Going to College as an Adult

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Every time you guys mention retarded professors it kills my mellow. Not because you are wrong, oh no, not at all. It is because you are right. I know you are right. I am not even sure you guys realize the extent to which you are right. And when you bring it up, a flood of specific fucking idiots pops into my head. I have had to cope with things. Memos regarding bathrooms and meetings glinting off the belt of Orion, and about whether the name of the constellation should be changed since it refers to hunting, which offends vegan members of the campus community.

I, an insider, cannot believe some of these people are not trolling. But they aren't. They are DEAD SERIOUS.

All I can offer in apology, things were different in the 80's and 90's, when I was coming up. And I can also say, there is a strong core of people who are not retards. One of the classes I used to teach was on Marxism. Guess what, at the end of the semester, you had learned? Fucking goddam Marxism. It's just another system of ideas, learn it, fiddle with it, then go fuck it, I don't care what you do with it, I have my own goddam life and have no interest in getting too into yours. These invasive mind-eating professors are psychotic people who for some deranged reason actually want to control what someone else thinks in detail.

The "in detail" part is the key. I have rules. Basic rules. Like, if you make a claim one day, I am going to hold you to that the next day. If it is beyond you to keep track from one day to the next the claims you make, I am going to make point out you are of weak mind, and to practice and come back when you can function at an >5 year old cognitive level.

Anyway I apologize. I can just tell you, it is certainly not in your head, but also, half the professors wish these people would just die off already. But they aren't, and the system is not built to get rid of long term stupid ideas. So we are fucking stuck with idiotic spirit-building trust-fall group projects. Among many other things.
 
  • 1Worf
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I'm liberal. I have no idea who these people are, other than "profoundly mistaken."

Part of what these halfwits have participated in, is the devolution of the term "liberal." We live in a liberal democracy. Free market capitalism is a liberal economic model. The bill of rights is hardcore liberal -- Larry fuckin Flynt got the seal of approval from us.

The second amendment is the most liberal gun rights law in the world.

So as you can see, part of what makes it hard for me, is people use the word "liberal" and literally have no fucking idea what they are talking about.

Some people wanting to demonize the word "liberal" is because of social liberalism, i.e., civil rights. Our liberal society gurantees people lots of liberty to proceed unfettered about their useful business and lives, regardless of the race, creed, gender and what you want to do with your butt. You want to operate in the US, there are rules.

That level of liberty upsets some people. So, "liberal" becomes an enemy. Because liberalism means, people have rights, sorry 2nd Thessafollopians 6:23 or whatever late bronze age relic "system" has led you to this state of not being able to deal with a truly free society.

But that is only half the story.

Then there are the most recent specimens of the type. They are to "liberal" as Avril Lavigne is to punk. Somewhere the past 30 years some very bad mistakes were made and some really bad ideas suddenly gained power, real power. But it is not "liberalism." It is compulsory behavior. It is fascistic almost. I can't recognize it. Ever since the 90's, when this first started to creep in as far as my awareness goes, these people hated me and I thought they needed to be fucked with until they went away. They did not go away. Oh well.
 
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Having both an econ degree and a polisci degree I am fully cognizant if the different uses of the term liberal. In today's day and age, the odds of someone who isnt an economist or on CNBC using it to reference free market thinking are minuscule. The default context for 99% of Americans is the political context. And just like conservative is applied to all sorts of people, the same goes with liberal. In my day we used the pejorative "pinko" to describe these people. today its liberal. Just like popo means the coppers. or the Five-O.
yes, but you see my point. clean and clear use of language is so helpful. And the problem with the "political" meaning is, it can shift and is more or less a mass fantasy. In history, poli sci, and econ, the term can be defined and thats the definition.

But in politics, these magical adjectives -- "conservative" and "liberal" -- become almost fetishes, totems you plant outside your tent. Non-verbal. Pre-verbal. Infantile. Smears of sound, meaning what?

I am not comfortable operating at a cognitive level that may involve being delighted by saliva bubbles. Too many mammaries, er, memories.
 
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Yeah. I read shit so you so not have to. This is the typical shit that I am guessing every student/parent/adult hears a thousand times.

I feel pretty confident, and realistic about the situation. First of all, I have to say, attending a solid college course is its own fucking reward if you like to learn. When I retire I likely will find something solid, and do it for kicks, or to irritate the class until I get asked to not attend. Etc.

But, as an investment, it is brutal but not complicated. Those articles like above are wasting your brain time. Because here is how it works now. If you have a solid plan about goals, and are confident you can execute that plan, getting a degree is not even a question: of course. Trust me. The system works quite well for focused people who have a solid, realistic plan. Verdict: STILL WORTH IT!

However, unlike yesteryear -- definitely the 70's, and yeah, the 80's, barely the 90's, but definitely not the aughts and onward -- if you do not fit that description -- old or young -- college is simply now a rich person's luxury. You cannot afford it. You will end up saddled with debt and no way to pay it back. You will likely have developed the early stages of alcoholism. You probably dabbled with being non binary. You got a tribal tattoo on your balls. Innumerable mistakes, and maybe you found yourself, and that is very cool but sadly unless you got some plan, life now will suck.

