Doh! I'm scared now!
> Ever wonder why so many of your life experiences (school courses, Sunday
> school courses, fire safety training, etc.) were crap? They weren't crap,
> but they were taught by people who DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT. It was JUST A
> JOB to them, something they did to get paid, and whether or not you
> ENJOYED the experience or even actually LEARNED from it was immaterial.
> You will probably be put in charge of such a course yourself some day;
> please, if you can't get out of it by pleading higher commitments to
> taking electrical fusebox surveys or some such, try to do the subject
> justice and interest your class in what you are teaching; if you can't
> avoid taking such training from time to time because of government
> regulation or the like, at least you can avoid perpetuating fraudulent
> education on your cohorts.
> <RANT BACK OFF>
Good words, all of them. Question: have you read "Zen and the Art of
Motorcycle Maintence" by Robert Persig? It's not about Zen. And it's
not really about motorcycles either. It's about /Quality/ and /reason/
and God. I cannot reccomend this book highly enough. I read it /three/
times in a row... and I'm going to have to get it back out of the
library again to read it all over.
> Not that much; the first two years of college (in U.S. frequently) are
> little more than recovering the basics, getting everybody up to square 1
> and adding a bit more (in some cases); freshmen can co-op too, although
> we try to take upperclassmen who can use the information and training in
> their classes when they get back.
> The first Co-op we hired went back to take Reactor Design and Kinetics
> the next quarter; he said he was the only one in his class who had seen
> an industrial reactor of any sort, and was way ahead of the class on most
> of the useful concepts.
This is the benifit that all Co-op programs claim. And it is a damn
good one.
> If you can keep your own spirit alive despite the available obstacles
> (which will be legion), consider trying to revive someone else's who has
> already given up. It's no more fun to BE burnt-out or deadwood than it is
> to watch or have to work alongside it.
One of the things that I've been most surprised at is the attitude of
the students at university. For so long in high school I was surrounded
by people who frankly did not care. Just putting in their time so they
can graduate. I figured that when I got to university the "atmosphere"
would be different, you know... people would be paying for the
knowledge, and _hot damn_ they'd want to learn. It is better than high
school. But it could be better. I met lots of people who said "I'm
just doing this for the marks"... putting in the time, waiting to get a
"good" job. What they fail to realize is that, like we've been ranting
about here, the Quality of a job depends on the things you bring to it.
If you enjoy the work and dedicate yourself to it, it will be a good
job. But if they bring the same apathy to work that they are now
bringing to class, they will /all/ be bad jobs. You only get out what
you put in.
> >Carpe diem, troglodytes.
>
> And non-illegitimi carborundum!
> james
I'll have to admit my knowledge of latin sucks... I know carpe diem
(seize the day!) because it's so famous, and I think that the addition
of "troglodytes" (basement dwelling downlooking creatures) really drives
the point home...
But what does your's mean?
ERiC
Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs.
Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do
the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.
Dale Carnegie