I DIDN'T!!!
On July 19th, 2011, 1 month before I was to return to college to
complete the final year of my undergraduate degree in Electrical
Engineering, I posted a thread stating my desire to quit college and
pursue a potential fastlane start-up. I posted this here (and ONLY
here, even before discussing it with close family or friends) because I
respected this forum and the input from its members. I enjoyed reading
you guys stories and I just wanted to be where you guys were.
anyhow.... HERE IS THE LINK ...
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/mindset-motivation-choices/32850-college-should-i-quit-stick.html
This time last year, I was at a point where I was working on a variety
of start-up projects, with some looking to be very promising. I was
only able to get to this point because of the summer holiday however,
and I know that I could not have made this progress during the school
year. (full scholarship honors student taking 19+ credits per
semester, working on EE projects 15-18 hours per day some days).
During this time, I tried to ignore the fact that on August 22nd, I
would be returning to school for my senior year, and much of this hard
work will just go to waste.
This led to my ultimatum: Drop out of school for my final year to
pursue a project that has "potential" ...or put my project on hold in
order to complete my degree for a "guaranteed" salary ...
After posting the thread, I received quite a few responses, almost all
of them telling me the obvious ... "STAY IN SCHOOL" ... and it did
make sense, why waste a full scholarship and guaranteed job
opportunities for something that might fail?
Most posted that its best to get the Degree so that I have something
to fall back on in case start-ups fail; others were more precise,
giving me alternatives such as to use my final senior project as the
gateway to a potential start-up for post grad, and others gave the
option that its best to network among the entrepreneur and other
related personnel in the school itself.
But being the risk taker that I am, that didnt bother me. On July
27th, I posted that I had made up my mind and that I will be QUITTING
college. I never posted on the topic again as my decision was set.
The truth is ... Though my mind was made up at that point, I could not
ignore the helpful suggestions and inputs you guys gave. After
speaking with my mother about my decision and reading back over the
thread, it finally hit me ... Why waste a golden opportunity such as a
college degree... Not only will I have something to fall back on [in
case of start-up failures], but I will also be more marketable to
potential investors and business interests. I think people will much
more likely to invest in the works of an EE college graduate rather
than a confused college dropout.
Starting my final year of college in the fall of 2011, I decided to
put on hold for one year all of my start-up projects as well as
my participation on the fastlane forum. I just know that if I had
delved back into it I would be ready to quit school again, so decided
to stay focus on school.
p.s. I did follow a advise from a fellow member here though... I
decided to use my senior design project to develop a product which I'm
sure will be a winner. Found a product that there is a need for and
improved it substantially. That's a project for a little later down the
line though.
***On May 19, 2012, I graduated with my Bachelors Degree in Electrical
Engineering.
On May 20th I relocated 2 and a half hours away from my home in
Baltimore to Southern MD for a career as a Project Lead in *&%#@$#
Engineering.
On May 21, I started my first day on the job.
It is 3 months since graduation and I am finally getting back in the
driver seat to the fastlane. Why did I wait over 3 months to start
back up? ... well ...
1. I wanted to get acclimated to my new living environment (its
country compared to the city life I grew up in)...
2. Wanted to gain a foothold within the workplace before taking on
much distractions ...
3. $$$ wanted to save up some start-up money prior to getting my feet
wet again $$$ (I was broke coming out of college).
Though I have not done much fastlane work post graduation, I have been
doing some ground work... Re-reading MJ's book ... starting to get back
in contact with some of my business contacts ... researching the
potential industries ... finding the right method/tasks for
outsourcing ... cleaning the dusts and cobwebs from from my old draft plans from a year ago and updating them with much more details and planning...and other small stuff ofcourse
Its now 9/4/12 and I am back on the fastlane path. Will be starting a
new thread to discuss my progress and path im taking for a potential
project of mine.
All in all, I just want to acknowledge MJ and his team and fellow
members here. Its your work and stories (success and failures) that
drive people to want to do more. After-all, what is an idea without
action?
