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| millionaire00 2002-01-14, 3:43 pm |
| How is it that all of these people in here about 15, 16 (im 15) have courses they can take at school for A+, CCNA, and other certifications? The only tech classes my high school has is business and word processing (so fun). It isnt really a small school. It has about 2000 people. The rooms are crap, 14" monitors, keyboards are full of dirt and look like they never bother blowing them out with compressed air. We are still running on office 95. I feel the instructors at my high school really are not that knowledgeable with the stuff they are teaching. It makes me want to go back to 8th grade. The lab had office 2000, nice 17" monitors, and luckily for me, a really good tech instructor. I learned about certifications and fianlly got my MOUS Cert in PowerPoint 2000 (yeah kinda cheap but I worked hard for it) I stayed after school a work and play around with all their great software certification simulations. I wish my high school offered classes like the A+ as I am working really hard on the Core now and hopefully take it in a month or so. I was putting it off now I don't care if I fail the first time. I've been using everything, Computer Prep books and software, Exam Drill, online traiing, and experience. Luckily I was able to pick up an internship back in June after I passed the MOUS cert. I started out cleaning monitors and now I am a sales guy. I am working for free but what I am learning and have learned there is so much and I don't regret it. I become a full time employee this summer when I turn 16.  I just laugh when people think I'm crazy to work for free. It ain't the money cuz if it was I wouldnt be there. I'm there to learn. When I am at work, it is fun and doesn't seem like work because I enjoy it. That's what I am aiming at. I don't plan on staying there my whole life...just until I get outta high school and some certs... Well hopefully I will pass the A+ core the 1st time in a month or so but if I don't oh well life will go on. I am off to start my studying for today!
Adam.
MOUS Certified | |
| Paisleyskye 2002-01-14, 3:53 pm |
| Hi Adam:
I know it kinda sucks. I went to a small high school too that didn't offer much in the IT end of things - but then that was back in the early 80's. Really though - there's not much you can do about that - with government cutbacks there isn't really a whole lot of extra money for education even though education should be top priority.
There is something you can do though - keep studying for that A+ exam and pass it. I know you can do it - you got the MOUS certification and I know that you are going to be A+ certified before you know it.
So, the best advice I can give you is to not waste your energy getting angry by your schools offerings - use that energy to boost your studies and do the very best you can do on the exams. After you pass, maybe you could go to the school board and tell them why they should put IT courses in their school and the benefits you have received from certification. Maybe that will sway their thinking. If you need any help putting a presentation together for the board, please feel free to let me know. I would be more than happy to help. | |
| Nicole 2002-01-14, 4:17 pm |
| I think doing a presentation before the school board is a great idea! There's always money for the football team but the actual education gets shortchanged.
(Nothing against football; I think team sports are great for kids. But let's get our priorities straight: the football team doesn't need a new bus nearly as much as classrooms need books & equipment.)
If you want to try and get better equipment for your school, I'd be glad to help, too. But you'll need other students on your side, along with parents and some local business owners to really make an impact. | |
| PotatoHead 2002-01-14, 4:22 pm |
| My school was kinda cheap also, we had a microsoft office 97 class and a keyboarding class where you learn how to type. BORING!! | |
| Paisleyskye 2002-01-14, 4:32 pm |
| Potatohead:
You had it good. When I was in school there weren't any nice GUI interfaces, and my computer classes consisted of learning BASIC and Fortran.
We didn't get to learn Office 97 or anything like that. Oh - sorry there was a Keyboarding class but we had to type on manual typewriters. They wouldn't even spring for electric ones!
That's why I love the new Windows XP commercial. You know - that line in the Madonna song that says "she's trying to remember where it all began" or something like that. We've come a long way baby!!!
I still can't believe it. I have an old 8086-D CPU on my keychain. It reminds how it used to be - and how much better it is now. | |
| PotatoHead 2002-01-14, 5:35 pm |
| quote:
I have an old 8086-D CPU on my keychain. It reminds how it used to be - and how much better it is now.
Thats pretty neat!! | |
| darthw 2002-01-14, 8:31 pm |
| Keep on towards A+, then N+, etc. Don't down the Powerpoint MOUS, as I wish I'd have had the forethought in my early 20s to do what you're working at in your teens. Good luck!!
Paisleyskye, we had BASIC and manual typewriters when I was in HS. Our computer lab consisted of a couple Radio Shack TRS-80 using tape drives to back up our programs. At the time we thought making animated box figures was cool, now it is nothin' | |
| huntert 2002-01-14, 8:32 pm |
| You are in a better shape than most were at your age.
