reach third year in engineering( when things gets easier), having double majors won't harm,care to share your story ? :p
 

Carnivius

Member
I didn't get to go to uni. I wanted to study drama but was having a lot of trouble at home and couldn't take on the financial burden either. Was about that time I ended up living on the streets for a lil while. Which is an educational experience in it's own way too. :)
 
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Law

Guest
Be sure to include other courses, well outside your major (if you can). Languages, history, literature and art, etc.

You'll spend the rest of your life keeping-up with your chosen field. But university is an opportunity to study other fields you may not get again. (At least not in a classroom setting.)
To be fair not all countries don't offer that kind of flexibility.
 

jazzzar

Member
I didn't get to go to uni. I wanted to study drama but was having a lot of trouble at home and couldn't take on the financial burden either. Was about that time I ended up living on the streets for a lil while. Which is an educational experience in it's own way too. :)
Oh too bad how it goes with people sometimes, i'm sorry to hear that but hey, everything that happens with us teaches us a lot of stuff in life, keep it up man ;)
 

Carnivius

Member
Oh too bad how it goes with people sometimes, i'm sorry to hear that but hey, everything that happens with us teaches us a lot of stuff in life, keep it up man ;)
Thanks. Was a looong time ago now (I turned 37 recently) and I look back on that time pretty much as I described it there, educational. And possibly made me into a better person than I would have been without it. I've still contemplated going to uni though. Been in for a couple chats at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge a couple times over the years but I probably couldn't cope with all the work and interacting with peoples. :p
 

jazzzar

Member
I studied (and got a degree in) Microbiology. Worked in the field for about two years and found it was boring as hell and moved on to other things...

(you can see the complete story here: https://forum.yoyogames.com/index.php?threads/careers.5431/#post-39959 :) )
Oh man, what an amazing experience, although I'm sure you had hard times and stuff, it's still one hell of an adventure, I don't mind doing all that to finally find the thing that I'd love to continue living with, oh well Life kicks me in the A*s everytime I try to take a step forward to my dream, pft!
 

jazzzar

Member
Thanks. Was a looong time ago now (I turned 37 recently) and I look back on that time pretty much as I described it there, educational. And possibly made me into a better person than I would have been without it. I've still contemplated going to uni though. Been in for a couple chats at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge a couple times over the years but I probably couldn't cope with all the work and interacting with peoples. :p
Great man! Love to see that no matter how hard life kicks you, you still stand up and move forward!
 
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Pelican

Guest
When I was younger I always dreamed of being an open heart surgeon. To be able to help people, and biology was something I was always really interested in. I took up Physics, Chemistry and Maths to be able to get into the field, always pursued science, so I could get to that goal.

Now I'm 20 and studying Conservation Biology. Needless to say something didn't happen right. :p
I pretty much realised I didn't have the scores nor the dedication to do medicine... but studying this now is something I'm interested in doing right now. And climate change and animals were also something I was interested in, so I scored nonetheless. :)

So i guess I'm working towards my dream, just my dream has changed quite a bit over the years.
 

jazzzar

Member
When I was younger I always dreamed of being an open heart surgeon. To be able to help people, and biology was something I was always really interested in. I took up Physics, Chemistry and Maths to be able to get into the field, always pursued science, so I could get to that goal.

Now I'm 20 and studying Conservation Biology. Needless to say something didn't happen right. :p
I pretty much realised I didn't have the scores nor the dedication to do medicine... but studying this now is something I'm interested in doing right now. And climate change and animals were also something I was interested in, so I scored nonetheless. :)

So i guess I'm working towards my dream, just my dream has changed quite a bit over the years.
Pretty cool and nice to hear that you're working for what you love, sometimes we make decisions but we end up changing it when we reach higher levels and we understand what we really want to do, great for you man ;)
 

Carnivius

Member
Great man! Love to see that no matter how hard life kicks you, you still stand up and move forward!
Heh it's funny cos I've been in a local amateur dramatics group for the past five years (off to rehearsal in ten minutes actually) which is far cheaper than any uni course I could have gone on and hey, no homework or tests or anything! :D
 

jazzzar

Member
Heh it's funny cos I've been in a local amateur dramatics group for the past five years (off to rehearsal in ten minutes actually) which is far cheaper than any uni course I could have gone on and hey, no homework or tests or anything! :D
Great, always free man
 
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crumblewolf

Guest
I studied Electronic and Electrical Engineering at uni and got a Masters degree in it.

