Java

//This is all just to represent the use of a components
BaseObject post = new Post(); //for some reason our post needs to be a subclass, again this is just a silly example.
TextComponent Header = new Header("Header"); //Best to use a uID here instead so you can potentially have multiple headers or a multimap over a vector
post.Add(Header); //Add would initialise the component to have a pointer to the Base Object
Post->getComponent("Header").SetMessage("Hello World") //get our component
//in event cycle
Post->Execute();//what ever you want to call on all components Update(), Render() etc.

if (name == null || name.isEmpty()) {
// or maybe you really mean
if (name != null && !name.isEmpty()) {

private void doCheck() {
   if (name != null && name != "") { // always check first for null
      for (String year : years) { // years only need to be checked when name was ok
         if (year != null && year != "" ) {
            try{
                int i = Integer.parseInt(year);
                // you can check if the number has a valid value here 
                // (e.g. between 1900 and 2012 (now-18 for adult check)
            }
            catch(Exception oException){
                /* not a valid number */   
            }
          }
      }
      for (String studyChoice : studyChoices) {
         if (studyChoice!=null && studyChoice != ""){
            /*Check for valid study course here - I suggest an Enum for the fixed range of valid values*/
         }
      }
   }
   else{ /*not even a valid name is given*/ }
}