Mom had a lot of good advice. Be careful who you hang around, if you can’t say anything nice…
I truly don’t understand how we can have men who listen to and sometimes deliver these great moral truths and refuse to recognize and apply them in their own lives. Then they hang around great men and are never any more than they have ever been.
The influence of friends and associates is not to be ignored.
During elementary, middle school, and the first year and a quarter of high school, my grades were always good. I enjoyed English, Math, and Science. As a matter of fact, I was doing so well that my high school asked me to switch to the advanced program. Diving deeper into the classics in English and focusing on excellence in writing. Advanced Algebra, and my favorite, Physics. Oh how I loved Physics. It's how things work in the world.
The high school I attended was an industrial high-school. My choice. In middle school, we took aptitude tests, designed to help us understand the best vocation for us. In my hometown, that equated to which high-school you should attend. College prep or industrial. My test results indicated I should attend college prep as I was best suited for, well, suits. That's right, white collar office jobs. BLECH!
I had spent a great part of my youth working on cars, dirt bikes, and snowmobiles. I had an aptitude for fixing things and, I had an uncle who was an electrician and he was doing quite well. I wanted to be an electrician. So I went to the industrial high school. My choice. There I took classes in automotive repair, drafting, machining, and electrical. Of course, there were the academic courses as mentioned above.
Many of my friends, who lived in the same neighborhood, were also attending that school. A couple of them, in the program that catered to the less intellectually astute. At any rate, many friends couldn't understand why I wanted to spend the time and effort on all the other advanced classes. My electrical courses would provide me with all the credits needed to graduate, with only one academic set of credits to fill the remaining space.
I succumbed to the friends and the easy path. I focused on English only and let my math and physics skills slip away. Man, do I regret that today. After high school, I attended a community college and studied heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC/R) and worked in that trade for over 15 years. I loved it.
Fast forward to my son, who is brighter than I am. He was very good at math, including algebra, pre-calc, calculus, and physics. He enjoyed them. He wanted to attend UW and go into Aerospace Engineering. The problem was, his friends influence. He would complete his homework, but then, not turn it in. He had no satisfactory reason as to why. As a result, his GPA was not where it should have been. So, no UW.
I offered an alternative. Just try an engineering program. Electrical Engineering would have been perfect for him. He decided to attend Bellevue College to get his Associate's degree and to reduce the cost for those early program requirements, and then attend WSU for an engineering degree.
We drove over to Moscow, Idaho so I could renew my CWP and made a stop at WSU on our way back. He had a high-school friend who was attending there. We found him in his class learning to draw 3D objects in a CAD program. My son's eyes were wide with excitement. He was impressed, and wanted to attend.
Then, something happened. His friend quit. Too hard, he said. He couldn't understand some of the concepts. So, my son squandered his chance to also attend. He didn't even complete his Associate's degree at Bellevue College.
Today, he will works at T-Mobile, and complains everyday about the job.
So, yes, who our friends are, play a role in who we turn out to be.
By the way, in 2001, I made a transition from the trades over to Information Technology. In 2005 I. moved from Atlantic Canada to the Seattle area to work for Microsoft. In the years since, I have completed a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Science, and an MBA.
Yes, I work in a white collar job. No suit, but white collar nonetheless.
As a young high school student, I had zero clue what I wanted to do with my life. My dad and step mother sat me down and basically told me "you don't expect us to pay for your college, do you?". Ugh.
I eagerly waited on the results of that aptitude test, and they said according to my test scores, I was best suited for...gardening. What? Am I stupid? I'm also allergic to trees and grasses.
I also took the ASVAB test to join the military. Scored a 97/100. I could take any job I wanted. Even after getting advice from someone who recently got out of the Air Force, who told me, whatever you do, don't go into the Security Police....I picked, the Security Police. So, the test scores hid the fact I was a moron.
Luckily I was able to change careers after 4 years, and went into electronics/computers which was a bit of a better career choice.
Well, a job placement for “Gardening” might land you in a County Extension office for noxious weed control or other items, so it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re “Stupid.” And it might not be affected by your allergies to certain plants if you’re working in an area separate from those plants.
“…So, the test scores hid the fact I was a moron.” No, the tests scores show you’re really good at certain things. But if you get jammed into a field where you’re not good at the skills related to that field, you’re going to think you’re a moron. Even if you do indeed get more proficient in those skills you weren’t originally good at, you’ll still feel out of place; you won’t be “home.” You’ll always hear that worn-out cliché about “stepping outside your comfort zone,” which is fine; you don’t want to get into a rut, but at the same time, you want to make a living doing something you’re naturally good at, or you’re going to hate yourself for possibly decades. Sounds like you've done that.
The best life advice I received from my dad (RIP) was not spoken or written. He showed me the value of surrounding yourself with good people. Additionally, he showed me the value of being a good person to others. That advice as served me well.
