John O. Andersen

Lucy,

> My dad is a person who has
> a natural gift for understanding and explaining history and philosophy.
He
> never went to college and is retired from the Post Office. My sister has
a
> B.A. in History and she says he knows a lot more history than she does.

For me, trying to learn something in college was like trying to drink from a
fire hydrant, and, by all traditional measures, I was a "good student"; that
is if having a four year academic scholarship is proof of that.

At any rate, I believe college degree mania is one of the biggest cons
going. In many cases, getting a degree is more an indicator of how good a
teamplayer one is rather than how much one actually learned. I have no
doubts that your dad is a better historian than your degreed sister. He
probably learns history for more authentic, long-range, and significant
reasons than just to get certified and qualify for a job. Also, his many
additional years of life give him the basis to understand history in a way
that young worldly inexperienced college students could never grasp.

>He feels embarrassed at times about his job because it's
> not prestigious and he has friends who are making a lot more money but I
am
> always telling him that what he's doing is really important for those
kids.

And someday he may be remembered fondly by many of them. But more important
than that, I'd be willing to bet he doesn't feel like a fraud. Many (not
all) people in prestigious, big money careers are plagued with such
feelings.

> Also, we
> need to get way past the idea that our talents are only utilized well if
we
> make a lot of money from them. There are so many different ways to live
> meaningfully.

Did you see my "Blue Collar Independent Scholar" article?
(http://members.xoom.com/joandersen/blcollar.html Your last two lines
summarize the message in it.

John Andersen

[email protected]

John,
I just read your Blue Collar essay and I loved it. Your story is very
interesting and I agree strongly with your message. I don't know if my dad
has reached a level of confidence yet where he values himself for who he is
completely but I would like to print up your essay and have him read it.
One side thing I thought about while reading this: with a passion for
German Literature, you must have read Goethe. I am just starting to read
him, having read some of his quotes in other books. Are there any of his
writings that you would recommend in particular? I am totally new to it.
The book I bought is Goethe The Collected Works Volume 4, From My Life
Poetry and Truth (Parts One to Three). I know I will probably lose some of
the flavor of it reading it in English but I'm afraid my German is limited to
things like, "How much does that cost?" and "Where is the bathroom?" from the
three years we lived in Germany.
As always, thanks for sharing your thoughts...

Lucy