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Post by SlayerLV on Mar 10, 2007 2:52:22 GMT -5
Let's see at the moment I'm a cashier at a grocery store but also work at the service desk there.
Right now I'm taking a year off after graduating last year and plan to start college in the fall. I'm going to be going to college for law enforcement.
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The Batboy
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Post by The Batboy on Mar 10, 2007 2:54:11 GMT -5
Let's see at the moment I'm a cashier at a grocery store but also work at the service desk there. Right now I'm taking a year off after graduating last year and plan to start college in the fall. I'm going to be going to college for law enforcement. I really wanna take a year off, but I'm afraid if I do I won't want to go back. And plus my parents think its a bad idea, but I dunno... I really want that break.
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gerry
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Post by gerry on Mar 10, 2007 3:08:05 GMT -5
A year off from high school to college:
My advice: don't do it. A lot of people I know that took a year off from school after high school never got back into education. They ended up never going back to school and riding out their work life from bag boy to cashier.
My personal advice is to take at least one class from a community school.
Of course this is coming from a person that enjoys learning new things more than almost anything else.
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The Batboy
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Post by The Batboy on Mar 10, 2007 3:17:05 GMT -5
That is the one thing that scares me, I don't want to just end up staying at Dairy Queen, but I don't know... I want to go into the arts, so I may just take a small break and do some art classes at the college before I go into the Degree programe.
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gerry
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Post by gerry on Mar 10, 2007 4:45:11 GMT -5
That is the one thing that scares me, I don't want to just end up staying at Dairy Queen, but I don't know... I want to go into the arts, so I may just take a small break and do some art classes at the college before I go into the Degree programe. I have some friends that are going into (or trying to go into) more artistic fields of employment. From what I can gather from them the foot in the door is an internship. Most companies hire on their interns to work for them. And to get an internship, most people do it through their school. I have also had friends create online portfolios of their work to shop around, but they have had much less success. Of course I am speaking of anecdotes, so really I have no real idea of what is going on, I am just relaying what some friends have gone through.
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Post by shep on Mar 10, 2007 7:06:15 GMT -5
I took two years out when I finished college because I was fed up of studying. Thejob I had was a care assitant in a Hospital. In the end I just got fed up of the job as it wasn't making my brain work, and I wanted something more. Thats when I applied to do nurse training. I had to take a cut in money but my parents were supportive and helped me out when I needed so it worked out for the best. The thing is at the time I never intented to take some time out and go back to eduaction, as far as I was concerned I just wanted a job with some money and have no learning to do! You have to decide if you are strong enough/dedicated to go back to school after your time out - you can get used to a regular wage and you never go back!
Ali x
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Post by madvicks on Mar 10, 2007 7:40:08 GMT -5
Wow, it sounds like Psychology in England is the OPPOSITE of what it is in the United States. Here it an introductory psychology course addresses the theories about child development and the various stages of brain and social development throughout our lives. My high school psychology course was my very favorite class that I took in all of my pre-college years in school. It had more practical application to real life than anything else I studied. It didn't have any math until I studied it at the graduate (post college level). At that point, there was just some rudimentary statistics. In a word: No. I was saying to an American friend last weekend, we have a tendency to do a lot of things half-assed over here and this is an example. Instead of actually doing some of the interesting stuff, to get students used to what Psychology is about the course doesn't. One of the major components is the research/statistics side which comes as a shock as most student's think they are going to be learning about the brain. In the first year, a bit is studied on racism, sleep patterns (which although it sounds interesting is actually on a biochemical level), some comparative stuff, which should be fun and isn't. Basically, the A level course isn't Psychology, its a mismatch of Biology, Chemistry and Sociology. Its more contextual over here, you actually get to do practical investigations using the theory you have learned. I have a love of Chemistry because I had a fantastic Chemistry GCSE and A Level teacher, and without being big-headed I pass on my enthusiasm for it too. We learn about the alkanes and alkenes, alcohols, ketones, bonding, mass spectroscopy, molecular arrangements etc, approached the right way, it is a hell of a lot of fun, especially when you get the molecular molecule models out. There are a lot of difference curriculum wise. For example the Science GCSE curriculum has just been overhauled allegedly to explain "How Science Works", that's rubbish. Content has been upped, it is more prescriptive, there is less opportunity to do practical investigations and they have removed some of the important Biology such as the heart, digestive system, respiratory system etc you know the stuff that you need to be a doctor and replaced it with wishy-washy no content fact recall stuff on gene therapy and how many times does a Post-It note stick before it loses its stickiness? I kid you not. Plus, we assess using get this, multiple-guess examinations. Know nothing, have a guess and still come out with a grade C! Then the Government wonders why standards are slipping. Can you tell I have taken issue with it all? As a teacher I am really frustrated!
