I have been out of college for one year and I have found that I did not retain much of what I learned in regards to IT. I was in my mid 30's and found myself at a cross roads in my life and needed to learn a new trade. I was in construction all of my life however I did have a bachelors in Theology. I did not know what I wanted to do because construction was the only trade I have learned. After owning my own business for several years it was disappointing that I had to start all over. I talked to a friend of mine that was in IT and he was a release engineer for a software company. He asked me if I had thought about IT at all. I told him no but the only thing about computers I did like was excel spreadsheets. He told me that I may like working with databases and for me to do some research on my own and see if that was something I may be interested in. I went home and googled databases. Keep in mind I have never seen a database or knew that there was a such thing as SQL, Oracle or DB2 out there. I begin to do some googling and found a site that explained what databases where and the concept behind it. Through this site I learned about SQL and how to write a simple select statement. I then downloaded the free edition of SQL server on my laptop and immediately fell in love with SQL. I went to a two year online school and got my second degree in database development. In those two years I did learn a very high over view of what information technology was but it was on the job training where I learned all of my skill sets I have today. I am currently a DBA and would not dare say that it was due to anything that I learned in college. The only thing my degree gave me was an open door as many companies today want you to have that piece of paper to say that you have some kind of education. I am not downing any colleges because I am not that kind of person. If I had any suggestions to college students it would be to find your passion and stick with it. If you dont know how to do something there is tons of information on the internet and learn quickly to "Adapt and overcome" because failure is not an option.

Good luck to you all!!!!