tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158351081970744810.post4750937394069275572..comments2023-10-24T05:57:53.587-07:00Comments on Foundations: PrioritiesJenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11038172280482818723noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158351081970744810.post-71830377630918983872009-02-09T15:21:00.000-08:002009-02-09T15:21:00.000-08:00Jen,I totally here you on the issue of choosing a ...Jen,<BR/><BR/>I totally here you on the issue of choosing a major! My major was a default option. I had been a music major and had health problems that caused me to have to drop it. I had no direction, and if I had waited until age 20 to declare, I would have been a philosophy major. Perhaps there is something to this junior college notion!<BR/><BR/>Si and I were just talking the other evening about how valuable it is for children to get guidance from their parents even after they are at school. The parents can help the child determine things like majors and classes, which is priceless for personal development as well as the wallet. In college, rabbit trails come with a large dollar sign attached!<BR/><BR/>Thankfully, E. wants to be a farmer and a writer who owns lots of guns. Maybe I'll just try to beg an internship for him with one of these agrarian/philosopher types. :)<BR/><BR/>Motherhood is interesting, isn't it? We are the last of the leisure class. What I mean is, lives that are structured so as to promote learning.Brandy Vencelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17945305890488681685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158351081970744810.post-47471636675457185902009-02-09T09:43:00.000-08:002009-02-09T09:43:00.000-08:00Wow, that is an inspiring story! It is encouraging...Wow, that is an inspiring story! It is encouraging to hear of people who think "long-term".<BR/><BR/>I feel another problem with pushing college on everyone is that many young people have no idea what they want to do for the rest of their lives, myself included. I chose Psychology because that, I felt, was my only real option. It was not until I was about 20 that I realized my passion lay in Nutrition, and that entire careers could be made out of such an interest. Now as a mommy I am free to learn as much as I want about either, which is nice. Thanks for posting. <BR/><BR/>Agreed about the possible necessity of a university degree. We are certainly not entirely opposed to the idea- I just don't want anyone of us in this family to go into major debt over something they don't love or need. But a doctor? OK! PS- you can read more about the schooling of MD's in the rest of this article. EMT seems to be the way to go!Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11038172280482818723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158351081970744810.post-70797026750429044172009-02-06T16:07:00.000-08:002009-02-06T16:07:00.000-08:00I agree with you about college (you probably alrea...I agree with you about college (you probably already knew that). Or at least I do in theory. The one hangup in viewing it all this way is that universities have tried to set themselves up as gatekeepers for industry. So there are things that you aren't allowed to do without a degree. If a child shows interest in doing one of those things that require degrees, college might be required. And if college is required, then part of me hopes it is a good one that is free.<BR/><BR/>He he. ;)<BR/><BR/>What has happened to colleges is truly unfortunate. There was a time when they were set apart for the top 20% of students and offered a challenge to truly intellectual students. With "college for all" being pushed by everyone from the President to the man-on-the-street, that top 20% now has to reach further and higher for a challenge--into graduate degrees and postgraduate degrees. And as a mother who wants grandchildren, I hear a biological clock ticking with a decade-long plan for university.<BR/><BR/>Alas, I wander with my thoughts.<BR/><BR/>Anyhow...I did know a family once who inspired me in a best-of-both-worlds sort of way. Their son wanted to be an MD. There was no way they could afford to finance his education, but they also didn't want to see him graduate, strapped with half a million in debt. So they paid for training him at the vocational level as an EMT. He made about twice what it cost to go to college. He then went to school and lived on campus, used half his income to pay cash for school and saved the other half to use for medical school. I don't know what happened to him, if he ever made it, but I do know he was the most mature college student I'd ever met.Brandy Vencelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17945305890488681685noreply@blogger.com