Higher education

[gpennycuff]

B.S. in Education with Chemistry and Math double majors. Was a high school science teacher for 10 years before I got disgusted and went back to grad school. M.S. in Organic Chemistry, MTSU in M'boro, TN, then started a Ph.D. program but loved teaching college students. Now what infected K-12 is happening to higher ed. BTW, came from blue-collar family and very much appreciate folks who may not have gone to college but have common sense and the sense that God gave a goose! Not unusual to find folks in my line of work that have neither!! I, too, respect those that sweat for a living and take ibuprofen at night for that aching back--worked many a job in my days and sometimes it feels good to just do hard work and sweat like a mule. Congrats to all of ya's!

Goodness, I'm prattling on like some college prof that likes to hear himself talk.....

[RCH jr]

I graduated from Middle Tennessee State University. Major was fun and it lasted for 5.5 years. I had a older buddy that said that college
is one of the most fun times of life and I ran with it.

[RCH jr]

My fellow alum!

[CharlieW]

Education

Bachelor's in Business from the State U, and (much) later an on-line Master's.

(To Answer the next poster's question)

- Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas --BBA
- Keller Graduate School, DeVry U. --Master's in Project Management

[LaP]

Bachelor's in Business from the State U, and (much) later an on-line Master's.

UUUMMM, what State?

[Dukeman55]

Bachelors Univ of Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns

Doctorate Southern College of Optometry

Fatherhood (still learning)

[RonC]

Two years in college ending in 1967 when I dropped out (before they threw me out) and was drafted. Went back in '69 with a change in temperament toward education. Graduated in '71 with a degree in biology-biophysics.

Went to University of Virginia for a PhD in environmental engineering. I now work at a university and specialize on remediation of mining and petroleum waste, cleanup of nuclear weapons plants and mining and petroleum waste treatment technology development.

I have to admit: it has been a good career that has offered the opportunity of international projects.

Ron

[aray]

BS in Computer Science from the University of Central Florida (UCF). When I started at the school it was called Florida Technological University. We got a new university president in my third year; as a liberal arts major he didn't like the "technological" in the name and started a "name that college" contest. The leading candidate by vote of the students was the University of Florida at Orlando ... or "UFO". Our mascot was (and is) the Knights; they wanted to change it to the Jedi Knights. Pegasus was our logo with the mane saying "Reach for the Stars" so it all fit. I hated it - didn't want a joke on my diploma. This was, of course, at the height of the first Star Wars movie. Fortunately calmer heads prevailed and they changed the name to UCF vs. UFO. Thank goodness. (My graduating class actually got two diplomas - one with FTU and one with UCF on it.)

MS and PhD in CS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Never intentionally started out to get a PhD. Just loved learning & CS and I just kept taking classes until they sorta kicked me out at the end. Nothing left to do there I guess. After I left, as part of the sweeping PC-ism in the NCAA, they took away Chief Illiniwek. Guess I won't be contributing to the alumni association. Sigh...

[paul34]

^^ Hey! A fellow UCFer! Not sure if you know, but we're now the third largest university in the nation by student enrollment (53,537 in 2010!)

University of Central Florida. BS in Electrical Engineering, 2010. (the 34 in my username is just my favorite number - not my age). I was doing my MS in the same in the Fall, but I had some serious introspective moments and decided to look for a job instead. I am still looking, all over the country. No bites yet

The economy is pretty tough.

I will say, though, that there are plenty of smart cookies out there who don't have much, or any, higher education.

[aray]

^^ Hey! A fellow UCFer! Not sure if you know, but we're now the third largest university in the nation by student enrollment (53,537 in 2010!)

Oh my goodness. I had no idea it had grown that large. When I went there it was a sleepy little commuter school. Oviedo, the closest town, still had just one red light. You could walk from one end of the developed campus to the other in under 5 minutes.

Going from UCF to UIUC for me was a huge step up; UIUC had 35,000 students and its conference, Big Ten, seemed appropriate. Never dreamed UCF would ever get that large. (Although Wikipedia has them ranked a bit lower, but still I appreciate your point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_colleges_and_universities_by _enrollment)

I will say, though, that there are plenty of smart cookies out there who don't have much, or any, higher education.

That’s certainly true. And I think it goes the other way too. I’ve known a lot of book-smart people that on life issues I’d consider as dumb as a rock.

And it’s also true of morality as well. Education has absolutely nothing to do with how moral someone is. Take Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister: Joseph Goebbels. Dude earned a PhD from Heidelberg University and by all accounts was a brilliant man. But he used that brilliance to inflame the German people, sweep the National Socialist German Workers' Party (N.A.Z.I.) into power and ultimate control, and helped continue the war and orchestrate the Final Solution. No thanks: give me a kind hearted friend of good character and common sense any day; you can keep your book larnin’

Chin up on the job hunt. Best wishes. I consider myself blessed to have what I have. Maybe we'll get a chance to turn the economy around after the next elections...

[Ubaldo99]

BA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, followed by JD at SMU Law School. Never took the Bar Exam. That was over 30 years ago. My Mother is still so disappointed in me (sob).

[O'Dell]

BA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, followed by JD at SMU Law School. Never took the Bar Exam. That was over 30 years ago. My Mother is still so disappointed in me (sob).

You must had graduated law school about the same time as I did. I got my JD in 1977.

[ripley16]

Virginia Tech, VTCC, H Squadron, Rasche Hall, Blacksburg, 36 years ago. It's a little different today than in my day. Still a beautiful campus.

[CJB]

No college for me. I got every bit of common sense I was born with. Was'nt gonna let no professor take any of it away. Luckier than many people I know.

I'm with Bawanna +1+

First off, I don't do well with "straight book learnin'" as its presented much of the time. I need application to learn. I learn backwards. I need to solve problems by learning the skills to solve them. I don't do well with learning a multitude of skills for non-existent problems.

The classes I've taken since escaping the public school system have been hands on, with profs that actually knew about real world application and got their own hands dirty (figuratively) on the problems at hand.

So, here I am, 53, totally uneducated. I've had a good grey collar career for the last 28 or so years. Every day I learn something, and try to pass something along too. What do I do? I compact my customers problems into little ones... into ones that magically disappear.

Zero regrets on "missing out" on higher education, and the slathering of liberal counterculture that I'd have had to deal with, at universities that denounce this country, denounce conservative values and lifestyles, and make a mockery of religion and moral values. I'm the guy who loves his country so much, that I well up with the National Anthem is played. Zero regrets on having that stripped from me. Zero.

[MrPete]

Another UCF grad here. Like some other no college after high school, I chose NASCAR, 1 season full time and 3 part time; like those who joined the military (THANKS for your service) you learn a lot very quickly in racing. Then every class offered by American Honda to repair their cars. Eventually community college (Valencia, class of '88) and on to UCF (BA History class of '94). Took 12 years going part time at night, but it was worth it.