How edumacated are you?

[Stigweard]

Bumping this up seeing that the polls are working again.

 

[Marblehead]

Well, as I have not spoken to this thread so far I suppose I should.

 

I was a high school drop-out (10th grade) then joined the Army at age 17.

 

I took and passed my HS GED at my first duty station after basic and profession training.

 

During the next 14 years all my education was military based.

 

It wasn't until after I had what I refer to as my first Taoist experience that I had an interest in advancing my general (civilian) education.

 

During the next 6 years I earned the equivalent of an AA (no major). After retiring and getting my civilian life in order I enrolled in full time college. Earned two BA's, in totally different fields. Funny, I never really tried to get employment in either one. I guess it was just a personal challenge.

 

My road to Taoism was very long and took many years. It started in Vietnam, surfaced again in Korea, then again in the early 1980's near the completion of my first BA. Taht would be between the years of 1970 and 1983. I think it was in 1983 that I read the TCC the first time.

 

So perhaps I could say that it was my lack of education that allowed me to have that first Taoist experience. Ah!, the beauty of ignorance!

[C T]

Well, as I have not spoken to this thread so far I suppose I should.

 

I was a high school drop-out (10th grade) then joined the Army at age 17.

 

I took and passed my HS GED at my first duty station after basic and profession training.

 

During the next 14 years all my education was military based.

 

It wasn't until after I had what I refer to as my first Taoist experience that I had an interest in advancing my general (civilian) education.

 

During the next 6 years I earned the equivalent of an AA (no major). After retiring and getting my civilian life in order I enrolled in full time college. Earned two BA's, in totally different fields. Funny, I never really tried to get employment in either one. I guess it was just a personal challenge.

 

My road to Taoism was very long and took many years. It started in Vietnam, surfaced again in Korea, then again in the early 1980's near the completion of my first BA. Taht would be between the years of 1970 and 1983. I think it was in 1983 that I read the TCC the first time.

 

So perhaps I could say that it was my lack of education that allowed me to have that first Taoist experience. Ah!, the beauty of ignorance!

Thanks for sharing, MH! Good to know you a bit better...

 

...... ........ ............

 

 

I finished secondary education (equivalent to high school i think) at 18. Could have gone on to college or university but i knew then that i was not big into academic pursuits. Spent half a year bumming around, living the good life, hanging out with the surfing/diving bums in Malaysia. Out of the 6 months, at least half of it was spent in the water. When i returned home from living on the islands off the East Coast, i was so dark my mom refused to acknowledge that i was her son!

 

Settled down a bit, and enrolled in Tech College and got a Dip. in Electronics. Not sure what to do with it, so threw that in the bin. The only electronically-significant thing i did after getting the qualifications was installing a battery-operated light on my bicycle which incorporated a high/low beam. Walla! The only one of its kind in the country. Unfortunately the idea did not catch fire, so i binned that as well.

 

At that time (1979) Malaysians suddenly got very keen in motivational/self-improvement seminars and some very smart people had the foresight to import a handful of really dynamic speakers/trainers from the US to set up a foundation for the growth of these programs in the country. I had the slight fortune to attend one of these seminars, managed to create a bit of stir with the local trainers (whose English was really not very good) and they offered me a job to manage one of their branch offices in my hometown as the guy who was there, the same one who recruited me into the program, was leaving to start his own Mandarin-based company selling Mandarin-based seminars!! It was indeed a very profitable time for that line of business then, as every class (averaging 36 participants per class/week - each paying an average of 400 myr dollars) was sold out. The company i worked for had its HQ in Kuala Lumpur and 3 branch offices (centers) in other states. So every calendar month there would be one seminar for each of the centers, and annually there would be a big conference/dinner/dance held at different resort locations to celebrate all the success stories the 'graduates' would have experienced. Loads of excitement, hugging, pats on the back.... and also its fair share of scandals!

 

Anyway, i was with the outfit for about 5 years, and when i left the scene, had amassed a small fortune, not from the salary they paid me, but from smartly investing some of the money in the stock market with the help of my dad, whom some here already know was a stock analyst. I was only 24 then. Life was good.

 

Somehow, the desire to pursue higher studies never crossed my mind after that. Any regrets? Guess not. Although i am not sure how i got from there to being a Chef now... Hmm, maybe the Tao is indeed mysterious. Of course, there were plenty of adventures in between, but really, it would be too boring to go into it all.

 

[Marblehead]

Any regrets? Guess not. Although i am not sure how i got from there to being a Chef now... Hmm, maybe the Tao is indeed mysterious. Of course, there were plenty of adventures in between, but really, it would be too boring to go into it all.

 

 

That's great!!!

 

It is the rare person who can sit in loneliness and not consider that horrible question: "What if?"

[Brian]

...

[Listener]

I have a BA in history. I was a social studies teacher briefly but didn't really care for it. I considered various advanced degree programs but ultimately decided against it. Don't really know what to do with myself now.

[Marblehead]

Dropped out of Master's program in physics when wife got pregnant.

 

Was listening to an old album (now on CD) by Mickey and Silvia (biggest hit "Love Is Strange") and there is one song with the words "love will make you fail in school"

 

How's that for logic?

[C T]

... what if it doesn't fit through the gates?..

Maybe a squeak of liquid teflon might do the tricK?

 

Nice... enjoyed reading this!

[San Ti]

Masters in Physiology (neurophysiology/motor control)

 

I would have finished the PhD had there been funding for the study of how accupuncture works from a western scientific perspective, but there wasn't and the idea of being a professor teaching and researching something that I wasn't passionate about was not acceptable.

 

Lasted part of one term of a business degree as a mature aged student, but found it to be simply about churning students for profit.

[Brian]

...

[Taomeow]

Maybe a squeak of liquid teflon might do the tricK?

 

Nice... enjoyed reading this!

Thank you... likewise.

 

...but how?... I deleted it... do you decipher keystrokes on top of your other talents?..

[San Ti]

Sorry to hear about our experience! My MBA program was excellent -- I think it depends heavily upon the institution and the leadership of the business school...

 

That was a large part of the problem, but it was also me wanting to do and not be told. I realized that I could just use my scientific methodology in a business context. Read, discuss, experiment, evaluate, repeat.

[Brian]

...

[San Ti]

That sounds like a fantastic program A Seeker. Must be one of the executive MBA programs that so many Universities now offer. Glad you had a positive experience in business school.