I have been off...
I paid for an education, not vocational training...
Well, talk about education, if it is for one to be a well-rounded person, there are other ways to do it than to learn in school, and a lot more satisfying. In fact, looking back, many of the things that I learned and still remember to this day, I learned myself from books. Whatever one teaches himself, stick the best. Often, the school function was to apply pressure for me to crack the books and to memorize some things so I could pass the tests. Yes, I was smart
, but also liked to goof off doing my own nerdy things.
My role models when young were inventors like Henry Ford or the Wright brothers. Later, it was the Silicon Valley nerds who built cool things. These people did stuff that were simply not in any textbook.
And a curious point about Ivy League Schools: they are difficult to get in, and the curriculum and standards are higher than other schools. And their graduates would have a higher average intelligence and better knowledge, even at entrance. I would not dispute the above points.
Then, why is it that many of our nation leaders, of all different political inclinations, who were graduates of these schools did not escape name calling, which are mostly degrading and insulting their intelligence? Their credentials are not universally honored. Obviously, being from these schools may not guarantee one any respect!
Ah, I still say one needs a diploma mainly to get a job. The value of it is to open the doors more than anything else. I just wish I had the ingenuity and inventiveness of these geeks that speak for themselves, without needing any endorsement from any institution. But as I was not that smart, and neither are my children, we need something to show.
What do you wish for your kids NW?
I wish for my children to be happy, and that in the pursuit of their happiness, they will not break any laws, violate anyone's rights, do unethical deeds. And same as their parents, because they are not ascetic, they will need a certain degree of material comfort, which requires them to be able to make a living. And in generating this income, I hope they will not have to suffer fools in their workplace. I hope they will get some satisfaction out of their work, to feel some pride in what they produce.
About ER, yes, I hope they will reach FI. But how they get there is important too! I hope they will be able to do it on their own, for their own sake. Yes, even if FIRECalc says that it is likely that I will be able to leave them enough for them to ER, if I can stay as frugal as I have.
I almost forgot this most recent development. My daughter had been working full-time while finishing her accounting degree. Then, she changed to a better job after graduation and her new employer pays for 1/2 of the cost of her graduate study. So, she is taking some legal courses while thinking about a CPA. So, her happiness is now in learning more. This embarkment on a graduate degree was initiated by herself, no pushing from me! And I could not believe that the state U now charges as high as $750 per graduate credit hour, which means more than $22K a year in tuition.
And then, my son recently said that he wanted to get a Master in Engineering also. It appears he liked some elective courses that he had, and that they just whetted his appetite and did not go far enough. No pushing from me here either. And it looks like he is getting an internship at a major government research lab. It was all due to his own initiative too!
I guess our work as parents is about done. I am goin' RV'in.