What rough geographic area of the US are you in? Would she be interested in interning at some point in the next year? Maybe even over this summer?
East Coast Adjacent. And I'm positive she would next year.
Readit NewsSAlpas commented on Ask HN: Recommendation for the mom of a near-college-aged “tech geared” student? · Posted by u/SAlpas
SAlpas commented on Ask HN: Recommendation for the mom of a near-college-aged “tech geared” student? · Posted by u/SAlpas
The "tech industry" could be practically anything.
I hope I am not being too presumptuous but I read this question as evidence of a mom that doesn't want to let her daughter go. She is going to have her own life and interests. She will make friends who are experts in whatever niche she chooses and will not be let down just because you can't suddenly be an expert in her field.
I think it's great you are reading HN and talking to her etc. But my suggestion is to NOT try so hard to be her peer, because that is likely to push her away.
My suggestion is that if you want a solid relationship with your daughter then maybe take some pressure off of it by making more friends.
Perhaps my wording was not as eloquent as it could have been. I'm not attempting to be her friend. I'm attempting to help my kid navigate her decisions for post high school education and I'm woefully uneducated in that which she is trying to determine. If she were interested in medical school, which is my field, then having a conversation with her about trending specialities, the future of surgical robotics etc. would not be considered pressuring her. It would be the same thing millions of parents across the country are doing to ready their children for college.
However it isn't medical school, and I don't think I should be faulted for trying to at least be able to understand the terminology of some of her thoughts and concerns?
SAlpas commented on Ask HN: Recommendation for the mom of a near-college-aged “tech geared” student? · Posted by u/SAlpas
Graduate HS, correct? US-based? What’s her plan for UG studies?
Yes, in the US. She plans, as it stands now, to complete basics for the first year at a local university before declaring anything other than a generic major.
SAlpas commented on Ask HN: Recommendation for the mom of a near-college-aged “tech geared” student? · Posted by u/SAlpas
> which programming languages will remain relevant
This is the last thing you need to worry about.
Learning French won't be very helpful if you later need to learn Korean, but programming languages are not like that. It's easy to switch programming languages.
The key is learning how to write code in any general-purpose useful programming language.
Python is generally considered a good language that is used in industry and also happens to be beginner-friendly, so start there.
That was my generic "sample question," not necessarily hers. As she discusses what interests her she will say things along the lines of, "depending on what (factor X) is relevant." I would like to simple be able to respond to her as she talks, unlike now where I feel like I can only say, "What do you think will be?"
It's very much like communicating in a foreign language with only a basic phrase book. I'd like to at least be able to speak pidgin.
SAlpas commented on Ask HN: Recommendation for the mom of a near-college-aged “tech geared” student? · Posted by u/SAlpas
In my opinion, you shouldn’t try and take a position of mentor in the field if you don’t have the experience/authority to do so. You’ll just misguide her.
There are things i can think of that you may try:
1. Try and do something techy yourself. Getting your own hands dirty will give you much better insights into what she’s getting into. Something that’s useful to you. I don’t know what you’re into, but if you have a hobby, it’s usually easy to find an idea for a tool that will help with that hobby. Just make sure you don’t try and take her place or something.
2. Probably better: Ask HER, if she could make something useful to you, or even better for your whole family / community. You may go for something a little more complicated, cause she’ll have more time to devote to this. IoT projects are very rewarding and touch a lot of aspect of tech. Home automation projects are great, like connected lightbulbs that respond to voice or if you have emails. Small games like wordle are cool too. Or things like community websites. When I was 18 (22 years ago!), I built a message board for me and my friends. It was really fun and then i could customize it for things we liked to do, like rating movies, and plan holidays. We used it for years, and only stopped when the ISP stopped supported the backend tech I was using.
In any case, the sooner she starts the better off she’ll be. The first thing is to pick up anything: a book or a tutorial online, and give it a shot.
Good luck, and have fun!!
I honestly had not thought to ask her to make something for me, but it's a fantastic idea.
SAlpas commented on Ask HN: Recommendation for the mom of a near-college-aged “tech geared” student? · Posted by u/SAlpas
Reach out to our advisors at bestparents.com who can actually help you with this exact topic.
We have tons of short courses from great providers. My favorite is one which pairs teenagers like your daughter 1:1 with a postdoc at Cambridge University on a two week project e.g. creating an AI for categorizing blog posts. At the end of the two weeks your daughter gets a reference from that same postdoc on their enthusiasm, aptitude and preparedness for that technical subject. You find that if you and your daughter go through 2 or 3 such programs together the process of selecting among them and the references you get from academics give you a ton of context that genuinely prepares you both for the bewildering world of technical professional and academic careers.
Last year I remember in particular we helped one kid navigate the maze of "Computer Science vs Videogame Design vs Computer Art vs Chemical Engineering" this exact way. It was great to see his parents learn all about the nuances of the videogame business and careers in CS despite having a Chemical Engineering background.
Do consider reaching out and also checking out our social media where we talk about situations exactly like yours all the time.
Disclaimer: I'm a co-founder - my wife is the founder of that marketplace.
What a wonderful idea. Thank you.