This has been one of my pet peeves for a long time. It is nuts that we pay for high school sports. PE is one thing, but as the article says, “The United States routinely spends more tax dollars per high-school athlete than per high-school math student—unlike most countries worldwide.” I don’t really care how other countries worldwide are funding sports vs. school because it does not seem like they are so hot either. Nevertheless, I say let the parents and sports boosters pay for the kids to play.
Day: September 19, 2013
You know who you are! And you know why this “applies” to you.*
*There is some controversy between interested parties about whether String Theory is science or not (Is it testable?), but there is absolutely no controversy about whether or not the math involved is elegant and interesting.
Day 759 of 1000
The first conversation was a brief email conversation with a talented friend who recently bailed out of a long term lucrative career to go back to school for a technical masters degree. It was a bold move, it paid off, and it was a joy to watch. He did it, not to make more money, because he was good in that regard. He did it to learn new stuff so he could contribute more to society. Nothing every comes out perfect nor even like it was planned, but bold moves are a good thing. It seems like if they are done unselfishly, they pay off even more. If you go back to school to learn stuff you want to know because you can contribute more to society or enter the ministry to save souls or move to a poor foreign country to be a help–those are the things that gratify. Now my friend is thinking of doing it again. I like it.
That conversation inspired me to call Kelly. We had a great talk about what she will do when she finishes her Bachelors degree in Statistics. She loves Statistics. She has a good enough resume now that she should be able to get a job without too much trouble after she graduates. That might be the thing to do, but it might be time for a Masters or PhD. It might be time to work for a year, then take a trip to someplace new or take a job out of the country. It might be time to learn a new language. Whatever she does, since she is getting to a place where she can pay her own way, it needs to be about something much bigger and more important than the money.
I really need to have that same conversation with Christian. He is in the same place as Kelly, but has decided he wants to go on to a PhD in Electrical Engineering. That is a pretty bold move in and of itself, but after that there can be more. I think of people like William Lane Craig with Doctors degrees in Philosophy and Theology and William Dembski has a couple of PhD’s (mathematics and philosophy) and four Masters (statistics, mathematics, philosophy, and theology) from big name schools. I do not think either of them pursued their graduate studies for the purpose of earning a living, but to pursue big ideas and contribute to society.
As I approach age 60, I am in the beginning of the start-up of a company that makes medical instruments for developing companies. It was a pretty scary thing to quit my job in North Carolina to do this, but it is very invigorating. If things work out, I will be here for another four or five years. Maybe there is time in this life for one or two more bold moves after that.