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I just want to put it out there that a lot, not all, courses are now being condensed. Four year courses are now two years and two year courses are now one year. In our fast paced society everyone wants things now. These courses are not easier than the four or two year courses and you better hang on to your knickers. Well because if you can't keep up, you can fall behind really quickly. Not to mention the weekly testing you undergo and the multiple examinations. I think these courses are looked at as the cash cows now. However, they do award good students who show up consistently and who have good grades. I don't think schools can give recommendations (at least some schools and or teachers);so they tell you to be there and to get good grades because your transcripts can do the talking. The thing in the end is being able to show up to the job and being able to preform properly.

[ShinAce 299]

Everyone has their own story, so I'll share mine.

 

In grade 6, I tested with a high IQ and was offered to be put into the gifted program. The teacher's screener question was "Are you bored a lot in class?". Obviously, it's class!!! Off I went to the gifted program to do.... the exact same thing that's in the general curriculum. The only difference is that gifted students ask fewer questions(whether they understand or not), so we can cover material a bit faster and have time to do homework in class. End result: gifted students do less homework. I don't see that as an advantage. It breeds laziness.

 

By grade 11, I resented being with the same 25 students all day long. I wanted the variety of random students that the other classes had. I asked to opt out of the 'douance' program. The counsellor asked if I understood my diploma wouldn't say gifted on it. I said that's fine. She refused to do it. From that point on, I realized that we were there to be schooled instead of educated. I got ahead and only needed two classes for my OAC year(grade 13 for us pre-2000 high school grads). Only two classes to take and here I am with a schedule conflict! lol. So I fill up my schedule with elective grade 11 classes and skip them. The school expelled me and suggested I finish at adult high school. Two months later, I've got my diploma but my friends still have 4 months before they graduate. So I get a job, and the next thing you know, I'm juggling bills while my friends are talking about prom. I have no yearbook, no prom, nothing. I was called into the principal's office and after that I'm a ghost to most high school class mates. One day I was with all my friends, the next day I was on my own.

 

I worked for a bit because school was expensive. I wanted to be an electrical engineer. Tuition and books for engineering is a business I need to get into to. What a cash cow! With my dad's help, I went off to get that piece of paper. I was doing it because that's what I was supposed to be doing. No one wants to let down their parents. Fast forward two years, and I'm passing all my classes but still not studying or caring. I dropped out because the thought of tracing out circuits for a living depressed me.

 

I worked for about 6 years, and then realized that working 9-5 pays the bills, but leaves the soul unfulfilled. I had some cash saved up, so I decided to go back to school. Now I wanted to be there. I was learning something I enjoyed, but still challenged me. Fast forward another 4 years, and now I've got my physics degree. I got straight A's not because I'm smart, I got the grades because I worked my ass off. While a student, I worked as a researcher and teaching assistant, it was amazing to see the attitude difference between students that put in the hours, and the ones that just want to see 100% everywhere because it looks good.

 

On my journey to get 'that piece of paper', I learned one very valuable lesson. If you do something because you want to do it, then it doesn't matter how hard it is, you can do it. If you do something because you're supposed to do it, even the simplest of tasks can frustrate.

 

Don't let yourself get frustrated because someone else is frustrated. It turns out I'm also in a field full of false sophistication. It doesn't take long to weed through the ones that are smart and the ones that want to look smart.