Comments on: Learning life… out of school

By: nadine

nadine — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:07:10 +0000

hi joel,
to be in the moment and to be seeing israel, this joy we all yearn for and to have it marred by arguing with your parents over a course of study. this reeks of overbearing jewish parents. indeed musky, old school and inappropriate. almost shamefull. at the end of the day, I have no idea if the people to right or left me in this office took ‘microeconomics 101′ over ‘the history of the afl’ or ‘business banking’ over ‘israeli film and cartoons’ and we are all in the same boat!! complete shtoos!

By: frosh

frosh — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:11:21 +0000

Sadducee – that sounds like a genuinely great idea!

David, I think that’s good that your son is taking a couple of years off before going to uni.

When I look back, I was not mature enough as a person to get the most out of uni when I started it. And I think many people fell into this category. I also think that those students who were a few years older tended to get a lot more out of it.

Apart from the student-maturity factor, I also think there is a problem with the education system and univeristies too. The universities are too much like degree factories, and do not focus on cultivating the minds of students.

By: TheSadducee

TheSadducee — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:41:23 +0000

I’ve always wondered why the schools, particularly private schools, don’t get former students to come back and discuss their university courses with 5th-6th Form students (esp. 3rd/4th yr uni students who are usually a bit more mature and know the university a bit better)?

I think this would be of particular benefit for students in assisting their prospective university studies choices.

By: ariel

ariel — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:51:54 +0000

Here, here, frosh and David.

I finished uni and started working a few years ago, but I only recently realised it was the wrong career for me. Now I am planning to go back to uni part time to do something else…

By: David Werdiger

David Werdiger — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:01:24 +0000

Frosh,

Truly words to live by. I don’t know why so many kids are in such a hurry to grow up – it’s way overrated. My son has just finished VCE and is taking at least two years off for full-time Jewish studies as a “gap” between school and University.

Gen Ys don’t make “career choices” in the same way as previous generations did, and the education system is slowly adapting to this.

By: frosh

frosh — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:33:27 +0000

I’ve always thought it problematic that kids in highschool are meant to decide what they want to do for their rest of their lives.
As a 17 yr old finishing highschool, I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

It might be cliche, but I think a quote from The Sunscreen Song is apt:
“Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t.”