"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." –John 16:33

San Pedro Garza Garcia

Tag: Amazima

Math and Engineering degrees are great even if you want to do something else

Day 80 of 1000

I found a great article in the Wall Street Journal this morning titled Generation Jobless:  Students Pick Easier Majors Despite Less Pay.  It had some startling statistics:

Workers who majored in psychology have median earnings that are $38,000 below those of computer engineering majors, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data by Georgetown University.

Wow.  The article tells a story about a student who switched from Electrical and Computer Engineering because her team stayed up past midnight in a lab to write a soda machine program.  They could not get it to work, so to keep from getting a bad grade, she withdrew from the course.  Then she switched from engineering to a double major in psychology and policy management.  Her grades went from B’s and C’s to A’s.  She said her high school did not prepare her for the rigor of an engineering degree.

So the upshot is that she is willing to work in a low-paying career for the rest of her life because she was unwilling to do what was necessary to pass a few hard classes.  I have had this discussion with people before.  If you cannot handle a specifc course, you can do a TON of things to make it happen. You can get a tutor.  You can take the class two or even three times if needed.  You can take a more remedial course, then try the tough one again.  Is it worth it to go to school for a year or two more to do something you like and that pays well for the next forty or fifty year?  It seems like a no brainer.

The crazy part is that even for those who want to do less technical jobs, it is best to prepare for that non-technical job with a hard degree.

Research has shown that graduating with these majors provides a good foundation not just for so-called STEM jobs, or those in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields, but a whole range of industries where earnings expectations are high. Business, finance and consulting firms, as well as most health-care professions, are keen to hire those who bring quantitative skills and can help them stay competitive.

We joked about this quite a bit, but I wanted to get it into the kids head that, if they went to college (not necessarily a given–preparation for many careers–pilot, electrician, writer, and small business owner are monumentally better served through some type of preparation other than college), they could study their passion, but they needed to start with a rigorous degree.  We defined rigorous as anything that involves hard math.  The use of hard math and statistics is creating new breakthroughs in a lot of fields right now:  medicine, agriculture, sociology, etc., etc. etc.

One of our pet peeves during our homeschool years was a couple of homeschool guys from Oregon who wrote a book titled Do Hard Things when they were in high school, then went off to a liberal arts college whose only majors are Government, Journalism, History, Literature, and Classical Liberal Arts.  Those are fine things to study, but are very far from the type of “hard” we are talking about here.  The only math I could find in their core curriculum was Euclidean Geometry.  If you want to get a book on doing hard things, forego the Harris book and get this one by Katie Davis has done at Azima.

Amazima Ministries: Katie Davis writes a book

Day 59 of 1000
I wrote a post a little over a year ago about Katie Davis and her amazing Amazima Ministries.  Kelly and I have read per personal blog ever since.  There is a separate blog that belongs to the ministry, too.  Katie Davis went to Uganda on a mission trip when she was still in high school.  It so profoundly affected her that she went back to stay at age 19.  She is now 22 and the adoptive mother of 14 little girls.  That does not tell the half of it.  Her story is truly inspirational and now she has written a book.  I highly recommend you watch the promotional video on the Kisses for Katie page at Amazon.

Kelly told me about this book last night.  The whole family had a wonderful talk about it.  The following quote is the first paragraph from the book’s foreword by Beth Clark:

People who really want to make a difference in the world usually do it in one way or another, and I’ve noticed something about people who make a difference in the world: They hold the unshakable conviction that individuals are extremely important, and that every life matters.  They get excited over one smile.  They are willing to feed one stomach, educate one mind, and treat one wound. They aren’t determined to revolutionize the world all at once; they’re satisfied with small changes. Over time, though, the small changes add up.  Over time, though, the small changes add up.  Sometimes the even transform cities and nations, and yes, the world.

The whole family talked about this last night.  Lorena and I plan to talk more about what we will do as the kids move on to college.  Kelly expressed the thought that she was not doing enough and felt a little condemned by the whole topic.  I felt the same way.  The reality is that none of us are ever doing enough.  The truth of her statement, though, is that we tend to focus on ourselves.  With all our college entrance stuff, we have remained focused on ourselves and not others.  We all agreed the best things we have done, the things that brought us the greatest sense of accomplishment and joy, were tied to the times when we saw someone’s specific need and worked to help them.

We live in a narcissistic, Facebook obsessed world where everyone wants everyone else to know about the great things they do.  We decided that we did not want to feel bad about what we have not done.  Even that is narcissistic.  It is better to do something.  Katie Davis wrote this book.  She is currently touring the US talking about what she does and the needs and plans of her ministry.  It this brings attention to Katie Davis for a short period, but, at the end of her tour, she will go back to Uganda and be a mother to 14 little girls.  There is not a lot of glamor in that.  There is a lot of very hard work and heart break associated with her day to day life.  But there is a lot of joy, too.  I think the part I like best is that none of what she says or does is about her.  Read the book.  Read the blog.

Update:  Lorena just texted me to remind me that the narcissism extends well beyond Facebook to include many, many blogs, probably including this one in particular.

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