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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: fastcats who wrote (50616)	4/17/2001 10:38:42 PM
From: Rande Is	Respond to of 57584

OT> Great thinking on Colleges, FastCats. Thanks much for sharing. It is good for parents to hear from those who have advised correctly.

To: fastcats who wrote (50616)	4/19/2001 10:59:39 AM
From: duke-nukem	Respond to of 57584

OT post, and kind of long. ============================ Fastcats, My opinion is solely as a college graduate since I haven't had the pleasure of raising children yet. Here are some of my ideas on your excellent comments:  The fundamental purpose of college is to teach one HOW TO THINK. My course of study was in physics, and I have to admit that my logical and analytical skills were greatly improved. However, while teaching other undergraduates as a grad student, I can tell you that an unfortunate majority of college students do not want to think too much. They more interested in just "getting through". I think they'r missing out.  It is vital that a student have a real INTEREST IN THE COURSE OF STUDY that he or she has chosen… When I chose physics, I actually started worrying about what kind of job I could get with my degree, and whether I should consider another curriculum to make me more marketable. A friend of mine, who runs his own very successful business, gave me great advice. He told me to study what I love, what I have passion for. Doing that would help me to achieve excellence in whatever I studied. He then told me that if I did that, the job thing would take care of itself eventually. FWIW, my friend has a degree in early childhood education, but his self-started business deals with residential and commericial light fixtures. After talking with him, I relaxed about college, and just started doing it rather than worrying about it.  Choose an APPROPRIATE INSTITUTION, one that will have the greatest chance of fulfilling the twin objectives of challenging him to learn while giving him the maximum opportunity for success. I chose a college nearby where there just happen to be some of the world leaders in the cluster field of physics. The faculty and facilities helped me considerably. Some areas of the country get outrageously parochial about one’s institutional pedigree. (I live in the Boston area, one of the worst in that regard.) As an aside, I live in Richmond, VA, and I will tell you that it's hard to believe that there can groups of people worse in that regard that UVA or VPI graduates. “SUCCESS” IS NOT GUARANTEED BY A COLLEGE DEGREE. No question. College and graduate school not guaranteed nothing. My willingness to work my rear off, as well as my ability to learn quickly, are far more important that my degrees. Great observations.