do you have some kids getting ready for college
well i have uh uh basically have grown children i've got one that's that is a part-time college student and one that's college age but not attending so
uh
he did it
you've sort of faced up to the problem then
yeah he he did uh attend a little bit you know they took some classes and then decided it college was not what he wanted to do so
yeah
he went along the the older one the daughter who is older is going part-time and working full time
uh-huh
uh she's attending a community college right now and she would like to go on to a you know to a four year school go ahead and get a degree
yes
and uh that's you know one of her
immediate long range objectives
well i've got a bunch of little ones that are still growing up
yeah uh
so i'm sort of facing putting them through college about the time i'm also looking to retire
oh yeah so you
and uh
uh
i think my
initial thoughts are going to have to sort of grade my advice according to uh you know how much motivation and drive and uh and ability they have when they start facing the college years
right uh i i guess uh one thing from from my own personal experience uh the drive is the important or is i i consider to be the important part of going to college
um i i was not an exceptional student by any means in high school i was not a bad student but was not an exceptional student
and you know didn't really have uh any strong ambitions that required college
but i did want to go to school did want to get the you know go ahead and get the college
uh-huh
and so i worked my way through college and uh you know i think that it was because i really wanted the degree
that i you know followed through and went ahead and and went on even finished up going to college after i got married
uh-huh
and uh i like you said i think that uh
the ambition and the drive is uh is pretty much key a key there
yeah
uh like i said we've got the one that's not going to college
he he just does not have the desire to go at this time are i hope that some day
for my benefit i hope that some day he decides he wants to go because it will you know make me feel better but uh whatever makes him feel best is what's important i suppose
yeah well i think my reaction from my experience is that uh
i picked a school that was too good
uh-huh
and uh so i had a fairly tough time getting through
and they presented me with a lot of material which i just wasn't able to absorb and handle
yeah and i i think that that's
and uh so i think my first advice would be to go to a community college
and to a a smaller school for your undergraduate studies maybe a state supported school
and then if you have the necessary drive and still need the the intellectual mileage to
pick a top of the line school for graduate study
uh-huh i think that's a good idea uh
and and too i guess uh looking at at what the the individuals interests are instead of just what uh
what the popular degree plans are uh
right
i uh started out in in high school expecting to go into engineering
and when i got into the mathematics and science classes i was not a bad student in those in those areas but
didn't really have the interest in it so i changed my my career design over into the accounting and business field and uh i am a CPA
uh-huh
and i you know i'm pretty good at that but i it's not it was not something that i really thought long and hard and had a real you know a real strong drive toward
um i'm not sure what uh what i would have done differently or what i would do differently now but uh i might you know i might go in a different direction if i were to start fresh
uh
you know think more about what my real interest were instead of what my you know instead of what was available or what sounded like a good money maker uh it's not always the important thing
you know i think one it's very important to chose a career that uh to do something you enjoy doing
right
because i figure that's part of my compensation is is being able to do something i can take an interest in
yeah
uh
i think one of the reactions i had
uh was that i underestimated the amount of math that was needed for an engineering degree
right
uh
you know my interest uh in high school was you know grabbing up a bunch of vacuum tubes and and building something that worked
uh-huh
and uh
you know it was a matter of using cookbook designs and so forth and building up amplifiers or oscillators or making transmitters or receivers
and uh
you know i didn't face up to the fact that there's a you know an enormous mathematical basis for all of this
right
until i actually got to college
and so it was a bit of a slap in the face
and an uphill struggle although i didn't have that much trouble with math uh in high school
noise
yeah um an i guess another another area that uh
in retrospect i would give parents a real strong advice on is the the study habits and preparation that students need
uh-huh
and and they need to start as early as they can you know not wait until they're a freshman in high school even to start developing good study habits and get the you know get the good basics
uh you know the math and the the English and a little science and stuff like that that
that uh so they really have a good background for whatever course load they're going to take
yeah
because uh i know in in my son's case his math background is is not very strong
and we tried a lot you know to to help him but i think that the uh i think the educational system
uh-huh
uh the way things are are run in this area anyway it it's a little weak and
you know as a result he doesn't he doesn't have the math background that he would need in college
right
and uh i think that's one reason that he's not interested he doesn't think he would do well
well i was fairly lucky in uh going to a small town school
uh i got a lot of individual attention from the the faculty that was there
uh-huh
they probably weren't the most brilliant people in the world but they uh were very personable and took uh a interest in people who were willing to study
yeah
uh i agree i think that makes a difference uh
and so i
i went to a small town school also my son went to a school that had like twenty five hundred students in it or something you know
we have
yeah yeah you get lost there
and uh it's it's really well it really makes a difference as to
there were thirty six students in my graduating class
uh-huh
uh but they you know we had a math instructor there and when i asked him questions about calculus and so forth he was incapable of handling it
you know algebra was fine but you know if you asked him about differential equations or or something like that he didn't know what you were talking about
uh-huh
uh and when i went to take solid geometry i had to uh commute to a a larger town to Allentown Pennsylvania
to take uh solid geometry an d the instructor there was was sharp enough to know or to realize that
i was good at mathematical concepts but i had one lingering flaw left over from grade school
and that was that i hadn't learned to add subtract multiply and divide correctly
yeah and that that does make a difference that's what like i was saying you know you get those basics behind you to start with
you know get a good foundation in uh those core type courses
right
and it it will carry you a long way if you know the the concepts and the the logic and just understanding what the what's expected of you
uh-huh
really makes a lot of difference in you know what you're capable of doing so
yes
all right well it's been nice talking to you
yeah it's been nice i hope they got what they wanted on it
well at least you have some some words they can parse there
right okay
take care
i'll talk to you later maybe thanks
bye
