'Chaucer at the Court of Edward III' , Ford Madox Brown Daily Thoughts 8/25/09
Frederik Pohl just received an honorary high school diploma from Brookyn Technical school. http://www.locusmag.com/News/2009/08/fred-pohl-earns-high-school-diploma.htmlI sometimes think of the importance of having a high school diploma. I never finished high school. I tested out with a California High School Proficiency in the 11th grade and went to community college. Personal things made it important for me to be on my own. This is not for everyone. I have a masters degree, despite having not finished high school. This is also true of a couple of my cousins. Frederik Pohl is one of the best science fiction writers.
I like college far more than I liked high school. It is a place where you are going voluntarily to learn. I am even considering going back to college part time to get a masters in publishing to supplement my masters in library science. I just like the idea. New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies has a publishing program. There is quite a bit on electronic publishing which I am very interested in. http://www.scps.nyu.edu/areas-of-study/publishing/ I took the Introduction to Publishing course there and enjoyed it a lot.
For a while I worked at an internet service provider as a sourcer for human resources. One of the things I leanred there was the importance of self education. To effectively run an internet service provider you have to find a lot of people who are into serious self education in lots of technical subjects. The way you moved ahead in these places was to get various computer certifications, A+ computer technician, MCSE Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, MCSA Microsoft Certified System Administrator, CCIE Cisco Certified Internetworking Engineer, Java Sun Certification, A+ Network Security. These certifications were tests to show you new a particular subject. In addition to getting certifications technicians read a lot of computer manuals to stay up to date; perl, c++, and many other programs were popular.
A college degree did not guarantee technical proficiency. I try to make sure there are a decent amount of new computer books. This is also true of many other fields. There are all sorts of certifications ranging from stock broker to phlebotomist.
2 comments:
Interesting comments on high school, I hated it, spent more time in trouble than out of it and skiped a lot of school. Uni was different and I keep telling my daughter that all she has to do is survive high school, once she gets to Uni learning will be a different experince.
Been a bit slack lately with keeping up with blogs, sorry this comment is late. Study and children's book week here has been taking up a bit of time. I always come and catch up though.
That is alright. I did not like high school High School is not for everyone. I wish they would encourage learning more as well as get people interested in life long learning. Life long learning is what matters now. If you are not constantly learning, you will not do so well these days.
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