Having worked at a university for many years, I quickly learned something about young people in our society today… many of them absolutely should not be in a place of higher learning.
- I’m not trying to be a butthead, I’m just saying that it isn’t everyone’s calling in life.
There are plenty of people who don’t like book learning, don’t desire an advanced degree, and don’t take education seriously. That’s all totally fine, but they need to acknowledge their own strengths and weaknesses instead of taking the path more travelled. That’s why I would try to gently redirect their focuses to other fields, when it seemed like a good idea. One student, in particular, was not meant for the traditional classroom. I was pretty sure he belonged at a trades school, and I highly recommended he looked into the HVAC industry. See, he loved to work with his hands, and he was always fiddling with the temperature control device in class rather than paying attention. I would find him pressed up against the thermostat, taking off the front panel and rewiring the system. Several times, I discovered him taking the metal plate off our large air vents and cleaning out the air ducts inside. Once I even found him on the roof, examining the massive central air conditioning system locked up there. I started assigning him extra readings about HVAC technician coursework and positive projections about the future of the ventilation business. I know it was perhaps manipulative, and the school wasn’t very happy when he dropped out without warning… But it was clear that he was meant for temperature control system installation and repair, not financial accounting.