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Author Topic: University worthwile? Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-21-2004 08:16 PM                        My college had a blacksmith shop across the street... (seriously)  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 01-21-2004 08:21 PM                     Now why doesn't THAT surprise me?  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 01-21-2004 08:40 PM                        quote: Next you will need a degree to be the drive up cashier at McDonalds! Couldn't hurt, Joe. A disturbing number of teen-aged applicants we get can't make change without the register telling them what to do. You'd think with everything else we have to teach them, the practical application of basic math skills wouldn't be one of them.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-21-2004 09:52 PM                        quote: it gets frustrating having to take courses that have nothing to do with the final goal What courses do you mean? In my opinion, there is almost nothing that isn`t worth knowing and that can`t be useful somehow.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-22-2004 02:30 AM                     Actually while Blacksmithing is something that can be taught it is actually an art in and of it self. Back when I used to have a horse the Blacksmith made a tad over a hundred bucks off me every 5 wor so. This guy was really good,would trin all 3 then just by looking bang the strips of metal into perfectly fitting shoes, and he could do all four in less than 45 min. The hundred buck price was for standard shoeing, for special shoeing the price went up from there. My guess is if you want to live in and around a horsey area then Blacksmithing would be a great trade to get into. Making a hundred bucks plus an hour isn't too hard to take. Mark  |  IP: Logged System Notices Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi Posts: 215 Registered: Apr 2004 posted 06-07-2007 12:21 PM                 It has been 1232 days since the last post.  |  IP: Logged Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 06-07-2007 12:21 PM                     What can an education do for you? Starting salaries for people with in my degree field (Manufacturng Engineering Technology) are around $45-$60K/YR. And there are an endless number of areas to which one can focus. Last summer I interned (paid) at a major aerospace manufacturer where I was doing thigs like tool design, process planning, scrap reduction and engineering folder review. It came to an end at the begginning of last semester due to my class schedule. I just started my new summer job, and am I one lucky bastard! I am working at a job-shop located within walking distance of my residence and classes. They are willing to work with my class schedule next semester. So what am I doing? CNC programming, set-up, operating, and engineering related tasks. THe $$ are also excellent...I'm not complaining and it sees to be an experienced, good crew I am working with. Cheers K  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 06-07-2007 12:40 PM                    Degree's aren't worth the paper their written on anymore. I have considered going back to tech school to take some classes that interest me, and could possibly advance my knowledge in my job field, however, I feel no great need for a degree saying that I know something about something. A true education is something you can actually use in life. I don't feel that I need to take sociology or Biology in order to work on projection equipment. I would love to take some electronics or math courses or something that specifically relates to my job or interests, but a 4 yr degree??? Bah...who needs it. Waste of time and money.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 06-07-2007 03:01 PM                     quote: Frank Dubrois Degree's aren't worth the paper their written on anymore. That really depends on a lot of different variables. What kind of degree is being judged? A four year liberal arts degree isn't worth shit unless you're planning to study something specific at the masters and/or doctorate level. Anyone who went to what I call a "football university" (basically any giant sized state university with a major NCAA Division I college football team) and spent their four or more years there partying and changing majors all the time would have indeed wasted their money (or more likely a lot of their parents' money). Lots of jobs require at least a specialized bachelors degree just to get an interview. Many professions require a specific masters degree and some job fields even add certification exams to that. In short, there's very few decent paying jobs any American is going to get armed only a high school diploma. Around these parts you're going to be waiting tables and trying to get on at the Goodyear Tire plant. The graphic design industry (my field of work) has lots of different kinds of people with widely varying levels of qualification and talent working in this field or just trying to gain entry into it. "Graphic Artist" seems like a cool job to have even though you won't get rich doing that for a living. Since a great deal of art is subjective a lot of fuck ups out there think they can fake it being a designer. The problem is there is a shit load of nuts and bolts knowledge that one really needs to have to be a productive graphic artist. No one is going to figure out all that stuff going the "self taught" bullshit route. I was good at painting and drawing well before I went to art school. It took going to art school to get my talents focused and make me think more carefully about what would go into a project. Last year when we were hiring for a design job (the candidate would mainly be doing LED-based billboard design work) we interviewed a lot of different people. It went exactly how I expected. The worst candidates were all self taught and sold themselves based on what graphics applications they claimed they knew. The best candidates were ones with portfolios of work to show and four year art degrees. We hired one of those degreed people, even though he asked for more money than the non-degreed amateurs. We were more interested in hiring someone who could do the work and do it well.  