I need help understanding if there is a future in development for me.

I started crafting websites when I was thirteen and had a corporate career at seventeen, salary, benefits. Before that I worked directly with a designer and easily made him 100k/year-- my 300 dollar a week paycheck was nothing to him. You should definitely finish school, some people aren't as lucky and that is a good safety blanket. I am on teamtreehouse.com primarily to learn iOS development.

At the same time I have an older brother close to a degree who started working in a real office environment late into his school career, and wishes he had done it sooner. Hands on experience and networking++. Good luck!

Stay in school as long as you can.

I would recommend going to community college or state school. Private and unis are too expensive.

I'm not saying you can't get a web developer job if you don't have a 4 year degree, but over the last 8 years (since the Great Recession in the United States) more web design/developer positions on Craigslist are asking for a four year degree than ever before.

I have an Associate's Degree - more than one tech recruiter told me it's work about as much as a piece of toilet paper.

My recommendation for community college - choose wisely (and make sure you're community college credits will transfer over to more than one four year college).

That's really only the smart way to use community college - as a stepping stone to a full four year degree .

Community college courses let you get your General ED course out of the way,

pay less for your credits in your first 2 years (4 semesters) .

College is expensive, whether private or public, so use any discount you can get.

Although the economy is bad right now (and you might end up

as a barista at Starbucks even with a 4 year degree right now),

long term studies still show it's value:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-petillo/the-value-of-a-fouryear-d_b_6956886.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/upshot/is-college-worth-it-clearly-new-data-say.html

http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/current_issues/ci20-3.pdf

Finally I should mention degree creep is a real thing

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Degree+Creep

..and for web development (which can be outsourced to anyone anywhere in the world)

there are a lot of web developers in emerging countries that have masters and PHDs

in computer science.

In India such a person could be had (outsourced to) at 1/15th the cost of a similar person in the United States.

Factor that into your calculation of what's the worth of a 4 year degree - your competition.

Hi Alexander - If you're in your freshman year, I'm guessing you're getting some general education requirements and prerequisites out of the way and haven't really started working on a major yet. If that's the case, you're definitely not alone in feeling unengaged with your classes - it's something most of us had to deal with freshman year, and it will get better when you actually get to choose what you study! But if you are already working towards a major and you're that unhappy with it, you might want to explore other majors and see if there's something you'd be happier with. There's nothing wrong with changing your path freshman year; you have plenty of time! Are you planning to study computer science?

Get job early. Like any job. Experience trumps education any day. Always always get your hands dirty. Solve real world problems. See how processes work.