The Highly Educated KSP Player - legends in our own minds? (Updated OP 16 January 2018)

[adsii1970]

colmo:

Nope, you definitely qualify in the last group, those who have earned a degree. However, as I have done with others, I have noted your pending courses of study and your planned PhD! Congrats...

[monstah]

I've been teaching myself constantly since leaving school, but lack deep theoretical knowledge, it's fragmented over an enormous amount of interests.

Hey, my having graduated hasn't helped me a lot in that department, either!

[adsii1970]

Hey, my having graduated hasn't helped me a lot in that department, either!

Same here. I was talking to a fellow prof last week; in the middle of our conversation, she told me I was more of a sage - possessing a lot of information about a lot of different topics rather than just a history guy. I just cannot see how some people don't thirst for knowledge...

[CommanderSpock]

Well, I wouldn't really classify myself as that... Kind of in between, as I am well into HS.... Just not at college yet.

[How2FoldSoup]

Currently studying for my B.S. in Applied Physics and in Mathematics with a minor in Polysci. 5th year senior finishing up my victory lap currently.

I plan to head to grad school to get a PhD in Aerospace Engineering as well(if I can get accepted).

[adsii1970]

[quote name='How2FoldSoup']Currently studying for my B.S. in Applied Physics and in Mathematics with a minor in Polysci. 5th year senior finishing up my victory lap currently.

I plan to head to grad school to get a PhD in Aerospace Engineering as well(if I can get accepted).[/QUOTE]

What college/university are you attending?

[EdFred]

College dropout here.
Finished high school at 16, had my Associate of Science at 18. Was enrolled at University of Michigan for architecture, and then the job market for architects crashed - and I bailed. Did one semester towards Mechanical Engineering at Grand Valley State and decided that it wasn't for me, and could not figure out what to major in. I had already been working as a draftsman/engineer while getting my A.S., and I kept in that job market until I was 23. Then I completely switched fields, and have been in the sales and distribution business since then - the past 18 years. I've also become a commercially rated instrument pilot with Seaplane and Multi-engine ratings along with my Certified Flight Instructor Certificate, and I flight instruct on the side in addition to my full time job. Can't say the lack of a 4-year degree has hurt as I am a 2%'er.

[TonyC]

I'm in senior high school, and I inspire to at least get a minimum wage in some job since I'll probably fail my Baccalauréat (a test after high school required to start college, or being hired anywhere ever). For now I enjoy my dreams of working in the space industry before the very real nightmares happen.

I'm not a very optimistic person, and i'm too afraid of failure to go anywhere.

Edited January 5, 2016 by MegaUZI

[Thunder_86]

I'm not sure how to say what I have. He we call it a College or Cegep, and its between high school and universities. You have to go through Cegep to get to university, and you have the option of doing a 2 year of "pre-university" or a 3-year program which is considered as an advanced degree. For example, I know our CEGEP is the equivalent to a bachelor degree in france. then our bachelor is like what the French call a Bachelor +1.

I'm not sure how it compares to the US and the rest of the world. Its like the smallest of the advanced degree you can have basically

So I'm a Programmer-Analyst, and have what we call a DEC (Diplôme d'Études Collégiales or Collegial Studies Diploma) in computer science from the Cégep de Rosemont in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. I graduated in 2007. Edited November 23, 2015 by Thunder_86

[CommanderSpock]

     @adsii1970I'm sorry but please remove me from the category I am in, as it is not an accurate assessment of where I am in life.

[adsii1970]

@CommanderSpock What category would you fit in? I am planning to overhaul the list on Monday.

[CommanderSpock]

Quote

Those planning to enter a trade school, college or university:

I was thinking this, as It is close on the path. I haven't picked a school yet, but I'm nearing the time to.

[adsii1970]

On 12/19/2015 at 11:31 AM, CommanderSpock said:

I was thinking this, as It is close on the path. I haven't picked a school yet, but I'm nearing the time to.

@CommanderSpock: That is an easy enough fix.  Do you have a plan for what field of study you want to go into?

@Thunder_86, @EdFred, and @MegaUZI: Your information has been added to the list.

Edited December 22, 2015 by adsii1970

[CommanderSpock]

Merci!

[Captain Sierra]

Okay I'll bite.