When i was in highschool there were no computer classes and awsome tech programs, appreciate what you have and get on with your hobby and try to make it a lifelong drive if that is what you want. | |
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| peterd 2002-01-15, 8:09 am |
| hi Guys,
erm, well...
we didn't have computers at all when I was at school. In fact no-one had computers except the banks and the biggest companies in town!
I learnt to type (I was the only boy in a class full of girls who opted for typing...
I mainly wanted to do it 'cos I was the only boy, etc)and we had these beaten up old machines from about 1930.
I remember hitting the full-stop so hard with my little finger that it fired the pin through three sheets of paper plus two carbon papers and marked the roller. The teacher once held up one of my pages against the window and we could all see the sun shining through these little holes all over the page!
Regards
Peter | |
| Pavlov 2002-01-15, 9:20 am |
| Back when I was in high school (doing homework by candlelight) the only folks that got anywhere near a computer were the true geeks - the AP kids got to take computer math. The rest of us were lucky to find a calculator. I really got my first exposure to computers in college and it was a BASIC class. Something rediculous like 250 lines of code so that when you typed "run" it spit out "hello" 
My the times have changed. Hey millionaire00 if you think you have it tough, imagine how us poor old folks got by. When tape backup meant you physically connected a cassette recorder to save your stuff... Forced to lug around 8-track tapes instead of CDs.  Ahhh the memories. | |
| wbafrank 2002-01-15, 9:46 am |
| an "in my day" thought I would add that my first calculator was used by putting in the numbers and signs and then turn the handle to get the answer!!! Beat that!! | |
| peterd 2002-01-15, 11:00 am |
| Hi Frank,
in the early 70's when I was doing a telecomms course at the local college, we had a chance to play with their calculator...
basically an old 'computer' about the size of a piano where you input the two numbers by flicking switches (binary input) and then pressing an enter key...
reset the switches for the second number, press enter again and a series of lamps (not LED's but actual bulbs!) lit up to show the answer in binary...
Great fun but I wouldn't have wanted to program anything serious with it.
Regards
Peter | |
| pikejl 2002-01-15, 11:21 am |
| I understand your disapointment. But as most of us older folks do, I have my own stories of disapointment and frustration.
I came up hard. I was in high school in the mid-80's. There wasn't crap for s/w or computers. Hardware was really more interesting. I did take typing though; it's about the only skill I learned in high school I still use daily. Well, I took Electronics at the Technical Center or Vo-tech. Then I went to college for music for a year, and I dropped out with tendonitits. Went to a community college for electronics. By the time I only had a few courses left to take, they never seemed to offer the upper level courses. I'd register and the course would be cancelled. After about four semesters of this in a row, I gave up on that.
Well during that time I had been working as an ET for about four years, and I eneded up quitting my job, because I guess I had an attitude. I was too good at it. Well I was much better than the old farts I was working with.
So I started a band in the early 90's making music that would have been marginal even in the 80's. I managed a living off of that and teaching guitar for a while. Then the first CD bombed, and the second didn't do much better. I got back into Trons, went to nearly the top of that field by the late 90's. Completely distrought by how simple hardware had gotten, I was desperate for a change. I was totally bored.
I read UNIX for Dummies during my longer restroom breaks, and was eventually able to crossover to the s/w side of the house. I was very fortunate. Now I'm just kind of trodding along collecting certs, because I don't want anymore college.
Considering where you're from, you can probably already hit a golf ball better than I'll ever be able to. Damn life's hard. I really wish I could break 80!
Anyway, your on your way. Good luck! | |
| greenbean 2002-01-15, 7:43 pm |
| When I went to school, the closest we came to computers were type writers. We didn't even know what computers were.
How about volunteering at this school and help clean the existing computers up? Are there companies in your town/city that you might get donations from? Maybe when they upgrade to newer computers, you can get their old ones? Could you enlist the help of your previous Tech instructor? Sounds like he/she is dedicated to teaching this topic, maybe they'd help you get better equipment.
Good luck! | |
| Sh0tgun 2002-01-15, 11:44 pm |
| I admit surprise at hearing of high schools that offer Cisco Academy programs, or computer repair/A+ test prep classes. I thought I was ahead of the game grabbing my CCNA @ 21!
I was home schooled from second grade on, though thanks to a wonderful school in Maryland, I have an official dimploma. They didn't even offer typing courses, but I didn't really expect them to.
I have a Pentium III 450MHz on my keychain! I fried it by overclocking. It was a Slot 1, but long ago I had gotten it out of its "Hershey bar" package anyway, so it had more airflow and less in the way of the heatsink/fan. After it died, I took a pair of cutters (suitable for copper wire up to... I think I cut some 6 gauge with them) and whacked the PCB and cache chips away, then pried the CPU off all its contacts. Polished down the backside and drilled a little hole in it.
