My father had a term for newly minted college graduates. He called them "educated morons." They would come into his construction trailer and examine blueprints for large commercial buildings, shopping centers, high rise apartments and such, and make some declaration about his project that was book smart, but field stupid. My father was a job superintendent, responsible for getting the building to completion so the general contractor could get the early completion bonus and look good in the newspaper. He worked his way up through apprentice, journeyman carpenter, and then into management supervising multi-million dollar projects. He was a smart man who understood people too and knew how to motivate. He was one of the first to seriously address safety in the workplace when safety was a buzzword for slowing down work.
Now, I'm almost an educated moron! Except I have 25 years of experience in the field of my degree! My major coursework is complete and I have 6 units to the finish line.
Lately, I've been learning about ancient cultures. The material is scholarly and difficult to read. The videos are similar to a Geraldo Rivera piece with inconsequential statements being made with astonishment and wonder. I won't give any specific examples because they are religious in nature and I'm not interested in offending anyone. Suffice to say, it was similar to "My dog (a bloodhound) led me directly to the kill! Wowee!" Gee, how surprising...
2 weeks left in this dreadful class, and then a final class (on the same subject) and I will hold a piece of paper that says I know what I've been doing for the past 25 years. It's been a longer journey than I had anticipated, but it will be complete and of that, I am proud!
My 93 year old mother will be proud. And my father who died a few years ago will look down from heaven and see that I am now an "educated moron!" I'll smile and say "sort of, you know, experience and all that stuff..."