Mom had a lot of good advice. Be careful who you hang around, if you can’t say anything nice…
I truly don’t understand how we can have men who listen to and sometimes deliver these great moral truths and refuse to recognize and apply them in their own lives. Then they hang around great men and are never any more than they have ever been.
The influence of friends and associates is not to be ignored.
During elementary, middle school, and the first year and a quarter of high school, my grades were always good. I enjoyed English, Math, and Science. As a matter of fact, I was doing so well that my high school asked me to switch to the advanced program. Diving deeper into the classics in English and focusing on excellence in writing. Advanced Algebra, and my favorite, Physics. Oh how I loved Physics. It's how things work in the world.
The high school I attended was an industrial high-school. My choice. In middle school, we took aptitude tests, designed to help us understand the best vocation for us. In my hometown, that equated to which high-school you should attend. College prep or industrial. My test results indicated I should attend college prep as I was best suited for, well, suits. That's right, white collar office jobs. BLECH!
I had spent a great part of my youth working on cars, dirt bikes, and snowmobiles. I had an aptitude for fixing things and, I had an uncle who was an electrician and he was doing quite well. I wanted to be an electrician. So I went to the industrial high school. My choice. There I took classes in automotive repair, drafting, machining, and electrical. Of course, there were the academic courses as mentioned above.
Many of my friends, who lived in the same neighborhood, were also attending that school. A couple of them, in the program that catered to the less intellectually astute. At any rate, many friends couldn't understand why I wanted to spend the time and effort on all the other advanced classes. My electrical courses would provide me with all the credits needed to graduate, with only one academic set of credits to fill the remaining space.
I succumbed to the friends and the easy path. I focused on English only and let my math and physics skills slip away. Man, do I regret that today. After high school, I attended a community college and studied heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC/R) and worked in that trade for over 15 years. I loved it.
Fast forward to my son, who is brighter than I am. He was very good at math, including algebra, pre-calc, calculus, and physics. He enjoyed them. He wanted to attend UW and go into Aerospace Engineering. The problem was, his friends influence. He would complete his homework, but then, not turn it in. He had no satisfactory reason as to why. As a result, his GPA was not where it should have been. So, no UW.
I offered an alternative. Just try an engineering program. Electrical Engineering would have been perfect for him. He decided to attend Bellevue College to get his Associate's degree and to reduce the cost for those early program requirements, and then attend WSU for an engineering degree.
We drove over to Moscow, Idaho so I could renew my CWP and made a stop at WSU on our way back. He had a high-school friend who was attending there. We found him in his class learning to draw 3D objects in a CAD program. My son's eyes were wide with excitement. He was impressed, and wanted to attend.
Then, something happened. His friend quit. Too hard, he said. He couldn't understand some of the concepts. So, my son squandered his chance to also attend. He didn't even complete his Associate's degree at Bellevue College.
Today, he will works at T-Mobile, and complains everyday about the job.
So, yes, who our friends are, play a role in who we turn out to be.
By the way, in 2001, I made a transition from the trades over to Information Technology. In 2005 I. moved from Atlantic Canada to the Seattle area to work for Microsoft. In the years since, I have completed a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Science, and an MBA.
Yes, I work in a white collar job. No suit, but white collar nonetheless.
Damned aptitude tests! :-)
As a young high school student, I had zero clue what I wanted to do with my life. My dad and step mother sat me down and basically told me "you don't expect us to pay for your college, do you?". Ugh.
I eagerly waited on the results of that aptitude test, and they said according to my test scores, I was best suited for...gardening. What? Am I stupid? I'm also allergic to trees and grasses.
I also took the ASVAB test to join the military. Scored a 97/100. I could take any job I wanted. Even after getting advice from someone who recently got out of the Air Force, who told me, whatever you do, don't go into the Security Police....I picked, the Security Police. So, the test scores hid the fact I was a moron.
Luckily I was able to change careers after 4 years, and went into electronics/computers which was a bit of a better career choice.
So, all the plants are your house are....... :-)
Well, a job placement for “Gardening” might land you in a County Extension office for noxious weed control or other items, so it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re “Stupid.” And it might not be affected by your allergies to certain plants if you’re working in an area separate from those plants.
“…So, the test scores hid the fact I was a moron.” No, the tests scores show you’re really good at certain things. But if you get jammed into a field where you’re not good at the skills related to that field, you’re going to think you’re a moron. Even if you do indeed get more proficient in those skills you weren’t originally good at, you’ll still feel out of place; you won’t be “home.” You’ll always hear that worn-out cliché about “stepping outside your comfort zone,” which is fine; you don’t want to get into a rut, but at the same time, you want to make a living doing something you’re naturally good at, or you’re going to hate yourself for possibly decades. Sounds like you've done that.
The best life advice I received from my dad (RIP) was not spoken or written. He showed me the value of surrounding yourself with good people. Additionally, he showed me the value of being a good person to others. That advice as served me well.