[mathgeek]

Maybe not the most popular opinion here, or maybe it will be, but advice from a father of two boys:

Enjoy your childhood for the remaining 3-5 years before worrying so much about your professional career. You have decades of working in software ahead of you, if you continue on that path. Just enjoy your childhood, go out and play, or even just work on projects you enjoy. Once your childhood is gone, you'll regret not spending more time "not working."

You sound like you already have the work ethic, now make sure you focus on why you need it.

[isaacdl]

It's easy to romanticize "carefree childhood", but I think that's baloney. I've loved working with computers for literally as long as I can remember. When I was 13, working with computers was playing! Getting paid to play would have been a dream come true for me at that age.

[wdewind]

Yeah, same. While it's important that kids aren't forced into working, I think it's just as important to recognize that some kids are genuinely excited by the field and by the prospect of getting to work with people who can help them develop their skills. It doesn't have to be some soul crushing thing. Starting work early gave me a sense of self-worth that is irreplaceable and I can't count how many times I heard from adults "just be a kid, don't worry about all that!" I have no regrets, working early was exciting, self-fulfilling and gave me a lot of freedom in life much earlier that many of my peers.

[smt88]

I've loved it, too, but I don't look back and treasure my countless hours coding. It's great to have a skill, but the things I remember are time I spent with my family and friends.

[Eridrus]

Would you go back in time and do things differently? I personally wouldn't, I would do things the same way again; I was crazy motivated when I was younger.

[smt88]

I had an amazing time as a teenager because I spent all my time coding or with people I care about. The only negative consequences was that I got bad grades. I certainly don't regret getting bad grades.

[gohrt]

Do you treasure countless hours with family and friends, or do you treasure a set of memorable moments? Also, not everyone is an extrovery.

[smt88]

I treasure the time as well as the moments. It's hard to get very close to people with just a memorable set of moments.

You don't have to be an extrovert to enjoy close personal relationships or have regrets about how much time you spent with loved ones when you had the chance.

I'm sure there are people who don't value people or relationships. If OP is one of them, I'm sure he'll disregard my advice categorically.

[agentultra]

That's basically it in a nutshell. I don't think it even occurred to me when I was a kid that people "worked" with computers. I loved programming games and exercises from books and magazines. That was the pinnacle of fun for me. I think my mind would have been blown if you told me back then that I could have a job doing what I do today.

[rifung]

Getting an internship is certainly not just "getting paid to play" in my experience. I loved working on computers as well, but working is sadly not the same as playing in your free time. The main difference of course is that you don't necessarily choose what you work on or when you work on it.

I remember asking someone why she would choose not to do something she loves for a living if she could get paid to do it. Her response, "Because I don't want to end up hating it."

That being said, I do like my job. Still, there are other things I would work on if I didn't need to get paid, even beyond the non work related things I already work on.

[GithubDog]

I think it depends more on why he wants the internship, and what his situation is.

[pdxgene]

Not intending to be argumentative -- merely to present a countervailing perspective:

When I was 13, I was incredibly fortunate to land an internship at Marvel Comics in NY. For a teenage boy obsessed with the X-Men, this was like dying and going to heaven. I didn't even care that I was given menial tasks and paid entirely in comic books. I got to meet John Byrne, and that was enough.

The OP sounds like someone with enough interest in programming that an internship would be at least as much about "fun" as it is about "professional development".

I say, if it sounds like fun, go for it. If nothing else, it'll be an opportunity to meet software professionals with as much genuine interest in programming as you have, as well as some who are in the industry for other reasons. Both will be instructive.

[hpvic03]

Many people who are the best at what they do started their careers very early. If someone wants do that then I don't think you should discourage them. Being satisfied with your career and work over the span of a lifetime because you spent the time to get good at it is more valuable a few years of goofing off.

Besides, age 13-14 is when you start high school, and that's when things get real anyway. If you intend to apply to a top school you need any advantage you can get, and work experience in jobs that are actual careers is impressive.

[smt88]

I started charging for software development at 14. As I've said elsewhere, it didn't have any effect on my career whether I was charging for the work or not. Everything I did as a teenager was only valuable because I kept having to learn new areas of programming.

> more valuable a few years of goofing off

That depends on what "goofing off" is. Is it socializing and developing interpersonal skills? Because wild success hinges much more on interpersonal skills than it does on being the best programmer.

[hpvic03]

Socializing in high school != socializing in an industry.

I think you'd learn more about how to socialize with adults in an industry by hanging out with them... at work. And these are the people you want to get along with anyways.

[weinzierl]

I did an internship when I was 13 and I enjoyed it. I agree with mathgeek, just saying that doing an internship must not conflict with having a good time.