Day 67 of 1000
Andrew does it again. Here is a quote from an article for which Andrew sent me a link this morning:
Asked whether he thought computer science should start being introduced very early in kids’ educations, Gates said he actually would start with statistics.
“There’s certainly a level of complex, symbolic thinking that is valuable to be exposed to. Personally, I might put statistics in instead of geometry. I’d put statistics in before calculus,” Gates said. “Where computer science belongs in that hierarchy I don’t know.”
Kelly decided to try to get a degree in statistics about a year ago. We have wondered whether or not that is the right decision, but time after time, we run into stuff like Gates quote. Previous to that, we saw in Forbes that Irene Rosenfeld, the CEO of Kraft Foods (home to Canada’s passion–Kraft Macaroni and Cheese), received a Doctorate in Marketing and Statistics. Statistics is ubiquitous. There is a need for statisticians in virtual every field. Kelly leaned toward graduate work in Journalism after her Statistics degree, but we have seen that she has many, many more options. At one time or another we have spoken about Management, Marketing, Publishing, Sociology, Industrial Engineering, and a variety of other fields. Statistics provides a wonderful base for all of them. She still has some very hard classes to complete for her degree and we are several years off, but she has some wonderful options.
Emma took her first college statistics class as a 6 week summer school class. It about did her in! Thankfully, my sister who had just completed a semester of college stats was able to step in and quickly identify the concepts that she was having difficulty with and voila!; she ended up with a high B in the class! Interestingly, she took it AFTER Calc 400, not before. Perhaps stats would have helped Emma with Calculus had she taken it prior. Something to think about as I help Mattisse figure out her college schedule.
Wow. I remember getting beat up by stats myself and I had certainly not had Calculus 400 yet. I thought it was pretty insightful of Gates. I know that in my working life, I use stats a LOT more than any other kind of math.
Statistics was the ONLY math course that I took in PT school – actually, in all of my 5 years in college!
On another note: I may be in you guys’ neck of the woods, I think (Raleigh ?), around Cinco de Mayo next year. I am looking into taking a continuing education course for Physical Therapy at a PT clinic there. Would you and Lorena ever consider taking in a couchsurfer for the weekend? This is VERY preliminary and I was just checking out courses offered, and one happens to be in Raleigh. I am not even sure I will be registering and may attempt to get them to come to Sacramento to teach the course. There is one in Chicago in November, but going to Chicago in the winter does not appeal to me. Brrrrr!
Hey Ruthie–Keep us posted on this. Preliminarily, we have a trip to Mexico scheduled for late April/early May for an anniversary, but are not yet sure of the exact date. Chicago is definitely challenging in November.
Will do. I am hoping that they will come closer to the west coast and may even be working with them to sponsor the course here in Sacramento. Thanks!