When I was in university I dreamed of going into the nanotechnology market as its such a cool new and continually expanding market but now I am currently working on designing and building control systems for tunnel pretty much the exact opposite of nano tech haha. Would love to one day get a PHD as well.
 
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HyperbipolART

Guest
I dreamt of being a filmmaker. I won awards in college for writing and directing but soon realized the career wouldn't have been as lucrative or dependable as I needed. So I followed my second passion, electronics tinkering and repair!

Now I'm a repair technician in an undisclosed company and I'm happy with that.

Still an artist though, but less with film. Check my sig for my current mixed media portfolio. I'm all over the place.
 
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StuffandThings85

Guest
I originally wanted to go to college for music, but the way they handled the program was awful, not to mention I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, and by that time I was too sick to do anything so I had to drop out. I didn't have the grades or the money to go to Berklee (College of Music), which is why I went to a local community college but that didn't work out. Since school wasn't working out, I decided to just get a full-time job and attempt to make a living that way. After 12 years at that company, i really got sick of that and tried a few other jobs which didn't work out either, so I decided to go back to school to study Computer Networking. My school actually shut down just after I graduated but I did get a job in the field. Now that I switched to a new college, I changed majors to Game Programming and Development, and this seems like a much better fit and that I made the right decision.
 

jazzzar

Member
I studied Electronic and Electrical Engineering at uni and got a Masters degree in it.

When I was in university I dreamed of going into the nanotechnology market as its such a cool new and continually expanding market but now I am currently working on designing and building control systems for tunnel pretty much the exact opposite of nano tech haha. Would love to one day get a PHD as well.
Well it's great you have masters in these majors, i would like to have that too, you can still achieve what you want with you already got man!
 

jazzzar

Member
I dreamt of being a filmmaker. I won awards in college for writing and directing but soon realized the career wouldn't have been as lucrative or dependable as I needed. So I followed my second passion, electronics tinkering and repair!

Now I'm a repair technician in an undisclosed company and I'm happy with that.

Still an artist though, but less with film. Check my sig for my current mixed media portfolio. I'm all over the place.
Great man! At least you're happy, and that's the good thing :)
 

jazzzar

Member
I originally wanted to go to college for music, but the way they handled the program was awful, not to mention I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, and by that time I was too sick to do anything so I had to drop out. I didn't have the grades or the money to go to Berklee (College of Music), which is why I went to a local community college but that didn't work out. Since school wasn't working out, I decided to just get a full-time job and attempt to make a living that way. After 12 years at that company, i really got sick of that and tried a few other jobs which didn't work out either, so I decided to go back to school to study Computer Networking. My school actually shut down just after I graduated but I did get a job in the field. Now that I switched to a new college, I changed majors to Game Programming and Development, and this seems like a much better fit and that I made the right decision.
Oh great buddy! I just wish I got the chance to study game programming and development, sadly there is no such thing, so I built my dreams around being a computer engineer and that didn't work out too, but it's all good, I'm hoping for the best with what I'm doing right now
 
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BoredMormon

Guest
Studied Chemical Engineering. Currently working in it. It pays reasonably well, and the work is interesting so I can't complain.

When I first started studying IT/computer science was seen as a saturated field. There were more grads then there were jobs, and nothing much new was happening. Of course by the time I finished studying both Facebook and the iPhone had become a thing.
 
