Assigned Reading: Links for Thought
Things have been very busy these days, which I'm going to use as an excuse for posting a bit inconsistently. Every class I have has multiple quizzes and assignments that are overlapping and it's causing me great misery. Whatever happened to mid-terms? When did these go out of fashion in favour of mini-midterms disguised as quizzes and presentations worth almost a quarter of your grade?
Anyway, I thought I'd post some links to a couple of articles that have me thinking. I've got longer responses to each of them in the pipeline but I figured I'd share early.
I think about this one every time I see a first-year student fresh out of high school considering dropping a course because they got a bad mark on their first assignment.
When I first read this one I wanted to comment so badly "Move to Alberta!" but at the same time I understand wanting to be able to make a living where you choose to live. But seriously, this dude should move to Alberta. Aside from this, the point that had me saying "Amen!" was the advice to 18 year olds to take a year off before going to university. I wish I had taken a year off (or 5) but I'm not sure my 17 year old self would have listened. She was pretty ambitious and stubborn.
Alright, language nerds. Go to town on this one. My grammar class last term had this very debate and I still don't know how I feel about it. I wrote my paper on whether or not 'slut' could be reclaimed and one of my arguments was that it had a better chance at reclamation because it didn't specifically refer to femaleness the way that 'cunt' does. Ugh. I actually just had a visceral reaction typing the word. Why?
Thoughts? Feelings? Deep need to discuss over beer? Feel free to leave a comment.
Also, you can now follow Over/Undergrad on Twitter! Ah technology....
So, all I read was the Gen Y article, because that's what interested me the most.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is what I have to say: "Yes, you should be able to live where you want, but then that doesn't mean you should be able to find a job there." The job market and a person's desire as to where they want to live, do not always align. How many people have been sucked into Fort Mac because they want to live there? I'm guessing only a handful.
Despite what this article says, Gen Y does want everything and they do want it now. They just expect they're going to be superstars and get these amazing jobs. Or they lack the ambition to get amazing jobs because they think it will just land on their overly expensive Vancouver doorstep.
This guy has a resume with 18 service jobs when he's looking for a career in communications. That doesn't show ambition or dedication. That shows laziness. Ambition would be moving to Alberta and getting five to ten years of solid experience. Dedication would be moving back to Vancouver with that experience and getting yourself a real job. If he would have followed that plan, he'd be back in Van by the time he was 30. He still wouldn't own a highly overpriced home, but at least it would be closer to achieving his goals.
Game plan, people. That's what you need!
Yeah, I could rant about this over a beer...
I know, hunh? That's what I was thinking too. Sometimes you have to move where the job is to get some experience first and then go back to where you want to live.
DeleteThis article also made me a little terrified as someone who is starting all over. I know I'm not exactly starting from scratch but I really did think I'd be a bit more ahead of where I am at the age that I am.