Graduation 2009

By 3:30 p.m., my son was a high school graduate.  That may not sound like a momentous event to some, but this Mom was very proud...and relieved.  Dan is a very bright young man who has too much energy to sit still in academic classes.  He'd much rather be tearing apart a car engine or jet skiing on Lake Delhi.  School has always been "optional", a bother that had to be endured.  My wish to have a child go on to college won't be realized with this child, but I also have no doubt that he'll be successful in whatever direction he chooses.  He likes to make money and has bought and sold more cars in 3 years than I've had in 30 years!  And he always makes a big profit.  He likes to work, get his hands dirty and figure out how to fix the seemingly unfixable. 

Today, I'm a proud Mom.

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Hangaku Gozen
[this is good]
The New York Times ran an interesting article (today?) about manual work, and how for many kids, especially boys, sitting in a classroom for 17 years doing nothing related to real life is unbearable. My own son struggled for years in school, not for lack of talent or intelligence, but because the traditional classroom was suffocating to him. He's finally found his groove at an alternative college, but it took him (and me) a long time to get to that place.

But your son looks terrific! Enjoy this day as a milestone for the both of you. I think every parent should get some credit for pushing her or his kid to this point of life. Congratulations to you both!
Prairie Robin
I appreciate this. I run into a few people who think that a student who is interested in a vocational future is somehow a failure. My son is very intelligent but, like the article you mention says, is bored and restless in a classroom. Real life education is what kids like him need, and I believe they'd be more successful in the real world. I'm curious about the alternative college. I'd like to know more.
Maxvan

Congratulations!

I'm fairly academic, as you know, but when I was Dan's age? I much preferred being under the hood of an Impala than going to college. This led to some expensive misadventures in trying to force me into college. Dan might really do well in a vocational school or a junior college. That's what made me into an academic. Also, no knocks on the more physical folks: a friend's kid went into automotive as a career, and is making double what any of us are making at the age of 23.

Hangaku Gozen
My son attends Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. It's known for its "teaching cohorts:" rather than having students choose individual classes that fulfill basic requirements, they choose subjects and take the selection of classes that have grouped under that subject. My son (as usual) was late in registering for his subject, so there wasn't much left. He ended up taking "Religion, Culture and Art," which was funny since he wasn't interested in religion at all. However, within that cohort he took classes in metalworking, printmaking, art history, and world religions. He unexpectedly had a very good time and became interested in Islam, the Middle East, and bicycle mechanics. Which sounds goofy, but that is really what Evergreen is about---encouraging students to explore subjects outside of the traditional academic realm. Students at the upper levels can even design their own study cohort and major with the guidance of an academic advisor, though my son seems to like international studies and being a gearhead the best. He's already modified two bicycles and rebuilt an abandoned French racing bike.

I've told him he doesn't need to go to college to be a bike mechanic, but he's so happy there I don't want him to stop. I've noticed that graduates from Evergreen seem to be free spirited and socially conscious people, which has earned the school the reputation of being a "hippie college." Students there still have to work very hard, however: my son noted a number of "slackers" dropped out after the first year when they discovered they couldn't just smoke pot and lounge around coffee shops all day. He never was much for writing papers or doing presentations in high school himself, but something about the place has changed him, much to my joy.

I don't know if your son would enjoy it as much, but I wish you both luck. He's still young and has lots of time to think about what he wants to do.

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