hi, i recently quit my job of 4 years managing a wisconsin burger, i'm 21 and i want to start focussing on a career in computing.

i did computers (pretty sure it was 6th form computing) at wellington college but it was a fairly useless course, partly because the teacher was almost non-existent but also when he was in the classroom he seemed more interested in spending time with students who knew more about computers than he did instead of helping the ones that didn't (back then that included me ) long story short, i walked away from college with nothing but NCEA which frankly was a joke and is useless to me.

i feel i have a good knowledge of computers these days, i have owned my own machines since 5th form. i have put together 3 or 4 for myself and regularly take them apart, do maintainence on them and frequently upgrade parts etc. i have good knowledge in networking and windows 98, xp and vista and am constantly asked by friends to help with problems (be it software or hardware related) and can usually work out the problem and fix it or recommend a solution. i really love computing and how rapidly the technology is changing and i don't really have any particular area that i favour but if i had to list a few it would be hardware maintainence and web developement and design.

anyway i'm probably going to start studying at Natcoll in july, i want to do their introductory course (i-create course) and then work out from that which diploma would suit me best. what i want from you guys is a little guidance. if anyone has been to Natcoll and could give me feedback or advice that would be great. i would also love if anyone has any recommendations of any types of jobs out there that someone with no degree but good knowledge of computers could be eligible for? any advice is very much appreciated and sorry if it felt like you just read a novel

cheers