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« Reply #15 on: November 07, 2009, 02:03:08 PM » |
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Why not let Prylet try it?
He won't listen to you for at least another 5 years, anyway.
Well, I am. But I just don't know if he knows what he's getting into with all the labs and stuff. He really is acting like me at around that age, and I just made so many mistakes. I can't remember, Prytania, but do you have a parent somewhere who would really enjoy reading this sentence? Because I think it's one of the joys of grandparenthood to hear exactly this. Ha! Like my mother ever lets me forget *anything.* Maybe she would be able to, if you sent her that sentence? |
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"My kind of paper, into lots of fiber."
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prytania3
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« Reply #16 on: November 07, 2009, 02:07:37 PM » |
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Why not let Prylet try it?
He won't listen to you for at least another 5 years, anyway.
Well, I am. But I just don't know if he knows what he's getting into with all the labs and stuff. He really is acting like me at around that age, and I just made so many mistakes. I can't remember, Prytania, but do you have a parent somewhere who would really enjoy reading this sentence? Because I think it's one of the joys of grandparenthood to hear exactly this. Ha! Like my mother ever lets me forget *anything.* Maybe she would be able to, if you sent her that sentence? And ruin her life? Don't be absurd. |
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Clowns, I tell you. Clowns.
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verbena
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« Reply #17 on: November 07, 2009, 02:09:01 PM » |
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Why not let Prylet try it?
He won't listen to you for at least another 5 years, anyway.
Well, I am. But I just don't know if he knows what he's getting into with all the labs and stuff. He really is acting like me at around that age, and I just made so many mistakes. I can't remember, Prytania, but do you have a parent somewhere who would really enjoy reading this sentence? Because I think it's one of the joys of grandparenthood to hear exactly this. Ha! Like my mother ever lets me forget *anything.* Maybe she would be able to, if you sent her that sentence? And ruin her life? Don't be absurd. Very funny. |
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"My kind of paper, into lots of fiber."
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wegie
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« Reply #18 on: November 07, 2009, 05:21:30 PM » |
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Still, I'm wondering if he's trying to scam me or if he really wants to do this, and what does one do with a degree in physics? I think he may be becoming a communist as well. He's like a young me. Science and poetry and communism, and I just want to scream, "Don't you understand--you really want to be an options trader at a large hedge fund!"
Er, and most the quants in the world have degrees in . . . Seriously. Good with his hands (welding). Good imaging capabilities (you said he was an ace photographer). Really likes science. Curious mind. He isn't going to fail out with that set of capabilities, he just needs to know what he's going to do with them! |
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the_honey_badger
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« Reply #19 on: November 07, 2009, 05:35:47 PM » |
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I just want to scream, "Don't you understand--you really want to be an options trader at a large hedge fund!" Isn't that a career path (like all others) one has to decide for oneself? I can't imagine that anyone without a burning interest in that sort of thing would make any more of a living at it than a poet in an attic somewhere. |
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"Honey badger don't care."
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wegie
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« Reply #20 on: November 07, 2009, 05:40:32 PM » |
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I just want to scream, "Don't you understand--you really want to be an options trader at a large hedge fund!" Isn't that a career path (like all others) one has to decide for oneself? I can't imagine that anyone without a burning interest in that sort of thing would make any more of a living at it than a poet in an attic somewhere. Certainly the good ones aren't coin operated (although the money is nice). Some of them are even poets . . . |
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history_grrrl
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« Reply #21 on: November 07, 2009, 05:45:14 PM » |
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Prylet sounds totally cool. We all make mistakes, and learn from them. How else would we learn? And who says they're "mistakes" anyway? Let him follow his dreams. Hell, encourage him to follow his dreams. That he has dreams in this crummy day and age practically seems like a miracle. More power to him. Power to the Prylet!
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[R]eality sometimes has a left-wing bias.
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high_energy_photons
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« Reply #22 on: November 07, 2009, 05:59:01 PM » |
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Physics is awesome, and if he decides to go that direction, it is certainly a practical dream. Physics degrees do allow an individual to be employable. Prytania, I know you are a very practical person, and physics is surprisingly practical. If he doesn't like it, he'll find out pretty quickly. If he changes his mind to go with the military option, he'll find they like the science background (even if he only takes a class or two in it).
Of course, I may be a smidge biased, but I do know several very happy physicists and individuals with degrees in physics who drifted to other fields.
Also, you mention that you made lots of mistakes when you were younger. Try to avoid projecting this on Prylet. Maybe what he is doing is a mistake, maybe not. Either way, he needs to make his own decisions and inevitable mistakes. I know my mother always wanted me to learn from her mistakes, but I learned from very few of them. She got to cringe through all the mistakes I made identical to her own. I had to learn from my own mistakes, but it helps to have a mom who went through them (I got through them a little better because of it).
Good luck to him, whatever happens. I cannot imagine how hard it must be to be a mother, but I think you both will survive.
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punchnpie
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« Reply #23 on: November 07, 2009, 07:03:22 PM » |
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Pry - My son started as a physics major. His whole high school program (gifted & talented) was geared toward getting him in to a good physics program. Fast forward about 2 terms into college and I get a phone call at work. In the middle of the day. I thought he'd had an accident, but no - "Mom, I've had an epiphany and I'm not going to do physics." Before college we had discussed that physics was going to be a long road to the PhD. He knew that's what was ahead of him and decided he couldn't take it. He still liked physics, but just not that much. My dreams of having a rocket scientist son were crushed, but I remember changing my interests a few times, shoot, I'd changed a whole career, so I didn't make a big deal out of it.
