Why do schools block forum usage?

[Charles Jenkinson]

If you're still at school, know what you want to do, AND are highly motivated, you will do well for sure. True leaders aren't doing what others tell them to do, however, it's important to stay humble enough to listen to others, and to distinguish what is useful and beneficial, from what is not.

[Bas Gooiker]

To work in sound re enforcement you don't need a degree perse. There is a big thread on another forum i am frequently visiting about hiring people with a degree in sound engineering. Practical experience is key here. I pm'ed you the link to the thread.

However its very nice to have a some sort of degree in case life doesn't work out the way you planned and you need a career change at a later age.

[Rick Lee]

If you're really serious about this, then look for the sites that will enrich your knowledge, not just the "social" ones. Can you learn things on this forum? Of course- but you don't really learn the underlying reasons for things. You need to lean towards engineering and business. Dig into physics. When you're online get ahead in those subjects by looking at educational sites such as https://www.khanacademy.org/ or http://www.opentextbookstore.com/ Before you become a sound engineer you need to become an engineer, and you can teach yourself if you have the drive. Also, I would do my best to become an accomplished musician. I haven't looked at your profile, maybe you are a good musician, but even if you stink at it the process of learning it will help learn the language of the guys up on stage. And you'll live longer.

If this remains a hobby, then don't worry about digging in. But if you understand the language of math, etc. you can walk into an arena and know how best to hang your system, possibly avoid tragedies such as occurred in Indiana with Sugarland, and understand why sound behaves the way it does, etc. You'll know what's BS and what's not. You can discover a new way to reproduce sound.

$40k can be used many ways. My story is of a friend who had a scholarship to college but took out a student loan to pay for an airplane and by the time he graduated he had all his ratings and enough flying time to be hired by an airline.

So the moral of this story is to apply yourself enough to earn a full ride scholarship to college, get your engineering degree, get a job in China, use your excess money to hire someone to build you a nice sound system and run sound as a hobby for an aspiring rock band that wants to sound true to their roots....

[ncgrove]

Might want to think about studying mathematics. It'll be the most valuable thing in your tool box.

[Titanium Hand]

I was just trying to encourage you to apply yourself, everyday. In whats important to your future

Practical experience is highly sought after in most fields, so if you're the young man in the interview, possessing; experience from 16 years of age along with the associated theoretical knowledge / certification has to put you leaps and bounds ahead of the rest (most of which will harness only one or the other.