A Road to Nowhere

 

I spent three years in Ocean Falls (see tags on the side bar) and had a lot of time on my hands. I suspected I would be married by the time I got back to civilization so I needed to develop a plan. I answered an ad in a magazine and subscribed to a correspondence course in business management. I spent my entire childhood helping my father in his retail grocery business and since being away from that for a few years, I began to realize that I had actually enjoyed it. When I got my first lesson, I suspected I had perhaps made a mistake. The course material was from the 1930's and had a very out-dated feel to it.

I continued on and found that book keeping, and management in general, does not change that much. Today it would be out of the question to take an outdated course in business because of the advancement in technology etc.

I aced the course and actually enjoyed it. There was no graduation, no ceremony, no gown and cap, only a big brown envelope in the mail one day. It was a feather in my hat, a notch in my belt, another line in my resume. Another old fashioned treasure that, together with $1.39 will get me a cup of coffee at Tim Horton's.

Banner Years

 

I am finding more dusty old memorabilia in the recesses of my closets. The first two photos are of the outside and then the inside of my grade 4 report card.

It helps to have a teacher who likes you. Miss Breadner was a young single gal who needed a ride to church every Sunday morning, an eight mile journey. She was in her first year of teaching and did not have a car. She would sit in the back seat with me and my three sisters, squeezed against the door with the window that I "owned". I did not appreciate it. But worse than that, she had the old fashioned train track braces on her teeth and I could see and smell what she had for breakfast every Sunday morning.

 

I do not know if I was good student or if she appreciated the ride, but she gave me straight A's that year.

 

Mrs. Vigoren was married but had no children of her own. She was one of my favourites. It was in 1964 that her and her husband, a grain buyer, purchased my father's business which allowed us as a family to make the move to BC. The Principal, Cecil Campbell, was new that year and hit on Miss Breadner. They became an item. He was much older than her and it was scandalous, as I recall.

 

Perhaps Mrs. Vigoren liked me too, or my dad and his store, because she was gracious enough to also give me straight A's. The 'R' was for Recommendation, a designation for top students that allowed them to be exempt from final exams. Note the comments on the back are always a simple "Terry does good work". What??  These days that would call for fireworks, scholarships, cars from parents, and other big rewards. Back then it was sort of expected.

When I look through all my other report cards, the subject I usually fell down in was English or Social Studies. Strange that today I love reading, writing, and politics.

Talent (Not)

 

I am finding all sorts of goodies as I clean out a corner of my closet. Here we have evidence of a large part of my childhood, one that I did not enjoy or appreciate. I wrote a piece about it here if you are interested in the historical background of this important set of documents. These first two images are of the report card that the Toronto Royal Conservatory examiner filled out as he tested my ability (or inability) to play the piano to a grade four level. He was kind and compassionate and gave me a 70, just barely good enough for an honours mark. If you can decipher his comments, they are basically saying that I am rigid and am not having fun. If you read the post I wrote on this subject here , you will understand why.

 

The long and short of it, is that I did get the diploma and made my parents proud. As for me, well, lets just say that like the high school diploma, that and $1.37 will get me a cup of Tim Horton's coffee.

Many Moons Ago

 

I remember it like it was yesterday. Every kid dreams of graduating and being done with 12 years of school. I had mixed feelings. I did not have a clue what I wanted to do with my life after graduation, so a blessing came my way.

In those days, grade thirteen was offered in a high school setting. It was, they said, equivalent to first year university. Those who were serious about their direction in life and knew they were going on to earn some sort of degree, jumped straight to university. I did not, so, in effect, my high school days were dragged out for one more year. My father paid the tuition, as it was a private school. Where he got the money, I have no idea. I think he was struggling at the time with his own financial challenges.

I have never needed to show this diploma, although on three occasions it was required of me for successful applications to various jobs. I simply said that I had graduated and that was that.

 

Now I am cleaning out a closet and there it is, for what it is worth. That, plus $1.37, will get me a cup of coffee for sure.  

Bang for the Buck

No doubt these graduates look glum because they have just incurred an average of $50,000.00 in student debt and there is no guarantee they will get a job.

In recent years there have been huge transfers of money into the higher learning institutes and the education system in general and yet there is a common knowledge that the quality of education is deteriorating, university graduates are burdened with student loans, and that a degree is no longer guaranteeing a good job.

In spite of this troubling trend, politicians are still mouthing the great feel good mantra, "We need to invest more in education".

The Program for International Student Assessment just released their findings. They gave tests to 15 year olds in 65 different countries. The US spends more on education than almost any other country so you would naturally expect them to come out on top, right?

China-Shanghai came in first, China-Hong Kong second, and Finland was third. USA spends 15 times as much as China in terms of 'education investment' per student!

Even domestically, there are huge aberrations. Washington DC spends for times as much as Idaho yet has inferior test results.

Yes, we need more investment in education, but it is not money that is lacking, it is understanding and wisdom as to what an education is and exactly how it is delivered.

Squirling it Away

It is a daunting task to get one's self through university. Not only are the costs onerous, but the volume of work and dedication are beyond many people's capacity. The net result of all the effort and costs is to establish one's self with a career, which in turn secures one's financial future. But just one minute! We are now living in times where that idea looks a little out of touch with reality, for a least some people.
There is a free education going on right now which will teach us all life lessons. The free economy market place is holding a crash course on corrections and recession and all we have to do is open our eyes and watch. The lessons to be learned are that you cannot secure your future on spending and credit, and the value of your assets will not always remain on the up-swing. Squirling away money for times like this turns out to have been the right strategy while all around, people were spending as if there was no tomorrow. And for some of them, there might not be, at least not in their own luxurious home.
Did I say this was a free education? Actually the tuition is very expensive as we are all finding out now.