See it every day! If you are willing to learn and work everyday, there is really no limit to what you can do. I tried to get a kid to come to work for us almost doubling his pay immediately and it would go up from there. He didn't, I think he was afraid of work!!!
Well, since "liberal arts" colleges have given up on providing broad based educations covering many different fields, they've become nothing more than trade schools with PC indoctrination courses. So why not go to a trade school, get the same real education, pay less, and give up the indoctrination to boot? Anyone see a downside here?
Yep! Hundred K a year, with a couple of years experience and a two-year associate degree or a certificate from a vocational school. Sort of puts that Masters in Medieval Lit. in perspective, doesn’t it?
Sort of puts the Masters in Mechanical Engineering I have in perspective too. I just tell myself I have "better" working conditions and "more interesting" work. Which work I should be doing instead of writing this. :-)
"Sort of puts that Masters in Medieval Lit. in perspective, doesn’t it?"
Yes, but only if you're attending university for higher salary rather than to learn for the sake of learning.
And I don't believe everyone needs to, or even should, go to college. There are plenty of satisfying, honorable jobs for good money that don't require it. None-the-less, going to college to learn a language you wouldn't ordinarily be able to learn yourself, for example, is a fine idea.
Eh. I'll still take the $200k/yr with a 4-year Aerospace engineering degree and 8 years experience.
Got to love contracting and 1.5x time for anything over 40 hours/week. 'Course I didn't even get a cubicle, just a desk in the hallway (but at least I have a window that looks outside!).
I have attended some and taught one of those "vocational classes".
IMHO most of them are a crock.
Be very careful what institution you choose. I am VERY unimpressed with all but the Junior Colleges around here and only slightly less so with them.
In the end, the education depends upon the student.
If'n you don't want no larnin', you ain't gonna git none.
I learned decades ago that even at a four year college (SJSU in my case) one almost always has to drag an education out of the profs. And with all of that I feel terribly uneducated except in a small sliver of that world and it's a useless sliver to all but academics. My Bad!
Not only choose the school carefully and demand an education. But pick an area of study that PAYS!
I didn't... Guess what? Making a living in IT - for which I didn't need that fancy and useless BA.
Note:
All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost;
references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>
JS-Kit/Echo comments for article at http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/08/but-but-college-education-is.html (8 comments)
Tentative mapping of comments to original article, corrections solicited.
See it every day! If you are willing to learn and work everyday, there is really no limit to what you can do. I tried to get a kid to come to work for us almost doubling his pay immediately and it would go up from there. He didn't, I think he was afraid of work!!!
Well, since "liberal arts" colleges have given up on providing broad based educations covering many different fields, they've become nothing more than trade schools with PC indoctrination courses. So why not go to a trade school, get the same real education, pay less, and give up the indoctrination to boot? Anyone see a downside here?
From the height of my PhD and unemployment, not so seldom I regret I didn't study for machinist or mechanic when I could had done. Go figure.
There's a kind of satisfaction in seeing a freshly machined piece or assembled device that is hard to match.
Wasn't there a case a while back where some AA studies majors sued the Univ they attended because they couldn't get a job?
Yep! Hundred K a year, with a couple of years experience and a two-year associate degree or a certificate from a vocational school. Sort of puts that Masters in Medieval Lit. in perspective, doesn’t it?
Sort of puts the Masters in Mechanical Engineering I have in perspective too. I just tell myself I have "better" working conditions and "more interesting" work. Which work I should be doing instead of writing this. :-)
"Sort of puts that Masters in Medieval Lit. in perspective, doesn’t it?"
Yes, but only if you're attending university for higher salary rather than to learn for the sake of learning.
And I don't believe everyone needs to, or even should, go to college. There are plenty of satisfying, honorable jobs for good money that don't require it. None-the-less, going to college to learn a language you wouldn't ordinarily be able to learn yourself, for example, is a fine idea.
Eh. I'll still take the $200k/yr with a 4-year Aerospace engineering degree and 8 years experience.
Got to love contracting and 1.5x time for anything over 40 hours/week. 'Course I didn't even get a cubicle, just a desk in the hallway (but at least I have a window that looks outside!).
I have attended some and taught one of those "vocational classes".
IMHO most of them are a crock.
Be very careful what institution you choose. I am VERY unimpressed with all but the Junior Colleges around here and only slightly less so with them.
In the end, the education depends upon the student.
If'n you don't want no larnin', you ain't gonna git none.
I learned decades ago that even at a four year college (SJSU in my case) one almost always has to drag an education out of the profs. And with all of that I feel terribly uneducated except in a small sliver of that world and it's a useless sliver to all but academics. My Bad!
Not only choose the school carefully and demand an education. But pick an area of study that PAYS!
I didn't... Guess what? Making a living in IT - for which I didn't need that fancy and useless BA.
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>