Hello, I'm new and I need some advice!

[kvace733]

Hello everyone! You could say it was just sheer luck when I found this site. I was looking at how video game degrees and requires a great abundance of math. I knew this before, but I guess I was just so worried that I automatically looked it up. I'm not a math person. I try extremely hard but by the time a test comes, I completely black out. This is a huge problem for me because it's been a huge dream of mine to design video games for a living, at least for the first couple of years. I saw your website on the corner and thought "Hey, I'm Canadian, and I really need this!" and immediately clicked the link, because I have no idea where else to look!

Here's the problem: I have absolutely no idea where to start. I took Computer Studies for my 10th grade IGCSE course, which taught me very basic algorithms for Visual Basic. I'm in 11th now, and in my new school, the only option for studies is Applied ICT, which basically teaches me how to use softwares such as Access, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc. This isn't exactly useful to me, as I've known these things since I was young.

I've checked for some classes outside of school that will teach me about programming, but I haven't heard back from them so far. I'm still weighing the options. I checked for any online sources that could teach me how to program in the most basic manner, but with C, C++, Java, etc. I don't know which language will suit me and what I want! Does it even matter? Is it possible to teach yourself a modest, or maybe even a decent amount of programming through the internet and online tutorials?

Also, are there any Computer Science students who have struggled in math in high school but managed in university? If so, would you have any sort of advice getting passed this obstacle of mine? I love video games, and I've always wanted to design video games ever since I was little, but I always, always, always struggle at math!

Finally, I am living in India right now, but I am a Canadian citizen. I plan on returning to Canada once I finish my high school here in India. As a Canadian, is there anything noteworthy I should know about the universities there? I've been away from home for a long time, so I really do not know what to expect, so I apologize if my questions have already been answered/ are incredibly stupid.

Anyways, if you can offer any kind of help, I would greatly appreciate it. As a student who wishes to achieve his best, but struggles in some cases, I'd just like to know if there's anyone at all who's been in my shoes.

[Tony]

kvace733 @ Thu Nov 03, 2011 12:26 pm wrote:

Also, are there any Computer Science students who have struggled in math in high school but managed in university? If so, would you have any sort of advice getting passed this obstacle of mine? I love video games, and I've always wanted to design video games ever since I was little, but I always, always, always struggle at math!

If you pick any technical program, Universities seriously turn up the level of Math over high school.

That being said -- math concepts build on themselves. You need to have a good grasp of the basics, to understand more complicated material, to understand advanced material. If you had missed some key lecture in the past, and you class went ahead, you'd struggle with the new material, and just continue to fall behind. Solution? Catch up on the understanding, rather than just struggle along.

I've heard wonderful things about http://www.khanacademy.org/ Start at the beginning, and follow along. The first exercises should be basic and easy, but eventually you'll run into a type of material where you struggle -- here's your chance to actually understand that material, at your own pace. There are some exceptional stories of kids going from struggling to top of their class, but that obviously depends on the amount of work you'll put into it.