Let Prylet try it out. He may stick with it, he may decided he wants to teach it to high schoolers, he may decided that he likes it, but not enough to take it very far. It's all new; he may change his mind in another semester.
It's easy for me to talk now. Trust me, I nearly went insane when punch jr. left college - changing majors is one thing, dropping out, something completely different. I was on his back, my parents were on my back, it was a mess for years. Finally, in his 30's, he's finishing his degree, but it is because he realizes he's not going to get far without it and most especially, now that he has some real interests, that he can't go to grad school without it. I was not the best mom when it came to this. I saw a brilliant young person wasting his time. On the other hand, he worked, often at crappy jobs (which is a good thing, now he knows what crappy jobs are and doesn't want them anymore), has never been in trouble, and people like him. It was hard for me to let that be enough. Really hard.
Isn't Prylet still young? He's no where near 30, right? What's wrong with letting him try some stuff at school. Shoot, punch jr is taking acting and video classes. I could think of 30 other classes he should be taking, but hey, not my life. As long as he's not a commie, I try to let it be fine by me. : )
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What about all them other professors – ain’t they your kin? Good God, no. I loathe them and they loathe me. – Sunset Limited
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prytania3
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« Reply #24 on: November 07, 2009, 08:11:34 PM » |
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Isn't Prylet still young? He's no where near 30, right? What's wrong with letting him try some stuff at school. Shoot, punch jr is taking acting and video classes. I could think of 30 other classes he should be taking, but hey, not my life. As long as he's not a commie, I try to let it be fine by me. : )
Prylet will be 20 this week, and I'm *hoping* the hard times are behind us. But keep in mind, he's a high school drop out--he dropped out when he was 15. He did get his GED, however, and has 15 college credits. He did well on college placement tests because he is a NYC kid, and they learn how to take a standardized test. I am keeping my fingers crossed that all of this is for real. |
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« Last Edit: November 07, 2009, 08:12:18 PM by prytania3 »
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Clowns, I tell you. Clowns.
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punchnpie
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« Reply #25 on: November 07, 2009, 08:33:06 PM » |
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I am keeping my fingers crossed that all of this is for real. That's all you can do. Via his most recent job, my son has become interested in institutional research and is talking about a PhD in higher ed admin. I could just about cry with joy, but all I'm gonna do right now is keep my fingers crossed. |
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What about all them other professors – ain’t they your kin? Good God, no. I loathe them and they loathe me. – Sunset Limited
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sciencephd
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« Reply #26 on: November 07, 2009, 08:46:49 PM » |
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Time for a reality check. If he takes two years of CC courses in math and physics, then he may be ready for freshman level math and physics at Columbia. No way will this allow him to start at Columbia or a similar university as though he were coming in as a junior. Your typical physics major is in the top 1-2 percent of their high school class in math.
Is there any sign of signficant math talent ?
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I just hate it that I constantly have to like everyone and everything. -- moonstone
O, what a hateful feminist concoction!
Jews, communists, "lesbians", feminists and marihuana addicts --Pyshnov
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jackit
Uppity
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 2,702
'Til the cows drive home.
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« Reply #27 on: November 07, 2009, 09:01:01 PM » |
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Physics is probably one of the best undergraduate degrees you can get for eventually doing heavy duty data analysis and....wait for it....hedge fund trading.
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spork
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« Reply #28 on: November 07, 2009, 09:36:09 PM » |
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Isn't Prylet still young? He's no where near 30, right? What's wrong with letting him try some stuff at school. Shoot, punch jr is taking acting and video classes. I could think of 30 other classes he should be taking, but hey, not my life. As long as he's not a commie, I try to let it be fine by me. : )
Prylet will be 20 this week, and I'm *hoping* the hard times are behind us. But keep in mind, he's a high school drop out--he dropped out when he was 15. He did get his GED, however, and has 15 college credits. He did well on college placement tests because he is a NYC kid, and they learn how to take a standardized test. I am keeping my fingers crossed that all of this is for real. I think there would be a lot of benefit if the vast majority of 18 year olds went to work for 1-3 years before going to college. They'd enter college (if they chose that route) with more self-awareness and maturity. For many 18 year olds, college simply allows them to extend their adolescence into their early 20s, if not late 20s or early 30s. |
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a.k.a. gum-chewing monkey in a Tufts University jacket
"Please do not force people who are exhausted to take medication for hallucinations." -- Memo from the Chair, Department of White Privilege Studies, Fiork University
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prytania3
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« Reply #29 on: November 07, 2009, 11:42:43 PM » |
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Time for a reality check. If he takes two years of CC courses in math and physics, then he may be ready for freshman level math and physics at Columbia. No way will this allow him to start at Columbia or a similar university as though he were coming in as a junior. Your typical physics major is in the top 1-2 percent of their high school class in math.
Is there any sign of signficant math talent ?
Don't be deluded. Higher level courses at a good community college are just that--higher level. I took financial accounting at Wharton back in the day, and then I took it again at the cc where I teach. It was both better and harder at the cc. Moreover, my mother is getting her BA is at this cc (she's 78), and Columbia recruited her. At my cc, we have many grads who go on to Columbia in both math and sciences and do just fine. Ands yes, he's got math talent. And I've got pull at Columbia. All that said, I prefer he go to a state school in VA (though I can't say VA Tech thrills me) as I think 50K/year for undergraduate is stupido. |
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Clowns, I tell you. Clowns.
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