Any small town HN readers like me see articles like this and can't relate at all? I used to be envious and longed to be part of this type of community, but now I just feel indifferent to it. It's a very strange world you Silly Valley kids live in.
I'm honestly glad I got to go to college. Those were the best years of my life, and I can't imagine voluntarily missing out on them, not even for a six-figure sum. I'm also introverted enough that the idea of having eight roommates just horrifies me...
Fortunately, I didn't bother going. Had all the fun, none of the responsibilities, and my life has only gotten better in the decades since that time.
Perhaps this is partly from the excitement of being out on your own for the first time in life, so it's less about college than being "college aged." Then again, the real-life network effect of being surrounded by thousands of other exuberant young people can't be discredited entirely.
The big reason that I'm glad I went to college is because I went through so many changes as a person in terms of my goals and interests, and so many of those changes were informed by the people around me (including the woman who would later become my wife). If I hadn't gone to college (or even if I had just gone to a different college), then I'd be a very different person than I am today.
And obviously, that can't be generalized into anything meaningful; if I had gone to a different college, then I'd be a very different person but that different person might be perfectly happy doing whatever they do, possibly even happier than I am. But if I hadn't gone to college at all, I wouldn't have had that exposure to different people and I wouldn't have decided to explore a number of hobbies that ended up defining who I would become. I wasn't happy with I was out of high school, and the idea of never being shaken out of that is terrifying.
If you have a way to change up your environment and expose yourself to new things outside the structure of college, then I can easily believe you can get all the benefits that I got without the responsibilities or the cost. College just happens to provide an easy framework for that happen.
I agree that anybody who says "college was the best years of my life", similar to people who say "high school was the best years of my life" to be profoundly sad; I had a total blast in college and while there were some low points immediately after graduation, I'm very excited about where my life has gone and where I can see it going in the future.
Also, I had eight roommates one year in college (technically, seven roommates, plus one guy crashing on our couch), and it was truly horrifying.
That's not a thing. Don't believe everything that random comedians make up.
Sure is! Lived there for a year and a half. First saw Rachel (of rachelbythebay.com) use it and was like "holy crap, that's a perfect description!"
I certainly did not deserve downvotes for speaking the truth. It's not a thing, it's not widely used, it's a recent one-off joke -- and if you want to make fun of silicon valley (which of course has many faults), "silly" is simply not what this place is like.
The fact you've become so offended at an online message board comment word joke supports the entire point of your environment being ridiculous, out of touch, and, dare we say, silly.
> "silly" is simply not what this place is like.
what.
> supports the entire point of your environment being ridiculous,
"Ridiculous" is in fact a much better word for it.
> > "silly" is simply not what this place is like.
> what.
Silly implies things like light-heartedness. Silicon Valley's faults are not light-hearted. At its worst it can feel like a dungeon, not something amusing.
;)
Which is why I called bullshit in the first place. Now take your ego elsewhere.
I always thought the competition would be overwhelming, but if you know what's up, it is actually easier to find a job here since SF is drowning in this 'fresh talent' that is so dangerous to companies not looking for a quick buck, but rather to establish a viable business model.