Shoutbox

Sean, let me tell you about my experiences. I was in a similar boat when I was coming out of high school. I received the tech award at grad, and loved to fiddle with HW/SW (still do!). Anyway, I applied for a four-year computer engineering program at a university. First year was tough, lots of work and even more distractions, as I was living in residence. Second term, I failed one course, and was almost booted out. Retook the course in the summer, and went back in the fall for the second year. First term I failed miserably.
Why did I fail? Because I wasn't motivated to do the work. The majority of it focused around math and physics, which I had no interest in. So yeah, $20,000 down the drain.

This year, I applied for a two-year Computer Electronics Technician diploma program at a community college , and I am loving it. I have only one class that is not in a computer lab. Almost all of it is hands-on, and all of it is interesting.

The moral: Go to where your heart is. Shit happens. You can always change what you are doing if you don't like it (assuming you can still pay for it).

My advice would be to go and talk to someone else who is where you want to be. See what their education pathway was. Go talk to a career counselor, that's what they're there for.