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crumblewolf

Guest
Studied Chemical Engineering. Currently working in it.
What do chemical engineers actually do? Do you create new chemicals or ways to fabricate them or work on creating devices and machines that create chemicals? I've know a few chem engineers but never though to ask :p
 

Roa

Member
Not a Uni, but community college. Im enrolled for CCNA, which is CISCO based networking, under aministration and security. I'm not 100% sure what to do with this, but if you get past entry teir, it makes great money. If I can't do that, I will continue studies and open up my own networking/computer repair shop at a very competative rate.
 
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BoredMormon

Guest
Do you create new chemicals or ways to fabricate them or work on creating devices and machines that create chemicals?
Yes ;)

Broadly speaking there are three major types of chemical engineer. R&D engineers work closely with chemists to create the process for making new chemicals. These guys typically work in laboratories and pilot scale plants. Design/project engineers concentrate on designing and building the facilities to produce chemicals. Then there are operations engineers, who actually run the plants.

Its also worth noting that 'chemical engineer' is a historical term, 'process engineer' is the modern term. This reflects the fact that many chemical engineers work with things that you wouldn't traditionally think of as chemicals. Butter, milk powder, and paper, bricks, logs, soft drinks, pharmaceuticals, ect. Basically every manufactured good has a chemical engineer somewhere along the line.

I work in operations. At the moment I'm working for a facility that produces agricultural chemicals. My contracts up at the end of the year, so I'll be doing something else come January.
 
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crumblewolf

Guest
OK
Yes ;)

Broadly speaking there are three major types of chemical engineer. R&D engineers work closely with chemists to create the process for making new chemicals. These guys typically work in laboratories and pilot scale plants. Design/project engineers concentrate on designing and building the facilities to produce chemicals. Then there are operations engineers, who actually run the plants.
I'm not a chem engineer but my job title is project engineer (I currently work on designing/refitting the safety systems for tunnels). Do the project/operations engineers require an in depth understanding on the chemicals/reactions?

Sorry just interested in other engineering sectors haha.
 
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BoredMormon

Guest
Do the project/operations engineers require an in depth understanding on the chemicals/reactions?
We require a basic understanding of chemistry principles. Normally companies also keep chemists around to expert support on chemistry. So in practice I spend a lot of time talking to chemists, and it helps a lot to know what they are saying.
 

jazzzar

Member
Electronics - And the dream was always to do something in the electronics / I.T. / programming industry.

So, I guess I am living the dream :D

Seriously though, I am pretty happy with the direction my life has taken. Although I am dragging the chain big-time with my game development. But, I am in no real rush. I think I like solving problems and thinking outside of the box, more than seeing the end result.
Oh great for you, you're doing good in game dev i guess too!
Studied Chemical Engineering. Currently working in it. It pays reasonably well, and the work is interesting so I can't complain.

When I first started studying IT/computer science was seen as a saturated field. There were more grads then there were jobs, and nothing much new was happening. Of course by the time I finished studying both Facebook and the iPhone had become a thing.
Great, never thought about doing that major, GOD i hate chemistry, i used to get really high grades back in high school, but now i hate it so much for some reason, but hey, you're doing good with it
Not a Uni, but community college. Im enrolled for CCNA, which is CISCO based networking, under aministration and security. I'm not 100% sure what to do with this, but if you get past entry teir, it makes great money. If I can't do that, I will continue studies and open up my own networking/computer repair shop at a very competative rate.
I don't know what that is but as long as you're doing fine, good for you i guess :)
 

Jabbers

Member
I've had it easy compared to some of the responses above. I am studying computer science and philosophy at the moment. I had no conflict about what to study, I knew what I wanted to do and now I'm doing it.

Some people study things because they lead to lucrative jobs, or because they sound interesting on paper, but for me it was more about being involved in a field I am excited about and knowing what I want to do in the future (I now understand that having such clarity is a rare thing at a young age, so I count myself lucky for that).
 
