OT: Calling all straight F students..., Don't ever give up Options

[BigD9146gt]

I was never good at homework. I liked being in school learning, just never could remember any of it when the time came to barf it back to the teacher. This is an email my old man sent me, he's a pretty sucessful mechanical engineer who also didn't do all that well in school. Enjoy.

Charles Kettering invented no knock self-starter, diesel locomotive and paint for cars.

Intelligent Ignorance:

The more education you have the less likely you are to become an inventor. The reason why is this: from the time a kid starts Kindergarten to the time he graduates from college, he will be examined two or three times a year and if he flunks once, he’s out. Now an inventor fails 999 times and if he succeeds once, he’s in. An inventor treats his failures simply as practice shots.

He believed a problem was more than willing to be solved provided the researcher remembered who was boss, by which he meant the problem, not himself. The only difference between a problem and a solution, he used to say, is that people understand the solution. Solutions only involve a change in perception, since the solution must have existed all along with the problem itself. A researcher, he argued, was there not to master the problem but to make it give birth to its solution.

[xsboost90]

im just too stubborn to admit theres a problem.

[Qarl]

Miles isn't real!
















Sorry. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/blink.gif)

[Qarl]

In all seriousness, higher education doesn't mean squat these days.

Heck, even Bill Gates said that High School was a waste nowadays.

Some of the most successful people in the world are immigrants, and people with only a high school education. They have drive, willpower, and determination. They know what it is like to start with nothing and achieve greatness.

[Joe Bob]

Neither is Santy Claus....

[Joe Bob]

Oh wait...is it time for the ass crack pic?????

[iamchappy]

Sometimes an invent stuff by accident

[iamchappy]

eye

[iamchappy]

There is hope for me after all.

[MattR]

QUOTE (Qarl @ Mar 1 2005, 07:22 PM)

In all seriousness, higher education doesn't mean squat these days. Heck, even Bill Gates said that High School was a waste nowadays.

Sorry, but thats a load of crap. For the 99.999% of the population that isnt going to be insanely rich, an upper level education gives more job security. True, some college graduates live on the street and some high school dropouts are multi billionairs, but can you really use anecdotal evidence to say upper level education is a waste?

Ive had people give me crap in school all the time about not using the equations I learn in every day life, but its the skills aquired and understanding of forces (in my case) that make an upper level education A RESOURCE for being a quality engineer, in my opinion. But Im a kid, dont listen to me...

-Matt
2nd year Mech Engineer

[mightyohm]

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/agree.gif)

(I am a professional electrical engineer with an MSEE).

Oh and by the way, kids in school these days can flunk many, many, many, many times and still stay in school. I wonder what kind of problems that creates?

[MattR]

Flunk many many many times? NOT TRUE. Trust me, I read the fine print (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif)

At UCI you can retake only 4 classes while at UCI. At UCSB any grade below a C is not passing (so a C- is a not pass).

Each quarter we must remain above a 2.0 gpa or we go on academic probation (must get above a 2.0 next quarter with no C-s or you're kicked out). And if you go below a 1.5 gpa any quarter you can be disqualified from any UC and not let back in. In addition your total GPA in major courses (in my case MAE courses) has to be above 2.0. So basically a C average is the MINIMUM to not get kicked out. If after 4 or 5 years your GPA isnt above a 2.0 you will not get your degree. And after 5 years of school, you're kicked out. You can not go for a 6th year as a regular full time student (you have to go to UC Extension or summer school). Just some tidbits. School aint as easy as you guys think (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif)

[mightyohm]

I was referring more to elementary school. And don't worry, in college, with grade inflation and the often generous grading curve, it's still pretty hard to actually fail out of school (but I admit it is possible if you try).

[Aaron Cox]

QUOTE (MattR @ Mar 1 2005, 10:16 PM)

Flunk many many many times? NOT TRUE. Trust me, I read the fine print (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif) At UCI you can retake only 4 classes while at UCI. At UCSB any grade below a C is not passing (so a C- is a not pass). Each quarter we must remain above a 2.0 gpa or we go on academic probation (must get above a 2.0 next quarter with no C-s or you're kicked out). And if you go below a 1.5 gpa any quarter you can be disqualified from any UC and not let back in. In addition your total GPA in major courses (in my case MAE courses) has to be above 2.0. So basically a C average is the MINIMUM to not get kicked out. If after 4 or 5 years your GPA isnt above a 2.0 you will not get your degree. And after 5 years of school, you're kicked out. You can not go for a 6th year as a regular full time student (you have to go to UC Extension or summer school). Just some tidbits. School aint as easy as you guys think (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/agree.gif)

tell my pops that his twin masters degrees dont mean squat.
good plan qarl (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/pissoff.gif)

