Are Community College Degrees Valuable for Science and Tech Careers?

[marecrisium]

So, recently I have graduated from a community college, I have received two different A.S. degrees. One is for math, and the other is for science. I am continuing my studies with more math, more science, and a computer programming. Since computers and science go really well together, I have decided to pursue a degree in that field as well, at least I should obtain some sort of certifications.
A lot of people say, or make it seem as if those kinds of degrees are useless. You really shouldn't think that way, I am already overwhelmed with extra in those particular fields, going to community college is a lot harder than most people make it out to be. I intend on improving all of my skills with math, science, computers, physics, and the like. I think that in the end I will make good use of what I have earned.
I am out to prove that those people are wrong. What else is an amatuer scientist to do? Does anybody have any good ideas on basic career paths that I could take? I don't want to let my newly acquired skills get rusty. There is a lot of ground to cover. Another certification that I have earned is as a tutor.

"Even a small cup can save a sinking ship." - Dana

 

[chiro]

Hey marecrisium and welcome to the forums.

One recommendation I have is if you want to do many things, try and stick at a few things for a while before moving on to the next phase or challenge.

The reasoning underlying this is that if you try and do too many things at once, you won't have the direction or focus to develop those because your focus will be all over the place: instead try and do just a few things for a while and keep that focus so that you can get some real depth in that area which is what you ultimately want to do.

So take it in breaks: if you want to do many things, spend a few years on a few things and then take those skills and apply it to your next challenge, and then keep doing this: what you'll find is that you will retain the skills by having a more directed focus over say trying to do everything at once.

You'll be able to integrate things a lot easier later on, but start slowly: stick at new areas for a while and slowly integrate them over time. You should have opportunities career wise to do this, but again you will have to maintain a directed focus in your career because you won't get anything done, and in terms of employment, the people hiring you will try and establish if you have this focus and will probably not hire you if you don't (there are some exceptions depending on the nature of the role, but I still think the above is good guideline to follow).

Congratulations on your associate degrees and I wish you the best of luck for the future.

 

[marecrisium]

-Thanks Chiro: The is the exact dilemma that I have gotten myself into. If I try and take it all on at once, it might become totally overwhelming, I have to go slow. That is what I am doing right now. The wrench turns slowly, but surely enough it still gets somewhere. Since I can't do everything all at once, I am just taking on one subject at a time, like right now I am working on math (linear algebra.) I should have no problem integrating topics in math into computer programs later on, after I have learned to program well; just think, I am already capable of writing functions, methods, and other procedures. I might as well just stick it with math for now. Somebody might like my persistance. That is what I am looking for.

 

[chiro]

It's not so much the subject as the focus.

For example in engineering, you take a lot of different subjects but when you work (or even when you have labs), you have a particular focus: electrical engineers focus on electrical engineering and civil engineers focus on civil engineering.

You can have a specific focus while doing a lot of subjects, but what will happen is that you will build context over time with experience and the important thing to take away from this is that the context will be an optimal form of your knowledge as a result of your experience which will be harder to forget than if you tried and just did a lot of things where you didn't actually learn or retain much.

As an example with mathematics and computer science, there is actually a lot out there that uses both of these in deep ways and if this is the route you wish to go, then you will find the opportunities out there provided you meet the requirements for entry (job, PhD, whatever).

In the right job, you will have to keep learning all the time for every new project, client consultation (if you are a consultant), or for every task: programmers in many areas have to do this a lot and they aren't the only career that has to do this (a lot of the people on here are in the same situation whether they are engineers, lawyers, teachers, or whatever!)

My advice is to think about the different focii down the line and try and prepare a little for it but be flexible as life has a way of bringing you into the situations that you initially think about beforehand as well as a result of actively working towards something.