Re: Door Slamming/Question

["B. Silk" <bsilk@titan.iwu.edu>]

Oh, yes, I know what you mean.  My daughter finally found a job after 
graduation, but she's miserable.  She's moving back home in August and 
enrolling at the state university to do a second bachelor's degree that 
she thinks will make her more employable.  The 2nd degree will be in 
something I thought she should major in years ago.  Ah, well.  Do your 
daughters really take your advice?  Mine didn't.

But I took my own parents' advice.  I wanted to be an artist (no money in
that), then a theatrical lighting designer (the field's too competitive
and there aren't that many *good* jobs).  Finally I decided they were
right about finding a secure profession.  So I took a teaching degree in
English and hit the academic market with the rest of the glut of English
teachers twenty years ago. 

So much for parental advice.

A few years ago a girl named Sarah took my freshman writing course.  She
wanted very much to be a writer, but her parents wanted her to do
something "useful."  They insisted she take a degree in accounting.  And
she did.  And the last I heard, she still didn't have a job. 

Ten years ago I had a student named Henry.  His father convinced him to 
major in electrical engineering.  After two years, Henry transferred into 
the theater department.  His parents practically disowned him.  After he 
graduated he did some traveling and even taught English in Japan.  Now 
he's living in Chicago, living hand-to-mouth on a parttime job and putting 
all his energy into getting his play produced.  He has his bad days and 
frustrations, but he's determined.  He tells me he's happy.  If I were 
his parent, I'd be angry with him and worried about his future.

I don't know what advice is worth.  I don't know what a degree is worth, 
but I do know that any specific "job training" we do is generally 
outdated and almost useless in two or three years.  Do we actually train 
people to do jobs?  Or do we train them in the thought patterns that make 
them flexible enough to learn on the job?  What is the most we can do for 
them?  Even if they are our own children, what is the most we can do for 
them?  What is the most they'll LET us do for them?

I have no answers. 

I'm still learning.


  Bobbie
  bsilk@titan.iwu.edu


On Thu, 6 Jul 1995, Deborah Burns wrote:

> Dear Jeanne:  I found myself saying the exact same thing!  I have a daughter
> who is completing her last year at the university.  She's an Art History
> major.  And, like your daughter, a lot of money has been spent on her
> education (to say nothing about the financing of 8 months studying in Europe).
> I am very worried about what kinds of jobs she'll be able to find when
> she finishes college.  Will she be able to make enough so that she doesn't
> have to move back in with her parents (we love her, but God forbid!!).
> We have another daughter who will start college in 2 years, and I'm
> devinitely re-thinking my advice to her!!  Deb Burns, university of Rhode Islan
> d
>