Posted on 06/05/2011 8:34:04 PM PDT by tsomer
Congratulations and thank-you for sharing your proud day with us.
Hmmm...
Maybe we ought to stay in touch!
Thanks, and congratulations.
10k to be an educated woman? — a bargain.
The rest you already took care of.
Congratulations to you and her!
Congratulations on your daughter’s graduation and plans, tsomer. I wish you both best of luck.
Oshkalaboomboom ... one can hardly get to post 5 on anything even remotely education related on these threads without reading a post like yours.
Just FYI, one of my own daughter’s undergrad majors was history. Not yet 30, she’s making a nice 6-digit salary in a prestigious job, and has NO college debt, undergrad or grad ... all merit scholarships/fellowships at top ranked universities, thank you very much.
If someone is smart, ambitious and well focused, s/he can have a very successful career regardless of how others might perceive their ‘worthless’ majors.
I know, and I was hoping she'd pick something else. But that's the thing she loves. What do you tell an idealistic high school kid? You can nudge, but you can't bridle her. Neither can they, and that's consoling to keep in mind.
There are no guarantees for the future in any field these days. My hope is she'll find her way.
At worst, she emerges with a history degree. That's an education, at least-- in something this society is in desperate need of.
I may have mentioned that to her, but it bears repeating.
I do recall discussing Claude Frédéric Bastiat”s “broken glass theory”.
She referred to it more than once in subsequent conversations. At about the same time, I started hearing remarks like “oh, she’s such a liberal.” She still thinks I’m a neanderthal, but that’s not entirely unreasonable.
Anyway, it’s the simple illustrations, like yours and Bastiat’s, that crack the idyllic confections liberals feed our kids.
For more:
http://mises.org/daily/3000
Confession:
my wife deserves most of the credit, if not all.
Thank you.
I think that your daughter, if she learns a bit about art, could easily get a job working at an auction house, or archeology, or curator at a museum. There are many, many possibilities but I would recommend that you have her get a certification in business. One called “Global Business Professional” will teach her everything she needs to know and one that will give her some backup while she finds employment in her degree field.
Not zero prospects. People with history degrees can teach, work at historic sites, become researchers, archivists, work in museums, write and edit textbooks, and the like. A lot depends on whether she wants to go further than the bachelor’s level- the better positions such as running museums, teaching at colleges, and things like that involve at least a Master’s or Doctorate-level degree. While it is not a massive field, its not a hopeless undertaking either. It is like finding any other job- persistence and good networking help.
There is a lot of ghosts on the battlefields.
Unfortunately for you the exception doesn't disqualify the rule. I'm happy for your daughter's success but your approval virtually guarantees just the opposite for many other daughters who attempt to emulate the one feelgood story.
My daughter graduated 2 years ago, with honors and no debt, with a degree in Art Education and a lofty goal of making a difference in children's lives. The closest she gets to that is serving them meals via one of the many waitressing jobs she has held since graduation. I sadly think her story is much closer to typical than yours.
Ron Paul is also an alum, lol...
Gettysburg College ping.
I’m not into encouraging but rather not discouraging or, as is too often the case on these boards, mocking those who don’t pursue math/science/engineering degrees. I actually remember back in the mid 80’s when engineering grads were begging for jobs, they just didn’t exist. The pendulum swings.
What I would discourage is any student accumulating debt. Thank God your daughter has that going for her. She may well yet find her career goal met. I’ve have nephews and nieces who graduated during bad economic times (admittedly not as bad as today’s), but they hung in, taking low pay and lower prestige jobs for a couple of years, and eventually found fulfilling jobs. It takes time, sticking with what your goal is, and pursuing every last lead that’s out there.
I wouldn’t write off your daughter’s career prospects quite yet. I don’t know where she lives, but if it’s in a metro area, she could, i.e., volunteer to work with kids at a local hospital’s pediatric unit. Art therapy is very big in hospitals these days. She can establish her bona fides there ... you never know where it might lead.
The school she graduated from had a wonderful Nursing program, including Pediatrics. The writing was already on the wall when she began her freshman year. I don't mock her for choosing one over the other I'm just heartbroken to see that someone who worked so hard has nothing to show for it and I actually feel a bit guilty for not trying harder to encourage her to try for something with a few more options.
Please don’t take on guilt. And don’t give up on her career prospects. And absolutely don’t let HER give up on her prospects.
I may be the eternal optimist, but I DO believe where there’s a will there’s a way. If she is determined to fulfill her goal, she will. It may take a while, and she may have to sling hash for a couple of years. It won’t kill her. In the end it would only serve to make her stronger.
I didn’t mean, btw, to imply that YOU were mocking non-math/science/engineering fields. But sometimes these boards get out of control along that line. What a dull, boring world we’d be living in if those were the only choices folks had. We need art, and literature, and, yes, an accurate grasp of our history.
I’m with tsomer......send her to community college for a history degree, don’t spend $40K/year for history!!!!!Also, don’t take out any student loans, she will never have the income to pay them back.
No special insight here. I’m just on the same path 17 years behind you.
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