Day 336 of 1000

My brother-in-law, Lauro has a very important job in Mexico.  Part of the reason he got the job is that he went to a very prestigious school and studied a hard engineering degree.  The only way he could afford to go to that school was by studying very hard in high school to get a scholarship.  The scholarship required him to do work at the university while he studied which made his degree even harder.  His first job in Tijuana with a large Japanese manufacturing company was not so prestigious, but he did well there because he had already learned how to do hard stuff during his university years.

I have been talking to Kelly and Christian about this.  Right now they are starting the hardest part of difficult degrees with lots of high level math.  If they want to get through, they will have to work very, very hard and they will have to work long days.  They have done a little of that already, but nothing like what is coming.  If they do, they will not only get great degrees and open some new doors for themselves, but they will learn that the hard work is a joy onto itself.  The latter is WAY more important than the former and I want that for my kids.  It is great that they have the example of their uncle Lauro.

The funny deal is that it is never too late to start working hard on something that pushes you out of your comfort zone.  I went back for a Masters Degree when I was thirty-two and it was one of the great joys of my life.  At the time, I had regular misgivings about whether I was crazy or something.  My buddy Andrew is starting back for an awesome Masters Degree at NCSU.  He has always had an incredible work ethic, but I am sure leaving his day job to go back to school was not a comfortable decision.  Still, it is a joy to watch.  The thing that is cool is that my kids get to see examples like that.  My hope for them is that they take those examples to heart.