The core has cracked over time, but it's still a neat trinket | |
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| It don't seem too long ago, when using PC is a dream to my school student. | |
| StewartH 2002-01-17, 8:07 am |
| Yeah, yeah... and when I was a lad computers were made of wood and the currency was shiny pebbles!
But seriously, the guy who started this thread is 15. Imagine what he must be thinking reading these trips down memory lane. He's probably expecting us to start reminiscing about the war next!
Now where's my pipe and slippers....? | |
| wbafrank 2002-01-17, 8:13 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by StewartH
Yeah, yeah... and when I was a lad computers were made of wood and the currency was shiny pebbles!
But seriously, the guy who started this thread is 15. Imagine what he must be thinking reading these trips down memory lane. He's probably expecting us to start reminiscing about the war next!
Now where's my pipe and slippers....?
Which One?? | |
| ace123 2002-01-17, 8:53 am |
| We didn't have computers. All we had was one calculator class had to share.It was one of the first and had to warm up about 30 min before you could use it.
It only did +,-,* and /
Last time I went to my sons open house they were still useing apple IIE | |
| The Ghost 2002-01-17, 8:55 am |
| You guys think you had it bad?
I am not even in high school at the moment, supposed to be in 10th grade though and will join hs like in february or march or something hopefully.
15, 16 or 17 year olds shouldn't even complain cause if they have the juice to learn , you can! You just have to work hard and practice on what you do and stay devoted. There are no limits on possibilities but the lack of effort is the factor which shrinks the possibilities tree.
You should be brave sometimes and be dependant and study on your own.
And drink alot of soda and eat alot of candies and play alot of Starcraft or PlayStation or anything. | |
| ace123 2002-01-17, 10:06 am |
| I even walk a mile to school in the snow while the kids across the street got to take the bus  | |
| CatLady 2002-01-18, 2:21 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Paisleyskye
Potatohead:
I still can't believe it. I have an old 8086-D CPU on my keychain. It reminds how it used to be - and how much better it is now.
I have an old 256K DRAM on my keyring....they were worth about 11 cents when I got it.......... | |
| bearing 2002-01-18, 8:56 am |
| Ha Ha Ha...
Isn't it great being in the UK, I think I started with an abacus..Education in the UK never taught anybody anything to do with IT..
The one major breakthrough in the UK was that fabulous bit of kit that Mr Sinclair produced, the good old ZX81, what a great bit of kit....taught many a kid how to program in machine code...and produced many great programmers.. | |
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| odonata 2002-01-19, 10:53 am |
| I didn't read everyones replies, so I may be repeating stuff.
I work in the IT department of a 98 schools city district. The schools vary in amount and care of IT depending on a number of factors. 1. Principal pushing to get the best IT in his/her school. 2. We deploy a technology assistant at each school. Some of these people are dumb as rocks and got the job due to being a cousin, nephew, whatever, others take great care and also push for the best service they can get from the school district. 3. Your school Board Rep.
This may be why there is such a huge difference in your schools, especially considering that I am sure you are within the same county/city school district as well.
I think I did read across that someone mentioned to go to the school board. This may be a possible way, you should have a school Board Rep that you can address your problem to. If you can find your school DISTRICT's (not the individual school) web site, you should be able to look up who is your Board Rep and when is their next meeting.
I think it's wonderful to hear a student so concerned about their school's computer environment. Student tend to torture the computers within a school and it can be quite a chore to maintain the machines.
Also, In regard to the CCNA, A+ courses offered within a school, these are often special programs and only one or two high schools (depending on the size of the school district) will have these programs. You may even want to check and see if another high school within your district has these programs and see if you can't join it anyway.
Good Luck!! | |
| The Ghost 2002-01-19, 11:36 am |
| A+, CCNA?
Forget that! I want a CCIE bootcamp session going on when I join my 11th grade. | |
| odonata 2002-01-19, 11:48 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by The Ghost
A+, CCNA?
Forget that! I want a CCIE bootcamp session going on when I join my 11th grade.
hahaha, I was going to add in my own little .2 about the whole thing, but... anyway. :-)
I better stop now before I get going... | |
| CatLady 2002-01-19, 7:40 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by ace123
We didn't have computers. All we had was one calculator class had to share.It was one of the first and had to warm up about 30 min before you could use it.
It only did +,-,* and /
Last time I went to my sons open house they were still useing apple IIE
I used to do the books for the family store when I was 10,11,12, and the adding machine had a CRANK............ |
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