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stakey
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Post by stakey on Mar 10, 2007 7:52:29 GMT -5
madvicks thats such a shame about the biology and how they have removed so much of the fun stuff. Well personally I found it fun...learning about the heart and respiratory systems etc...its ridiculous they have removed it!!! I just feel sorry for my little sister going into high school next year....all the courses will be a complete yawn fest. Labour really are driving this country into the ground.
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Post by Girl Power on Mar 10, 2007 10:29:34 GMT -5
Wow, so the UK has set government standards for what they teach in each subject in high school?
That is so different! In the U.S., it is a lot more individual in each school district, school, and classroom.
Biology for me had a lot more to do with putting together a really detailed insect collection (one third of our grade) and a frog practicum where we had to identify every part of every system inside frogs. Having to kill and identify a bunch of insects for a major part of our grade was so insulting and ridiculous. What a waste of time.
I took a genetics class in college that I adored. I always liked the genetics part of biology the best. It seemed the most pertinent to my actual life. I think that high school classes should be more pertinent to kid's lives. It sounds like the chemistry ones over there are more than over here.
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Post by madvicks on Mar 10, 2007 11:19:27 GMT -5
The Government prescribes content that has to be covered by law for different subjects, they call them the National Curriculum. Not every subject has a solid stone curriculum written out, some just have content that should be covered.
The core subjects (English, Maths, Science) also have an additional board called the QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority) who also regulate what we teach and how.
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Post by shep on Mar 11, 2007 16:53:38 GMT -5
Vicks - what uni did you do your degree at?
I dont know how you can teach teenagers, they must be very hard work. If I went into teaching I think I would go into teaching primary school age. I can imagine that its a very time consuming job because of the lesson planning, marking, audits, etc.... I admire you for doing this stressful job, and I am sure that some pupils are grateful because you are helping them to eventually get into their chosen profession. Im sure not all of them see it that way though.
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Post by madvicks on Mar 11, 2007 17:24:13 GMT -5
Vicks - what uni did you do your degree at? The University of Birmingham... Such a quality establishment the second marker on my final, major assessment fell asleep and missed my presentation! He flew in on a red eye from the US and had a long day. He then gave me a crap mark! Oh, you are so sweet! They can be very trying and nope most of them don't see me as helping but more as the wicked witch. When I first started teaching I did kickboxing so that helped with the frustration, after 5 years now I'm becoming more complacent with the attitude of some of the students. Some are real sweethearts, I wanted to keep (in a good way) one of my A level Biology students from last year, he was a darling and got into Oxford!
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Post by shep on Mar 15, 2007 10:49:55 GMT -5
Vicks - Do school teachers still ask you to cover your books to protect them? with wallpaper or posters? I know its a strange question but I got so fed up of covering my exercise books!
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Post by madvicks on Mar 15, 2007 10:54:48 GMT -5
Nah... Some kids will do so they can identify their books easier, some even go to Smith's etc to buy matching plastic book covers, most just cover then in graffiti!
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grave
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Post by grave on Mar 15, 2007 11:26:36 GMT -5
Well, here is my piece: My name is Chris and i'm 18. I used to live in UK but moved to Canada in August 2003. I started high school a few months in (October I think). It was OK, but was not as good as my old school. The teachers were nice, but hey we all need an education. Since then, I've graduated and I am now in 1st of college. I went straight in -- no breaks no nothing. Its easier; trust me having time off and not studying and just messing around in the summer is great, but its not going to pay the bills when you're older I am taking Chemistry as my major, and i LOVE it. It is hard sometimes as this semester is learning new stuff and developing what we did last semester. 2nd year i have organic, physical chemitry and some others.... Not really too excited about the Organic but I'm going to read some background info on it before I start again after the summer. The program is 3 years, and there are LOADS of opportunities after. I'm (hopefully) going to university for either my biology-chem degree, or just my chem degree. If i chose the bio type, I have to take a short summer class to be accepted into the bio programs etc. Well, that is school, now on to work. I work at a place called TIM HORTONS. Its a coffee shop, just like Starbucks -- just only way cheaper lol. www.timhortons.com ... I have been working there for over a year now, and I'm a trainer. I get to train all the new people that come to the different stores. Its an OK for a college student..... takes a 3 min drive and most of the people are nice. The money that I get from this goes straight into my account. Some is saved for college etc and the other is just there for speing if I ever go out. College for me is almost $3000 for the first year, and then about $2600 for the other two. This include all my books, tuition parking etc etc. I have to save like crazy for it, but I know that my parents are proud of me for paying for it by myself
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