>That sounds good! Poor me, I got stuck doing all the little things that
>nobody else wanted to do. <
<RANT BACK ON>
Ever wonder why so many of your life experiences (school courses, Sunday
school courses, fire safety training, etc.) were crap? They weren't crap,
but they were taught by people who DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT. It was JUST A
JOB to them, something they did to get paid, and whether or not you
ENJOYED the experience or even actually LEARNED from it was immaterial.
You will probably be put in charge of such a course yourself some day;
please, if you can't get out of it by pleading higher commitments to
taking electrical fusebox surveys or some such, try to do the subject
justice and interest your class in what you are teaching; if you can't
avoid taking such training from time to time because of government
regulation or the like, at least you can avoid perpetuating fraudulent
education on your cohorts.
<RANT BACK OFF>
I promise, no more! I enjoy ranting too much, got to stop now or it'll
take over.
>One thing, though: my co-op experience was in highschool:grade 12.
>Probably makes a difference, eh? <
Not that much; the first two years of college (in U.S. frequently) are
little more than recovering the basics, getting everybody up to square 1
and adding a bit more (in some cases); freshmen can co-op too, although
we try to take upperclassmen who can use the information and training in
their classes when they get back.
The first Co-op we hired went back to take Reactor Design and Kinetics
the next quarter; he said he was the only one in his class who had seen
an industrial reactor of any sort, and was way ahead of the class on most
of the useful concepts.
>The company offered me a summer job that year. I turned them down
>becuase I wanted out of that hell hole.<
Well done! Sorry your experience wasn't more positive.
>On of the points of Zen is to understand that all suffering and
>fustration is not an externally imposed thing but something that you
>bring down on yourself. I really think that despite my negative co-op
>experience I learned a lot. The big one is of course "You must be the
>change you wish to see in the world" - Gandhi. Things around you won't
>change for the better unless you strive to make them that way. (in the
>interests of level 3 awareness, however, I'd like to point out that
>"Contentment consists not in adding more fuel, but in taking away some
>fire: not in multiplying of wealth, but in subtracting men's desires."
> Thomas Fuller)
If you can keep your own spirit alive despite the available obstacles
(which will be legion), consider trying to revive someone else's who has
already given up. It's no more fun to BE burnt-out or deadwood than it is
to watch or have to work alongside it.
>> <RANT OFF>
>> Damn, I feel better! <VBG!>
>Yea, there is something about rants... sometimes ya just gotta get it
>out.
>ERiC
True; thank you for listening to mine.
>Carpe diem, troglodytes.
And non-illegitimi carborundum!
james