Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My daughter who has not turned the world on fire, has finally decided she is bored with moving from one minimum wage job to another and asked for my help to pay for her to complete a two year program in Medical Assisting at a local Community College. She told me she is finally motivated.
Because she is living at home, I have a lot of time to talk to her about her classes, teachers and fellow students. It's not a pretty story.
The main thing she talks about is how lazy the majority of the students are. They actually spend more effort trying to find ways not to do their homework, or put any effort into classroom activities, than if they just did the work. They have no respect for education, but feel they just need the piece of paper that said they passed. They fight the teachers every way they can to limit homework and difficult tests. They use peer pressure to shame students who show an interest in their studies.
The students are in their 20s and 30s, not High School age.
What causes students in career programs to do this, what goes on in their minds?
I think you aptly illustrated the problem with your story on Chris and Jerry. The same thing goes on in their minds as in Jerry's. Just an extension of what goes on in high school. They, like Jerry, consider anyone who wants to learn or who is educated is an elitist snob and then attack and put them down.
I think you aptly illustrated the problem with your story on Chris and Jerry. The same thing goes on in their minds as in Jerry's. Just an extension of what goes on in high school. They, like Jerry, consider anyone who wants to learn or who is educated is an elitist snob and then attack and put them down.
Jerry is in his forties and understands that his lack of hard work has hurt his career and paycheck. Why don't these people?
I'd argue that two year programs at community colleges aren't exactly designed for the most motivated students in the first place, but I've seen the same thing among kids at solid four year schools (though not so much at expensive private schools).
People want others to think of them as educated, but they aren't so eager to be educated, because that takes a lot more work than they thought it would before they tried it.
And people love to waste time.
I wouldn't be shocked if the average American wasted over 1000 hours watching TV or playing video games last year, and that's not counting downtime at work. Even putting half of that time into learning something would be enough to change most people's lives.
Heck, take half of the time the average Millennial spends playing video games and put it toward language study and you'll have a generation of polyglots. I'd bet that many of them could learn a new language every year with the time kids these days put into their games (I've known example of kids who put, on average, five or six hours per night into games).
Or, you know, these kids could put that effort toward school.
The students are in their 20s and 30s, not High School age.
Quote:
Originally Posted by old tired and angry
Jerry is in his forties and understands that his lack of hard work has hurt his career and paycheck. Why don't these people?
Ask Jerry when he learned it. Did he know when he was 20/30? You might think I'm joking, but I'm not. The ones who understand did the right things in high school and college. These folks didn't understand then and don't seem, from your description, to understand now.
My daughter who has not turned the world on fire, has finally decided she is bored with moving from one minimum wage job to another and asked for my help to pay for her to complete a two year program in Medical Assisting at a local Community College. She told me she is finally motivated.
Because she is living at home, I have a lot of time to talk to her about her classes, teachers and fellow students. It's not a pretty story.
The main thing she talks about is how lazy the majority of the students are. They actually spend more effort trying to find ways not to do their homework, or put any effort into classroom activities, than if they just did the work. They have no respect for education, but feel they just need the piece of paper that said they passed. They fight the teachers every way they can to limit homework and difficult tests. They use peer pressure to shame students who show an interest in their studies.
The students are in their 20s and 30s, not High School age.
What causes students in career programs to do this, what goes on in their minds?
Ah, yes. Not only do relatives and coworkers look down on one another, now we have students as well.
Hard to say what goes on in the minds of people who waste time on nonsense.
If she is going to do a 2 year program for medical assistant why wouldn't she do a 2 year RN program? She'll have so many more options and much better earnings potential.
Medical assistants don't make much money. I wouldn't do a whole associate's degree program in it. There are so many other allied health fields that pay much more and only take two years to complete. Honestly, medical assisting is not a field that attracts many intellectuals or motivated people. That's why you see so many for-profit, trade schools targeting economically disadvantaged, single moms on TV commercials with medical assisting programs.
If she is going to do a 2 year program for medical assistant why wouldn't she do a 2 year RN program? She'll have so many more options and much better earnings potential.
Yes, definitely. Or if the school offers a variety of allied health programs, why not radiology tech? Or Dental hygienist? EMT?
Medical assistants, although with low pay, generally have solid job security. They may not become wealthy (or even solid middle class), but they will always be employed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by old tired and angry
What causes students in career programs to do this, what goes on in their minds?
The short answer is that they see it as nothing more than a means to end; sit in the classroom long enough and jump through requisite hoops and wala, you have a job (or at least the proper credential[s] to get a job). And as long as they do not flunk out (that is; they can pass through with the least amount of satisfactory requirements), they are golden. For what it is worth, in terms of classroom grades, they are correct. Their experiences from clinicals will hold more weight.
The main thing she talks about is how lazy the majority of the students are. They actually spend more effort trying to find ways not to do their homework, or put any effort into classroom activities, than if they just did the work. They have no respect for education, but feel they just need the piece of paper that said they passed. They fight the teachers every way they can to limit homework and difficult tests. They use peer pressure to shame students who show an interest in their studies.
What causes students in career programs to do this, what goes on in their minds?
This is partly what disturbs me about the wages nurses make today. Are people making this career choice JUST for the money??? Because, like being a doctor or a cop or a fire-fighter, not just anybody can do it and "money" is not the right answer for nursing. So I'm not surprised that your daughter is finding a lot of lazy students.
However, most of them that do pass will not make it out on the floor.
I think what a medical assistant makes depends on where you live. I know someone who dropped a good-paying job with better benefits than she would make in the medical field in order to become a medical assistant, but she wasn't willing to re-locate to acquire it and, thus, can't find a job (too much competition here).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
