On Sex Education and Underachivement (Unrelated...)
First, in Mommy news, Atticus and I had One Of Those Conversations in the B&N bathroom today. To set the scene, I am on the potty and Atticus is in his stroller:
Atticus: Mommy, where's penis?
Me: Um...I don't have one, baby. I'm a girl. Boys like you have penises. Girls don't.
Atticus: No penis?
Me: No penis.
I finish my business.
Atticus: Good job, Mommy! You did it! Yay!
Me: Thank you, Atticus.
Atticus: Yay, Mommy!
Me: Um, Thanks.
Atticus: Yay!
Me: Okay...that's enough...
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When I was in high school I wanted to take auto shop. I signed up for it and everything. I was soon called in to see the counselor, who informed me that "Auto shop is not an appropriate class for a college-bound student." I protested by asking what I should do if my car breaks down on the way to college, but I was trumped with "You don't understand. Do you know what kind of people take auto shop?" People who want to learn to fix cars, I asked? But to no avail. I was unceremoniously dropped from auto shop and put into psychology class instead.
Here's another quick story. My friend, Paloma, works for Nickelodeon doing all kinds of super-cool things. I told her once that I thought the coolest job would be to watch hours of TV and put together those clever ads for the shows where the the announcer and the characters seem to be reacting to what the announcer is saying. And I asked her how long someone would have to work at Nick to be able to do that. And she said, "That's a Production Assistant job. I could help you get that job now." And it occurred to me that, if I was in a position to run off to New York, that I would be able to essentially work an entry-level job every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy.
So here's the point: to my counselor, my desire to set aside the pre-Liberal Arts bullcrap and just learn to do something freakin' useful for a change was poo-pooed as underachievement at best, flat-out rebellion at worst. So I gave up the fight and spent the next several years bouncing around the Liberal Arts college at NMSU trying to find something I could do. But the problem is a liberal arts education really doesn't give you any sort of practical skill set, at least none I would want to use on a daily basis.
In my effort to put my education to good use - and to kill some time until I figured out what I want to do - I decided to spend a couple of years teaching. Basically, it was my brand of civil service: I wasn't about to join the army, so public education seemed like a comparably noble place to spend a few years. And then somehow I forgot that I never meant for this to become a permanent career. And now, with this back in the forefront of my mind, I do not feel like a failure anymore. I just feel like its time for my tour of duty to come to an end.
And I've learned a couple of valuable things: most notably, of course, is that No Child Left Behind is the work of satan and that it cannot be fought by the people inside the system. So as soon as I'm out I'm going to devote considerably energy fighting it on behalf of my son and his peers.
Secondly, I've learned that I freakin' hate managing stuff. I hate managing people especially. My favorite job ever, as I might have mentioned, was my job in the archives. And for a long time I thought it was specifically because archive work was cool. But my job at the archives was to basically come in and do stuff. And was basically simple stuff like develop photos or work on Photoshop or catalog pictures. And no one's entire life or future depended on it, and if I didn't quite finish what I was working on one day it didn't really matter too much most of the time and when there were deadlines - like around Homecoming - it was actually totally within the realm of possibilty to finish the project assigned and the effort was well-spent because people were appreciative and happy.
And the point of the stories I started this rant with illustrate this trait of mine - underachievement or not, I'm happiest when just doing stuff and not so much when I'm doing what is expected of a "college-bound" (or now "overeducated-academic-type") person.
So, my fellow "overeducated-academic-types," will you still love me if I go back to EP Communiy College and get my Media Production Associates so I can actually have a creative, marketable skill set, or will you tell me I'm wasting my education and my potential on something the kind of people who take auto shop could do?
Atticus: Mommy, where's penis?
Me: Um...I don't have one, baby. I'm a girl. Boys like you have penises. Girls don't.
Atticus: No penis?
Me: No penis.
I finish my business.
Atticus: Good job, Mommy! You did it! Yay!
Me: Thank you, Atticus.
Atticus: Yay, Mommy!
Me: Um, Thanks.
Atticus: Yay!
Me: Okay...that's enough...
******************************************************************************
When I was in high school I wanted to take auto shop. I signed up for it and everything. I was soon called in to see the counselor, who informed me that "Auto shop is not an appropriate class for a college-bound student." I protested by asking what I should do if my car breaks down on the way to college, but I was trumped with "You don't understand. Do you know what kind of people take auto shop?" People who want to learn to fix cars, I asked? But to no avail. I was unceremoniously dropped from auto shop and put into psychology class instead.
Here's another quick story. My friend, Paloma, works for Nickelodeon doing all kinds of super-cool things. I told her once that I thought the coolest job would be to watch hours of TV and put together those clever ads for the shows where the the announcer and the characters seem to be reacting to what the announcer is saying. And I asked her how long someone would have to work at Nick to be able to do that. And she said, "That's a Production Assistant job. I could help you get that job now." And it occurred to me that, if I was in a position to run off to New York, that I would be able to essentially work an entry-level job every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy.
So here's the point: to my counselor, my desire to set aside the pre-Liberal Arts bullcrap and just learn to do something freakin' useful for a change was poo-pooed as underachievement at best, flat-out rebellion at worst. So I gave up the fight and spent the next several years bouncing around the Liberal Arts college at NMSU trying to find something I could do. But the problem is a liberal arts education really doesn't give you any sort of practical skill set, at least none I would want to use on a daily basis.
In my effort to put my education to good use - and to kill some time until I figured out what I want to do - I decided to spend a couple of years teaching. Basically, it was my brand of civil service: I wasn't about to join the army, so public education seemed like a comparably noble place to spend a few years. And then somehow I forgot that I never meant for this to become a permanent career. And now, with this back in the forefront of my mind, I do not feel like a failure anymore. I just feel like its time for my tour of duty to come to an end.
And I've learned a couple of valuable things: most notably, of course, is that No Child Left Behind is the work of satan and that it cannot be fought by the people inside the system. So as soon as I'm out I'm going to devote considerably energy fighting it on behalf of my son and his peers.
Secondly, I've learned that I freakin' hate managing stuff. I hate managing people especially. My favorite job ever, as I might have mentioned, was my job in the archives. And for a long time I thought it was specifically because archive work was cool. But my job at the archives was to basically come in and do stuff. And was basically simple stuff like develop photos or work on Photoshop or catalog pictures. And no one's entire life or future depended on it, and if I didn't quite finish what I was working on one day it didn't really matter too much most of the time and when there were deadlines - like around Homecoming - it was actually totally within the realm of possibilty to finish the project assigned and the effort was well-spent because people were appreciative and happy.
And the point of the stories I started this rant with illustrate this trait of mine - underachievement or not, I'm happiest when just doing stuff and not so much when I'm doing what is expected of a "college-bound" (or now "overeducated-academic-type") person.
So, my fellow "overeducated-academic-types," will you still love me if I go back to EP Communiy College and get my Media Production Associates so I can actually have a creative, marketable skill set, or will you tell me I'm wasting my education and my potential on something the kind of people who take auto shop could do?