Re: Descriptions of posters on main board

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: : : : : I don't remember if I put anything about my education/profession on the main board, so here goes... : : : I was always a math and science person up through high school, but also very good in English, foreign language, and music (string bass, mostly classical.) I was excessively technically-oriented, always into computers and science and stuff, and avoiding people like the plague--is it any wonder I thought I was a 5 when I first found the Enneagram? I've since swung almost too far in the other direction, rejecting much of my technical side as being unimportant. : : : B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, followed by 3 miserable years in which I couln't find a job as a MechE. I was either looking, gave up in despair, or in an office or sales job that I couldn't stand. I finally decided I had to change something, so ran away from New York and got a M.S. in Computer Engineering from North Carolina State University. I've been working at IBM designing/verifying microprocessors since then, and am now looking for a way to escape. The work environment here is just not a good fit for me, I don't care very much about the work I do, and I've been hearing the calling to teach in some capacity, though I'm not quite sure where that will lead me. I do know that I'm dead set against going back to school--Ev, maybe you had the right idea with this all along! In any case, it's time for me to use some of that 4-ish creativity, and to focus more on relationships than on techie objects; hopefully I can find the right balance of both somewhere. : : : - Hal - : : Hello Hal, : : If you're referring to my lack of a college education when you say that maybe I had the right idea, I have to disagree. A college education, particularly now, is a must if you want to make something of yourself in today's workforce. I just wasn't a good student in either intermediate or high school. I was certainly bright enough, as is evidenced by my high scores on aptitude tests, but I couldn't deal with the teaching method that is fairly standard in America's schools. I was bored out of my mind 90% of the time! : : Oddly enough, I believe I'd have made a good college student. It's my understanding that the college environment fosters a much more open style of instruction. I never cared for memorizing dates of historical events and I never cared to memorize math formulas which I'd rarely use. I was interested in sociology and subjects that dealt with the human condition. Unfortunately, after sociology, there wasn't much in the curriculum that interested me. Psychology classes would have been a blast! Theology would be interesting as well. : : Ev : I was half-joking about the college education thing. Yes, I believe it is a good experience, as much for the social and personal growth aspects as for the classroom education. But my experience has been that the college environment is not much more open than high school. I've become rather disillusioned with institutional learning and find it very constricting. It bothers me that I would be unable to get a job in a field I would be great in just because I don't have a piece of paper saying I'm qualified. I've learned much more from my life experience (and much more useful things) than I ever did in a college classroom. I did have a few good courses that really allowed me to learn, but most of them were of the "memorize and spit back this stuff you'll never use again" variety. : - Hal -

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