~Pete
On July 19th, 2011, 1 month before I was to return to college to
complete the final year of my undergraduate degree in Electrical
Engineering, I posted a thread stating my desire to quit college and
pursue a potential fastlane start-up. I posted this here (and ONLY
here, even before discussing it with close family or friends) because I
respected this forum and the input from its members. I enjoyed reading
you guys stories and I just wanted to be where you guys were.
anyhow.... HERE IS THE LINK ...
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/mindset-motivation-choices/32850-college-should-i-quit-stick.html
This time last year, I was at a point where I was working on a variety
of start-up projects, with some looking to be very promising. I was
only able to get to this point because of the summer holiday however,
and I know that I could not have made this progress during the school
year. (full scholarship honors student taking 19+ credits per
semester, working on EE projects 15-18 hours per day some days).
During this time, I tried to ignore the fact that on August 22nd, I
would be returning to school for my senior year, and much of this hard
work will just go to waste.
This led to my ultimatum: Drop out of school for my final year to
pursue a project that has "potential" ...or put my project on hold in
order to complete my degree for a "guaranteed" salary ...
After posting the thread, I received quite a few responses, almost all
of them telling me the obvious ... "STAY IN SCHOOL" ... and it did
make sense, why waste a full scholarship and guaranteed job
opportunities for something that might fail?
Most posted that its best to get the Degree so that I have something
to fall back on in case start-ups fail; others were more precise,
giving me alternatives such as to use my final senior project as the
gateway to a potential start-up for post grad, and others gave the
option that its best to network among the entrepreneur and other
related personnel in the school itself.
But being the risk taker that I am, that didnt bother me. On July
27th, I posted that I had made up my mind and that I will be QUITTING
college. I never posted on the topic again as my decision was set.
The truth is ... Though my mind was made up at that point, I could not
ignore the helpful suggestions and inputs you guys gave. After
speaking with my mother about my decision and reading back over the
thread, it finally hit me ... Why waste a golden opportunity such as a
college degree... Not only will I have something to fall back on [in
case of start-up failures], but I will also be more marketable to
potential investors and business interests. I think people will much
more likely to invest in the works of an EE college graduate rather
than a confused college dropout.
Starting my final year of college in the fall of 2011, I decided to
put on hold for one year all of my start-up projects as well as
my participation on the fastlane forum. I just know that if I had
delved back into it I would be ready to quit school again, so decided
to stay focus on school.
p.s. I did follow a advise from a fellow member here though... I
decided to use my senior design project to develop a product which I'm
sure will be a winner. Found a product that there is a need for and
improved it substantially. That's a project for a little later down the
line though.
***On May 19, 2012, I graduated with my Bachelors Degree in Electrical
Engineering.
On May 20th I relocated 2 and a half hours away from my home in
Baltimore to Southern MD for a career as a Project Lead in *&%#@$#
Engineering.
On May 21, I started my first day on the job.
It is 3 months since graduation and I am finally getting back in the
driver seat to the fastlane. Why did I wait over 3 months to start
back up? ... well ...
1. I wanted to get acclimated to my new living environment (its
country compared to the city life I grew up in)...
2. Wanted to gain a foothold within the workplace before taking on
much distractions ...
3. $$$ wanted to save up some start-up money prior to getting my feet
wet again $$$ (I was broke coming out of college).
Though I have not done much fastlane work post graduation, I have been
doing some ground work... Re-reading MJ's book ... starting to get back
in contact with some of my business contacts ... researching the
potential industries ... finding the right method/tasks for
outsourcing ... cleaning the dusts and cobwebs from from my old draft plans from a year ago and updating them with much more details and planning...and other small stuff ofcourse
Its now 9/4/12 and I am back on the fastlane path. Will be starting a
new thread to discuss my progress and path im taking for a potential
project of mine.
All in all, I just want to acknowledge MJ and his team and fellow
members here. Its your work and stories (success and failures) that
drive people to want to do more. After-all, what is an idea without
action?
~Pete
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