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 06-07-2007 06:26 PM                     No matter what your goals in life are or whatever degree you have or dont have, the fact of the matter remains:  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 06-07-2007 06:45 PM                     Unless the degree is in engineering, medicine, law, etc. where you actually will need to know something, the important thing isn't what or whether you learned anything but that you have a degree. There is no point in trying to bullshit a prospective employer as to whether you have that degree either. It's very easy to verify today.  |  IP: Logged Joshua Waaland Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 800 From: Cleveland, Ohio Registered: Dec 1999 posted 06-07-2007 10:57 PM                     I find it funny that as I am grueling my way through Calculus and working on my Mechanical Engineering degree, most engineers I talk to never use any math higher than algebra. I just finished Calculus 3 this past spring and I only have one math class left, Differential Equations. I never considered myself a good student. I got mostly C's, D's, and F's in high school. My report card always had comments by the teachers that said "student does not apply himself" or "student not living up to his potential". I used to hate school and especially math. As a result of my laziness and a lack of self esteem, I always thought I was stupid and couldn't do any better. After I was in the real world for a couple of years and worked in enough shops I realized I wasn't a dumb as I thought. It soon hit me that I was going to have to get a degree to make any real money. So back to school I went. I tested at a Prep Math level and had to start at the bottom. I went through Prep Math, College Algebra, Precalculus, Calc 1, Calc 2, and finally Calc 3. The first three did not count towards my degree either. They were simply remedial. It was hard, I won't lie to you. I had been out of school for several years and I would try so hard to understand the material. I would spend 4-5 hours a day studying. I would throw my book across the room because I was so upset and frustrated. Thank God for my wife. She was my positive reinforcement and I am thankful for her. Over the next few years I learned how to study and I learned how to determine what was important and what wasn't. I also learned that I could do anything if I applied myself. This has given me much greater self esteem and helped me in my career already. Last week I demonstrated a machine to 30 people while giving a presentation on it with no preparation. No way I would have been able to do that several years ago! Hell, I even learned that I love math! So to answer your question of whether college is worth it, ABSOLUTELY! The lessons you learn will last a lifetime.  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 06-07-2007 11:46 PM                     quote: University worthwile? Sure...it could help you spel beter.  |  IP: Logged Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 06-08-2007 03:30 AM                     Amen Josh! Whether or not the degree is bullshit or not depends on the field. For example, my department and degree are ABET accredited. Furthermore, our department has strong ties to both SME and SAE. Our faculty all have extensive industry experience...they are not just academics...and our advisement board are made up of people from industry many of whom are potential high $$ employers. We have an extensive HAAS CNC learning center and Miller has just done an extensive job of re-equiping our welding lab! Our faculty regularily has people from industry come in and give lectures and demos and we regurarily take tours of various shops around town. All this translates into wonderful resources for the students...its just up to the student to take advantage of these opportunities. My degree program qualifies students to take SME and FE Engineer Certification exams...which is alsways nice to have. Anyhow, our student projects are real-world based, and I have already worked in industry where my college-knowledge exactly mirrored real-world practices. And a lot of my college work has also turned into a nice portfolio that I can take along on job-interviews...my portfolio has already helped me to extablish employment.  |  IP: Logged Joshua Waaland Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 800 From: Cleveland, Ohio Registered: Dec 1999 posted 06-08-2007 07:06 AM                     quote: ...and Miller has just done an extensive job of re-equiping our welding lab! Miller is a great company. We make a submerged arc welding tractor for them. Lincoln Electric is another good company and they are right here in Cleveland. Last week I had to go to a regional GAWDA (Gases And Welding Distributors Association) meeting in East Lansing, Michigan. My boss and I sat at a table with a bunch of other Lincoln guys. We ate breakfast and were bs-ing and they introduced the keynote speaker. The guy next to me stood up and they introduced him as the CEO and Chairman of Lincoln Electric. I had no idea who he was. I thought that was kind of cool. One of the few positives of this job.  |  IP: Logged

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