Graduated high school, assorted honors. Got into Southern Polyechnic declared to Mechatronics Engineering. Second semester, switched over to Computer Software Engineering/video game design. Had a nice little life happened moment over the summer that has delayed me going back (totalled a vehicle, got my face busted up just a bit). Am currently jumping through a few bureaucratic hoops involved with going back to continue my studies.

[Robotengineer]

I'm planning to go to a university and major in something that will make me useful on the first mission to Mars. Sadly this means specializing in something, which I don't really want to do as I'm not particularly drawn to any one specific skill that will be needed on Mars. Luckily, I'm at least moderately interested in nearly all of the skills and specializations necessary. I am going to contact NASA and SpaceX and ask them what they are looking for in astronaut candidates for Mars missions soon.

[ComatoseJedi]

Well, let's see. For starters, this is my actual name (for a no brainer on this, just easier to remember). I am 41 years old and have done some interesting stuff in my life. Graduated HS in 93, first time trade school in 95 (Microcomputer Specialist and Machine Language Programming (COBOL, RPG, all the old languages), enlisted in the military and spent 3 years in that. Did odd jobs to 2000 and got my associates degree in Computer Information Systems with a minor in Networking. 

As far as anything related to this field, nothing I can contribute to the community, other than the fact that I can still read code. Just some things you never forget. And now I'm disabled with nothing but time on my hands to play KSP all the time. And now I'm teaching myself how to model in Blender and use Unity so I can at least do something with this game and contribute to the modding community. Old dog can still learn new tricks. This is me in a nutshell. 

[ToukieToucan]

On August 26, 2015 at 1:14 AM, adsii1970 said:

I understand completely. I started my career in history out for the exact same reason but focused on Greece and Rome on the advice of my unofficial adviser, Thomas Jefferson. If you want, I could recommend a few great books about Greece and Rome, which are normally studied together because of the similarities. Money spent on education is never a bad investment as long as you don't get a degree in general studies... To be honest, I teach at a community college but didn't need the Ph.D. to do that; it is simply the degree I wanted, so I completely understand.

On another note, I included you on the list!

In the first year of highschool I was interested in ancient history like Romans and Aztecs but now I'm way more interested in the 20th century (ww1 ww2 cold war etc etc...) yet I kind of dispised modern history when I was in my first year. And though I like Physics it's so hard here.

[adsii1970]

7 hours ago, lynwoodm said:

Well, let's see. For starters, this is my actual name (for a no brainer on this, just easier to remember). I am 41 years old and have done some interesting stuff in my life. Graduated HS in 93, first time trade school in 95 (Microcomputer Specialist and Machine Language Programming (COBOL, RPG, all the old languages), enlisted in the military and spent 3 years in that. Did odd jobs to 2000 and got my associates degree in Computer Information Systems with a minor in Networking. 

As far as anything related to this field, nothing I can contribute to the community, other than the fact that I can still read code. Just some things you never forget. And now I'm disabled with nothing but time on my hands to play KSP all the time. And now I'm teaching myself how to model in Blender and use Unity so I can at least do something with this game and contribute to the modding community. Old dog can still learn new tricks. This is me in a nutshell. 

What was the name of your trade school? What college did you get your AS in? That would help me tremendously...

34 minutes ago, ToukieToucan said:

In the first year of highschool I was interested in ancient history like Romans and Aztecs but now I'm way more interested in the 20th century (ww1 ww2 cold war etc etc...) yet I kind of dispised modern history when I was in my first year. And though I like Physics it's so hard here.

Ok, need a couple of things - are you currently in college? I believe you are by the statement you made.

And as a side note, as a professional historian, the problem with the way 20th Century/Modern History is taught is that its being politicized to match ideologies rather than allowing the facts to speak for themselves. Even some of the older histories are being "reinterpreted" to match modern ideologies under the guise of "oh, we misunderstood what the event/facts/people/places actually meant. What's scary is there is no pushback, no resistance, but simply the masses relying on the "experts" to quantify history.

@Captain Sierra and @Robotengineer, you've been added to the rolls.  Thanks for contributing to aspire other KSP players!

[ToukieToucan]

10 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

What was the name of your trade school? What college did you get your AS in? That would help me tremendously...

Ok, need a couple of things - are you currently in college? I believe you are by the statement you made.

And as a side note, as a professional historian, the problem with the way 20th Century/Modern History is taught is that its being politicized to match ideologies rather than allowing the facts to speak for themselves. Even some of the older histories are being "reinterpreted" to match modern ideologies under the guise of "oh, we misunderstood what the event/facts/people/places actually meant. What's scary is there is no pushback, no resistance, but simply the masses relying on the "experts" to quantify history.