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MikeDark_x

Guest
The thing I am studying at uni: A degree in English with an option to teach (or something)
The thing I dream to do: becoming a hobbyist game maker
 

Llama_Code

Member
I went all kinds of sideways but it worked out in the end.

I started programming at an early ages so I went for game design and computer science. Once I graduated I did an internship with Nintendo, and landed a real job with Atlus. Problem was, I found as much as I loved programming I hated doing it within the constraints of companies. Deadlines, constant changes, and sometimes the people you have to deal with. Finally a specific situation pushed me over the edge and I left.

I ended up working for an air conditioning company of all things and they put me through school for HVAC and electrical. Now I write and troubleshoot software that controls remote systems and smart thermostats, and help with the installation of such systems.

So I am doing what I like without all the headache and drama, in the last place I thought I would find work doing it lol and make games on the side, at my own pace, as a hobby.
 
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Alessio

Guest
I studied visual art and animation. But, unfortunately i'm not working on the field: Italy has little to nothing to offer unless you don't want to work with delinquents who are used to exploit other people who got my same direction.
Underpaid and overworked artists, sometimes not paid at all and people seem to accept this. That's why i didn't take that direction anymore but i still want to try again somewhere else in the future but i also need money for it.

Now i'm trying to train myself with realistic comic book drawing, which is the only thing in Italy that has been preserved a little better throughout years but the situation is getting worse.
 
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Docker

Guest
I've had it easy compared to some of the responses above. I am studying computer science and philosophy at the moment. I had no conflict about what to study, I knew what I wanted to do and now I'm doing it.

Some people study things because they lead to lucrative jobs, or because they sound interesting on paper, but for me it was more about being involved in a field I am excited about and knowing what I want to do in the future (I now understand that having such clarity is a rare thing at a young age, so I count myself lucky for that).
It took me until I was 23 to truly know what I wanted to do and I'm going to be 29 by the time I leave university if I don't fail any years, I wish I had that clarity at a young age but at the time all I cared about was getting out of school and being able to live life on my own terms.


I have just started my second year in Game and Multimedia Environment, it's almost exactly the same as the general Computer Science degree my uni does however instead of databases and networks I do 3D Modelling & Rendering plus 3D Animation and the third year is slightly different.

I had never programmed in my life before I went to uni but I had been involved with a lot of other computer related stuff such as managing gaming servers, VPS's, web development and other random stuff throughout my life, in my first term I really struggled to get to grips with OOP java programming however by the end of my first year it was actually my highest scoring module.

I started using GMS a few weeks ago and although it's not exactly the same, I since find it easier to visualise non game related programming in terms of games.
 
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Mr Magnus

Viking King
I'm currently half-way trough a bachelor degree in theoretical computer science, with the aim of taking the masters in general computer science afterwards. currently loving it. It's an absurdly hard major with a lot of mathmatics and heavy workloads where I barely manage to scrape by the deadlines. I still love it to death.

I've wanted to be a lot of things growing up. A baker, business man, space ranger, author, game developer, and so on. However, the path was more or less set when I started using GM at 12. I fell in love with programming, and while I still managed to write a novel that currently is collecting dust I decided I wanted to study computer science. Thus I went into Theoretical computer science as I loved both maths and programming and...well, here I am. It wasn't really a conflicted decision.

What I want to be? well... Still want to develop games but I realize it isn't really a very well-earning profession. I'll take anything I'll get as long as I'm happy there and get to use what I love.
 
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vickyleeps

Guest
I studied economics..but my Parents were not so happy with the decision. They wanted Victoria to be a Doctor. Too bad i cannot stand the site of needles because my grades were good enough for medical school.
 
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Ingemann

Guest
I studied philosophy of science, it makes sure that I can read and understand a science magazine, but it didn't bring much food to the table. So I also have an education in computer science, not from the university tho.
 
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