And then people like me, who squeezed under the bong-ripping joys of the double experience weekend system just as the hatches of doom were shutting, way back when, will just say, too bad, just get a job so i can get my SS when it comes time. Should have done your own calculations instead of reading some stupid article about college.
 

moonarchia

The Scientific Shitlord
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Yeah. I read shit so you so not have to. This is the typical shit that I am guessing every student/parent/adult hears a thousand times.

I feel pretty confident, and realistic about the situation. First of all, I have to say, attending a solid college course is its own fucking reward if you like to learn. When I retire I likely will find something solid, and do it for kicks, or to irritate the class until I get asked to not attend. Etc.

But, as an investment, it is brutal but not complicated. Those articles like above are wasting your brain time. Because here is how it works now. If you have a solid plan about goals, and are confident you can execute that plan, getting a degree is not even a question: of course. Trust me. The system works quite well for focused people who have a solid, realistic plan. Verdict: STILL WORTH IT!

However, unlike yesteryear -- definitely the 70's, and yeah, the 80's, barely the 90's, but definitely not the aughts and onward -- if you do not fit that description -- old or young -- college is simply now a rich person's luxury. You cannot afford it. You will end up saddled with debt and no way to pay it back. You will likely have developed the early stages of alcoholism. You probably dabbled with being non binary. You got a tribal tattoo on your balls. Innumerable mistakes, and maybe you found yourself, and that is very cool but sadly unless you got some plan, life now will suck.

And then people like me, who squeezed under the bong-ripping joys of the double experience weekend system just as the hatches of doom were shutting, way back when, will just say, too bad, just get a job so i can get my SS when it comes time. Should have done your own calculations instead of reading some stupid article about college.
Trade schools and courses that are tied into industry specific certifications are hella worth it. But yeah, you need to know ahead of time what you intend to do with your degree and/or certs or you will be wasting assloads of $$$.
 
  • 1Supertaster
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The system works, you just have to be pretty smart these days about how you make that work for you. Shit is getting a bit competitive. At least in some industries. Other industries the "machinery" is so unforgiving, and the tolerances so tight, you simply have to be absolutely rock solid on the plan/goals/timeline etc.

That (it seems to me) lots of quality work is getting more competitive/grueling is another issue. One has to play the hand one is dealt (if one has decided to play ... ah).

I messed up a fair amount. But we are talking beginning 30 odd years ago. There is ZERO chance I could get away today with what I got away with as I was getting my stuff certified, as it were. The quality, frankly, has gone down b/c the process has gotten so tight ass too many people are just scared into pure obedience! Sucks to be them.

No way would my "plans" then (I had them! They just were not screwed down to min/max every task!) work today. But as I say, today is today. We gotta deal with this.

And it all comes down to plans. In fact, and I truly believe this, if you look at the US as a pure "opportunity field" fruit is right there to be picked. my great uncle, very cool dude, Korean era Marine, was an electrician and owned his own repair shop. Damn fucker now spends time between his house nearby and his hunting cabin up in the mountains, 40 acres. And he retired like a boss -- basically has everything squared away, and retirement already taken care of, by the time he was 65.

If one is young or even 30's and 40's, if you are mobile and single, there is no reason you can't be on your way to earning nicely unless you have got some very bad intel. very bad.
 

Tarrant

<Prior Amod>
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So I totally forgot to post this but signed my first semester up in December going to a major university for the first time in my life. Doing this at 40 years old working two full-time jobs was about as stressful as things could get, really. At the end of the semester though I walked away with a cumulative 4.0 avg which has me pretty pumped.

New semester started, hoping to duplicate that success.
 
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Tarrant

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Congratz bro. Yeah getting A's as an adult in college is pretty easy because we know about shit like not playing WOW all night instead of studying, or actually doing homework, or actually showing up to class.

Great job.

I wouldn't say it was easy, but thank you. I'll be damned if I ever take another IAH class without looking at the course materials ahead of time. I had 13 books in that class.
 
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A deserved rare jackpot.

What always boggled me is, the group you described are the fun ones. Oh well. The good news is, some people indeed do get it.

"hey, if I actually care I start to learn it and keep up and if I start to learn it and keep up and omg this is actually fun!"

Yeah. That's the deal. Welcome to real school. lol. Pretty damn simple circuit. Not saying easy, but damn simple
 

Attog

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Graduated from law school, passed the bar, got hired on as an assistant DA at one of the busiest county attorney's office in the midwest. Going to trade in 25 years of IT work making easy money for a job fighting crime that pays peanuts. May be crazy.
 
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pysek

It Didn't Happen, It Should've, and It Will.
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Tell soros you'll let every antifa goon off the hook and you'll be on ez street. Otherwise, government work as a person with ethics (regular or work) is never easy and rarely worth it.
 

TJT

Mr. Poopybutthole
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Graduated from law school, passed the bar, got hired on as an assistant DA at one of the busiest county attorney's office in the midwest. Going to trade in 25 years of IT work making easy money for a job fighting crime that pays peanuts. May be crazy.
I hope its very fulfilling bro!