and also this
Don't ask me about Middle and Art School.
I've spent weeks talking with him and had suspected as much all along. (Last semester was not exactly "fulfilling" though his grades were excellent.)
He has requested a one year Leave Of Absence.
He's "having too much fun" working two jobs and filming things like BMW LeMans racing cars.
He isn't sure he wants/needs to be at college.
We have talked and discussed and argued the points and agreed.
We've worked on it for weeks, but there you are.
We are, K and Middle and me, bereft over the decision making.
But he has decided, and we move on from here.
We are, each, in our own little worlds of reaction.
I've spent weeks talking with him and had suspected as much all along. (Last semester was not exactly "fulfilling" though his grades were excellent.)
He has requested a one year Leave Of Absence.
He's "having too much fun" working two jobs and filming things like BMW LeMans racing cars.
He isn't sure he wants/needs to be at college.
We have talked and discussed and argued the points and agreed.
We've worked on it for weeks, but there you are.
We are, K and Middle and me, bereft over the decision making.
But he has decided, and we move on from here.
We are, each, in our own little worlds of reaction.
It's true.
He does very fine work.
Comments
2. I'm not offering this by way of advice but I read an article (or heard an interview) a few months back profiling a very successful classical musician (or an artist. I KNOW I KNOW - details details) who reached a point in half finished studies and half arsed attempts at various things and finally sat down with his father to discuss what he should do - his father said 'enough, enough with studies and learning and posturising. You just need to do it. Go do it.'
3. So when are K and Middle setting up their company and pitching for business together?
re-evaluate at the end of the year.
B
having taught on the college level, i am now of the opinion that taking a "gap year" is very beneficial for lots of students--at all levels of talent and desire. So many--too many-- Freshmen Years are wasted money/time. Over the years, i met a very impressive bunch of 20-something Freshmen who came to college understanding how to use school to put it all together.
And, he's requesting only one year.
12 months from now, there will be a new perspective all 'round.
i understand the concern on your part...and impressed with your respect for him.
They have to find their own way. It's not our way. He's lucky to have parents who will be there to hold him up while he decides.
At least you know that it has not been a decision taken lightly for him.
I can appreciate the struggle.
So jump in and let this flow carry you where he'll take full control of what he wants to do. And in a great way.
PS I hope the English of what I wanted to say didn't ruin everything ...
Somehow I bet it all works out--with his talent and inherited genius.
Is this the same car you rode in? If so then I've got questions. At about 2:58 on the video you show three round lights on the side of the car. What are those? Lights, exhaust flames, what? and what are they for if they are lights?
Where did you get the music?
And, ultimately, what did you make this video for?
VERY WELL DONE!
Annie
I've been thinking about this the whole time I was making dinner.
My father was in the military, we moved EVERY three years. As I grew up I became leary of making long-term plans. It became a way of life I guess. Finally, when I was in Jr. High, dad retired so my sister and I could spend four years in the same school. In my senior year I became restless and had no direction.
I thought about joining the NAVY but this was the early 70's and my dad forbade me to join any branch of the service. (as a side note I later found out that HE had plans to send me to Canada to live with relatives should I be drafted! But that's another story...)
The thought of more and more school was just completely out of the question. I made really good grades but still hated the slow pace.
Had I gone to college then I doubt that I would have been a good student. Years later, when I finally did go to UCCS I was totally into it. I couldn't get enough. 16 hours per semester and a full time job.
I remember a professor asking each one of us why we were in school. I mostly remember one young man who answered honestly that he was there because his parents bribed him with a new car. He did very poorly.
I went on to get a BA. A degree that I've never really used. Most of my friends got their degrees and entered fields that had nothing to do with their degrees.
I don't know how you and K feel about higher education. You've never mentioned it when discussing Oldest. I don't know if you or K or Oldest went to college.
Does Middle have plans? Can he proceed with his plans AND go to school? Has he checked with a university counselor to see if his plans might work with a particular curriculum?
Shit! I just realized you said NOT to ask you about Middle and And School.
Uhm...never mind.
Hey, I made baked chicken parm for dinner tonight. It took a long time! :0)
To sons and college. But what I do know is that kids have their own paths and often our expectations of what we believe is the right path is in fact not st all what is right for the kids.
I took two years off before going to university and when I did go I picked major that pissed the he'll out of my parents. By the time I got my doctorate they were resigned but sure I would never find a job. They were wrong.
When I taught at Northeastern I saw this many times over. Kids took time off, switched schools and majors, and sometimes quit. Lots of successful people like Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak never finished college.
I know it is a disappointment but you have to be faithful that Middle will choose the path that is right for him.
(Even if I did end the sentence with a preposition.)
The boy has great PO TEN SHUL.
He is self motivated, creative and caring. And different! Different is good! I bet he will find he got more out of his year at Creative Academy than he now knows.
All of which you already know, but I couldn't let it be left unsaid.
xo
jbhat