let me rant

Give that teacher a little more credit-I think he had the staright scoop on this farming thing; the only way you can become a real farmer today is to be born into it (inherit it), hit the lottery, or be so deep in debt that your kid's kid's kid's will never finish paying off your loans.

Let"s see how did that work out, I wonder. Let me see if I can remember back.....

Ran my own landscaping business to pay for college complete with several part time employees.
Got a BS in EE in 4 years not 5 years as some take.
Last two years of college worked 20 hours on campus took full compliment of course work and came home to work on the lanscaping business to get it going in the spring or to wind it down in the fall.
Worked as an EE for several years made the switch to IT and became the IT manager where I work and now the head of a new business unit.

And after all of that there are those who I work around me who still think I am "dumb as dirt" as a matter of fact I was recently paid a compliment and told to my face "that you will be nothing more than a dumb old farmer" to which I replied "thanks for the compliment". Shut them up real quick. I guess if you don"t play golf, follow sports, and take your car to the mechanic for everything you are classed as being "dumb as dirt". If that is the case then I"ll admit it I am nothing but a dumb old farmer and after being raised by the same (who were the brightest bunch of people I have EVER known) I will rest happy in the fact that this is all I am since I do not fit the standard cookie cutter mold.

While a teacher should NEVER discourage any one from following their dreams he was most likely speaking the cold hard truth.

To me a farmer is one that makes a living at farming or at least a very big portion of his living. A person that lives on a small farm is a hobbyist. It would compare to some one that does woodworking in his garage for personal use or friends. He is no more a cabinet maker than some one that part times farms is a farmer.

What your teacher was telling you is it is a VERY hard life as a true farmer and most go under now a days. I went threw this same decision 25 years ago when I got out of school. Should I follow my family roots and milk 125 cows a day or raise 2 cows for my personal use. With things the way they are today it is getting where the family farm is a thing of the past or fast becoming that. Yes there are those that hold on but for the most part farming is for the mega big owners that do not even know how to drive a tractor.

To put it into a better prospective I have a son that asked about farming a few years ago when milk prices started to rise. I told him the same thing your teacher was most likely trying to get across to you.

Family farming is a great life. You can instill more family values into your children and work together. You can live the slower pace of life that comes with farming.

But on the other hand it is a very hard life and one mistake or a bad year and you are then watching every thing you own being sold at a farm sale. You will need to go in debt to the tune of $1M for the rest of your life and if you make it you die a rich man.

While I wish he could become a farmer I am glad he got his education so he can work for some one else and have days off/vacation/sick leave/ect so that he can enjoy his off time raising cows; planting a garden; and general hobby farming.

I am glad you have achieved the things in life that now allow you to do what makes you happy.
Merry Christmas
John

In the REAL world, an engineering degree should carry no more weight than any other piece of paper, UNTILL the holder of that diploma "earns his stripes"

I graduated with a degree in Ag economics from Purdue University. Does that qualify me as an Agricultural Economist? Not in my eyes, it doesn't. It means I had the TOOLS with which to work my way into that title.

My college years were spent partying and studying just enough to keep my GPA high enough that mom and dad wouldn't have a fit. Same applies to a great deal of college students.

Then, one day after graduation, they get a lap-top and a title, and start telling experienced, qualified "hands on" employees how to do their jobs....

This "promote by the numbers" system is leading us further into the mass exodus of good jobs from the U.S. An equally qualified workforce is just as easy to find in other parts of the world, even though we have a more "educated" pool of candidates to draw from.

End of rant.....for now! John

I myself went to Rose-Hulman and got a worthless degree in Computer Science minor in Economics...

if you take what I made my most money working at I am an Assistant Rural Carrier.--- $12/hr :)
I farm full time -- paid $0 2yrs ago I substitute teach --- $50/day :)

as you can see. I aint no Econommist and I cant even make this machine do what its suppose to LOL

We have that too. Internship (Coop) We bring in soph's and jr's and work 6 mos and back to school for a semester. Making some fine engr's.

Mark

First, let me say that the effective teacher keeps his or her kids off balance all of the time. Kids work to restore their equilibrium and learn while doing so. Teaching is a series of encounters and opportunities with young people and kids are not blocks of steel. What works with one won't work the same with another.

Some kids need to be told they can do more. Some need to be toned down to face reality. A teacher makes dozens of decisions like these every day and they are often right, because the teacher, like the farmer, observes the kids and keeps track not only of how they are doing but has a mental path ahead for the kid's growth.

Of course that path involves making the kid into a smaller version of the teacher, only without the warts. This is one of the abuses of power that the reflective teacher will catch onto and learn to avoid.

The biggest abuse I have seen in my teaching career, though, has to do with kids' dreams, and so I join your rant: a virus is sneaking into kids' thinking that everyone can do whatever he/she wants, all she has to do is want it really bad. You know that the actual dream involves hard work, smarts, and some luck, but the kids of today seem to have not learned about the effort part. This leaves them with a sense of entitlement quite at odds with their willingness to work to improve their lot. I'm not talking about all kids by any means, but I spent the last two years of my career with a number of self-satisfied underachievers. I often likened teaching these individuals (and dealing with their parents) to pushing a rope uphill.

Motivational speakers show up at the school and preach the you-can-do-anything myth and nobody smells a rat. This in a time when it costs at least $16,000 per year for university. When families can't afford the cost -- 16% tax deduction, eh?-- it must be the kid's fault because everybody-can-do-anything, right? The neo-conservatives have cut public funding to where education is only for the well-to do and they've convinced those who can't afford it that they are themselves to blame. This strikes me as the worst sort of dishonesty.

Not really,1/2 of my gross income came from farming. 55 acres rowcrop,20 acres alfalfa,20+ stock cows. My uncle supplemented his income very nicely with about 4 acres of truck garden.So dont really know what you can or cant call a farm.

steveormary