@Captain Sierra and @Robotengineer, you've been added to the rolls.  Thanks for contributing to aspire other KSP players!

No, I am currently in my 4th year of highschool, do you need to learn latin/greek (greek is a pain to study for!) for your studies or is it just purely for historical studies?

I found an interesting youtube channel which covers Roman war strategies in depth, I'll check if I can find it for you. 

 

Edit: I found it, it's called Historia Civilis

 

http://youtu.be/3iz1_UwD2Fw

Edited January 5, 2016 by ToukieToucan

[adsii1970]

1 hour ago, ToukieToucan said:

No, I am currently in my 4th year of highschool, do you need to learn latin/greek (greek is a pain to study for!) for your studies or is it just purely for historical studies?

I found an interesting youtube channel which covers Roman war strategies in depth, I'll check if I can find it for you. 

Edit: I found it, it's called Historia Civilis

 

Thanks for the link; I am always on the lookout for great audio-visuals to help teach my online class. If it is "worthy" you can bet I will use it.

I did take Latin in high school, but more because I needed another elective than to fulfill any academic goal. No, you do not need to learn Greek or Latin to study ancient history. In college I did take four years of French classes because my major emphasis, American Foreign Policy (Ph.D.) didn't require it, but almost all of American foreign correspondence was done in French until the mid-19th Century and it simply made sense. Let me ask you this - what are you planning to be when you finish college? That would help me greatly in helping you...

 

[ToukieToucan]

6 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

 

Thanks for the link; I am always on the lookout for great audio-visuals to help teach my online class. If it is "worthy" you can bet I will use it.

I did take Latin in high school, but more because I needed another elective than to fulfill any academic goal. No, you do not need to learn Greek or Latin to study ancient history. In college I did take four years of French classes because my major emphasis, American Foreign Policy (Ph.D.) didn't require it, but almost all of American foreign correspondence was done in French until the mid-19th Century and it simply made sense. Let me ask you this - what are you planning to be when you finish college? That would help me greatly in helping you...

 

I guess you mean finish highschool, this year I need to choose a general direction. I think I'll go towards biology with german as forgein language and history as an extra subject (it's not really extra since everyone needs an extra subject which isn't in their "main subjects"). Though I'd like to do physics I'm really not good at it. Nor do I want to go towards the art 'section'. So I'll go for biology: neuroscience looks interesting but I'm also kind of interested in artificial learning (like self learning robots which may become smarter than humans some day). But it's not like I'm the greatest in biology so I'll need to do my best. Though I'm not sure what I'd want to study.

[ComatoseJedi]

@adsii1970 it was a local technical school in 95, so the education I got was to be used locally. In 2000, adult education finally extended the associates program to these technical schools making them technical colleges and had the option to pursue an associates in a few fields, including computer information systems, which had a computer science requirement. But, since I already did the core work in my previous tenure there in 95, everything transferred over to the new field so it didn't take me long to get my associates. I was actually teaching classes and holding tutoring programs for students who were falling behind. And since I was getting a minor in networking, they put me in charge of integrating the school onto a network. So, I did a lot of leg work, too, such as running cabling, setting up LAN cards, etc. 

If you are looking for advice on how to direct students to a career path, the best way that it worked for me is that I started with hands-on training first, then worked my way into the bookwork later. When you attend a university or college to pursue a BA, especially in a field that's as broad as computer science, when you get into the job market phase, you have the theory, but no actual experience to apply that theory to a career, unless you've been working with these systems for a while before hand. If it wasn't for the fact that I was exposed to computers at an early age (granted, they were antiques by the time the 90's rolled around), I wouldn't of gotten as far as I did. 

[CommanderSpock]

On ‎12‎/‎22‎/‎2015 at 6:46 AM, adsii1970 said:

@CommanderSpock: That is an easy enough fix.  Do you have a plan for what field of study you want to go into?

@Thunder_86, @EdFred, and @MegaUZI: Your information has been added to the list.

Propulsion engineering tickles my fancy, but so does going into acting... I occasionally audition for things, but I'm not entirely sure it's a viable career option...

[Bubbadevlin]

I am currently a freshman in high school, and i am in my high school's STEM program, but dont really know what I want to do ( basically anything science/math prob)