[MattR]

To reply to this thread I do have to say I dont agree with modern education. So much emphasis is placed on being "well rounded" (as if school can physically teach that anyway), students now days are discouraged from exploring their calling and encouraged to enter a world of rote memorization of crap you dont need to know. This is mostely aimed toward high school, but some of it applies to college classes.
Now, take the inventors of yesteryear. Their schooling wasnt too intensive, or they didnt do well, so they read their own books and were still motivated to learn. Now days students are so burnt out on school we dont want to do anything other then go home and watch tv (or 914club) when we get home. My highschool was classes from 8am until 3pm then on average (good students spent) 4-5 hours a night doing homework. Now tell me where we're supposed to find the time or energy to go read the same books an inventor in the 19th century would have read?
In addition the education system nowdays tries to mask itself as the solution for students. Whats tough to differentiate is that school is only one tool used. If you do well in school you are gaurenteed NOTHING in life. In fact many universities (including top ranked ones like UCI) have little to no job placement programs and do not work with local companies. But I am not going to drop out because simply I would rather have the "tool" of education in my belt. Some disagree.

You can probably tell Ive had a lot to think about while not doing my homework. I am not a straight A student, but also not an F student. I try hard, but not too hard.

[Qarl]

I think I may have phrased it wrong by saying higher education doesn't mean squat... I wasn't belittling those with college eductions. I have one... duh!

I guess what I am trying to say is, that often times, the degree of someones success has little to do with their formal education, but rather their real world experience. Those in college will find out that after they graduate, they start the learning process all over again. A higher percentage of the crap you learned in college you'll never use again. Yes... the argument can be made that by going to college you have proven that you can learn, think, and problem solve.

Another point I was trying to make, but failed to get across clearily, is that you don't necessarily NEED a college education to be successful in life...

And... our grade-school and high-school education system sucks nowadays.

Oh... and before more people tell me to piss off... I live in Florida, ranked 49 in the nation for it's educational system. I recently read that nearly 50% of the students currently enrolled in Florida schools will not graduate high school.

[MattR]

QUOTE (jkeyzer @ Mar 1 2005, 09:20 PM)

I was referring more to elementary school. And don't worry, in college, with grade inflation and the often generous grading curve, it's still pretty hard to actually fail out of school (but I admit it is possible if you try).

I would be scared if 6 year old kids werent given a chance in school... frankly I dont think we should have real schooling until like 10 or 11. Before that it should just be socializing! Whether the government should fund a playground is another topic of another forum (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/dry.gif)

But curves are there for a reason. If there were no curves, EVERYONE would fail. For instance, on my dynamics midterm a few weeks ago the class average was 49 out of 100. My 68 turned out to be an A-/B+. But 30% of the class still didnt get a passing grade. A curve is just more fair. It normalizes the class to account for easy teachers or bad test questions.

[MattR]

Qarl, Im going to stick with what I said before. If you're talking about the fraction of a percent of very wealthy people in this country (bill gates), a college education wont mean squat, but I'll play by the numbers...

[Qarl]

Oh... and for the record... I graduated from the school of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech with my bachelor's degree in '93. (I minored in composites and materials engineering.) When I entered the program, there were 1500 applicants. They accepted only 300. At the end of our sophomore year, the kicked out the bottom 50% of those that were left and told them to switch degrees. Out of the original 300, only 93 graduated. I graduated #11 in my class with a 3.43 GPA.

In 1993, when I graduated, there were an estimated 40,000 unemployed aerospace engineers in the industry.

Even though I participated in the cooperative work/study program with Pratt & Whitney's Military, Space and Government Engines division and accumulated over 2 years of work experience throughout college, I was unable to find a job after 18 months of searching.

360 resumes and applications later, nada...

I now am part owner of a healthcare consulting and medical billing company.

Go figure!

[SLITS]

Higher education keeps the kids off the streets until a job opening occurs when someone as old as I retires or dies.

BA - Psychology
BS - Chemistry
PhD - School of Hard Knocks (Ouch, oh shit just recieved another lump)

Mystery solved.........................