Sometimes the sequel isn’t as good as the original. In my freshman year, I earned an A in the first semester of the course, but when part two came around in the second semester, I became cocky. I missed several classes and did not complete many of the assignments. At the end of the semester, … Continue reading Second Chances
Tag: education
Shortcuts
As far as one of my professors was concerned the worst invention of all time was the Xerox machine. His reasoning: while moveable type made the wide dissemination of knowledge possible, the Xerox machine made it easy to copy information without interacting with it. “When you read a book, or listen and take notes, you … Continue reading Shortcuts
Metrics
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” – William Bruce Cameron (often attributed to Albert Einstein) Long ago, I served on a university strategic planning committee. One of our tasks was to assess the “quality” of the faculty. The problem was how to quantify quality. We decided … Continue reading Metrics
“Assimilate This!”
“Assimilate This!” In the Star Trek movie, First Contact, Worf uttered this memorable line as he fired a phaser rifle at the Borg Collective, a species that forcibly merges humans with technology and assimilates nearly everyone it encounters. However, no one wants to be assimilated. No one wants to believe “resistance is futile.” Least of … Continue reading “Assimilate This!”
Shop Class
I was required to take shop class in high school – wood shop, metal shop, and basic mechanical drawing. At the time, I wondered what use it would be to me, because even then there was talk about the coming “knowledge economy.” I had a guidance counsellor who told me that I wouldn’t need to … Continue reading Shop Class
Higher, Louder, Faster
In high school I admired trumpet players like Cat Anderson, Roy Eldridge, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Hirt, Doc Severinsen, Harry James, and of course, Maynard Ferguson. Many young trumpeters tried to play like these gentlemen, especially up high. In college, I managed to play a few of Maynard’s arrangements, sometimes even sounding a little … Continue reading Higher, Louder, Faster
The Game
When I was in college, we joked about how we had to learn “what to kiss and when.” Some of my classmates facetiously said their goal in life was to “amass great wealth and power.” Generally, we rejected the notion that college was all about making money and “climbing the ladder.” That was then. But … Continue reading The Game
Of Colleges and Kings
A family member used to say things like, “If he’s not guilty, why did they arrest him?” or “He’s guilty. What do they mean, ‘alleged’?” When I mentioned that the prosecution must provide evidence to prove the charges in court, their answer was, “Why bother? Everybody knows he did it.” Yet, accusations are not enough. … Continue reading Of Colleges and Kings
The Unthinkable
Back in college, when we discussed the influences of “nature and nurture,” genetics and upbringing, inevitably the notion of a child “raised by wolves” came up. Fictional stories like Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan or Mowgli from Kipling’s The Jungle Book made us wonder what would happen if a child was left alone in the wild. … Continue reading The Unthinkable
An Opus
I’ve always been troubled by the ending of the film, Mr. Holland’s Opus. (Warning: Spoilers ahead.) The story is about a would-be composer who became a high school band director. Mr. Holland’s time and energy were so consumed by his calling as a teacher that he put his dreams on hold. Early on, his school … Continue reading An Opus
