Aside from learning how to open beer bottles with things other than your teeth (apparently they can chip?): I'm currently obtaining my economics degree. The funny thing is that I know that it's bullshit. Let me clarify--the classes are bullshit. Look, much of economics deals with common sense--but fleshed out into words and rigorous models. If the Gov't spends more money, what's going to happen to the interest rate? Well, we can think about it and answer the question with common sense--but economics is going to build a model that answers it on a much more "tangible" level (cue bio/chem/biophysics/physics majors laughing at "tangible" evidence in economics). NOTE: I'm not saying that the field of economics is bullshit at all, it's just that I'm not going to be furthering my education in it to get a PhD. Another reason that my classes are bullshit, at least to me, is the fact that I'm going to want to be running a large company some day in the future. Many times the path to that start in a consulting position (like Deloitte & Touche) or finance position (insert and Bulge Bracket Bank here, like BofA, Goldman, Morgan Stanley, etc) and lead to an MBA after a couple of years. So why am I saying this? To me, many people get very caught up in the actual classes themselves at university without seeing the bigger picture. I like keeping that bigger picture typed up on my wall right in front of me so I don't miss the real reason I'm going to university. The reasons we're here are different for everyone. For me, I'm not here to go through the motions of going to class. Let's face it; me saying that I've taken econometrics, macro theory, micro theory, and financial mkts & institutions are not going to help me achieve those goals I have set above. Now, you can argue--what about those basic skills that would help you land that first job? A good example is Corporate Finance--An extremely useful course if you want to go into finance. You learn how to calculate Net Present Values (NPVs) of companies and projects those companies take on, and the subtleties behind the projects. That's a good point--I'm not saying that I'm not learning in these classes, or that I'm not trying in the classes, because I'm certainly busting my ass to do the best I can in them. But what I'm trying to say is that these classes aren't the focus of my attention. Right now, the focus of my attention is: 1)Building the most wide, vast expansive network of friends (not contacts--because a contact is a contact is a contact--I won't do shit for them, and I know they won't do shit for me) from all areas, not just finance and business, that I can help--because usually when you help someone, they're going to help you back. Also from this network should come some mentors that I can talk to during tough situations. 2)Learning how to be the most socially magnetic and likable person I can possibly be--what I want to do does not require a genius, it requires someone who is likable--someone that you'd give 30 seconds of your time to to hear their pitch. Then decide if I'm an idiot or not. 3)Learning how to be a leader. 4)Learning how to learn. If I graduate being proficient in those 4 areas, I'll know that I've had a pretty good education--and that's what I'd have learned at university.
I'm about nine months away from finishing a degree in Applied Mathematics. On a macro level, I've learned how to "problem solve" -- which seems to be the buzzwords everyone uses when referring to a science degree. More than that, I've learned not to get frustrated when you can't get something right the first time, or the next twenty. On a micro level, a lot of stuff in Applied Math sucks. Most of linear algebra is pointless. Probability (real probability, not some lower div stats class) sucks dick. The only "applied" part about a lot of math is that its applied to more math. But I've learned some cool stuff too. Mathematical game theory was pretty interesting, and believe me, it's a lot more than prisoner's dilemma (I can kick the shit out of this game using nim-sum theory). Combinatorics (the mathematics of counting) gives a pretty good framework for thinking about a lot of practical, every day problems. Differential equations was awesome. Being able to prove that e^(i * pi) = -1 or the quadratic formula is kind of cool, and makes for a very lame party trick. Mostly, though, I'm pretty over doing a lot of this stuff in a vacuum without any true real world application, and am pretty eager to be done with it all.
I'm literally two weeks off a Bachelors in Aquatic biology. My skill set includes: -Wasting time doing absolutely nothing for sometimes dozens of hours at a time, which I figure qualifies me for a desk job. -Searching through dozens of scientific articles and finding the few that apply to what I'm looking at within a short timespan. (I've really gotten this skill down, my last paper had 6 sources cited and it only took me about an hour to find all of them, skim through, get the gist, and write about their relevence to my point.) -Bullshit non-scientific papers to a degree where only people more motivated to find good writing than overworked TA's can tell the difference between it and actual well thought out logic, which I figure qualifies me to write inane babble on the internet masquerading as intelligence. -Lots of experimental procedure in the lab, in the field, and at a computer. Data collection, analysis, statistical analysis, running experiments from the design and execution standpoints. Everything related to the actual execution and analysis of experiments, and lots of specifics relating to ecological and biological experiments in particular, with sterile technique and the intense anal procedure required to deal with RNA thrown in the mix. -Rationalizing paying exorbitant amounts of money for food if I only eat twice in a day. -Sleeping at work. I figure this qualifies me for being a beggar or a hobo. -Let me qualify that last point, after spending 36 hours straight working at work. I rarely see the inside of the apartment I'm paying $670 a month to theoretically sleep in. -Programming in C++ and Java. This is useful everywhere, and not just from the standpoint of having the ability to literally use computers however I want (for example, as a paperweight), it also causes you to consider problems incredibly thoroughly and completely, and to consider solutions as thoroughly and completely. -And last but not least, the fact that apparently I can easily drink beer all night, play four games of beerpong, taking two shots of rum before each game, stumble home in the rain, pass out, wake up 8 hours, puke, go to work, and take a final for a B+ grade in time to be ready to drink again by 6 PM that night, and that this fact has nothing to do with being a 21 year old at the high-point of physical condition, so clearly this will be true for ever after. I'm looking forward to being a binge-drinking grandma.
I'm with ya on this one. If was a prof and someone was reading off the slides there is no way that presentation is getting higher than a C. Focus: 2 and three-quarters through a bachelors in "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" with a minor in "Project Management" I've learned that I don't want to do anything with accounting and that my major is a bunch of bull shit. Whatever I end up doing I will have to be trained for anyways, so at this point let's enjoy the rest of the ride.
Dude , the Greeks invented sex ....... the Italians introduced it to women. My background is Greek , so I'm allowed to say that.
I am about halfway done with a Biomedical Engineering major with a Physics minor. This semester was looking around for a research position (I need to go to graduate school if I want to do anything in the Biomedical field, or get in a company due to connections.) and I talked with a few of my professors and was able to procure one. I am getting paid this summer to chill at school and help grad students out with problems I will barely understand, but still get some knowledge out of it. I only mention this because for the first time at one of the meetings the other day, one of the concepts I had learned in one of my classes came in handy to solve a problem. One of the xray tubes was being supported by a bar that was around six inches long. The grad students were taking data while rotating this apparatus around, causing the aluminum to bend, throwing off their measurements. In order to prove this to them (we are talking about movement of 100 micrometers) I was able to show them how much the aluminum bar would be strained with the weight of the x-ray apparatus on the end, and it matched up with the values they had been getting. It was one of the few points in my life where I have been glad I took a class. This wouldn't really apply in real life, but this is just one of the most recent examples I could remember where some knowledge I learned through school and classes actually was applied. And I also third the idea of powerpoint presentations. At everyone of the volunteer meetings I attend where someone does a powerpoint slide, all they end up doing is making me want to slit someones throat, not help their organization. And anal lube has and always will be spit #1.