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The More Things Change...

Author: paul
Date: 1999-08-27 18:20

...the more they stay the same.

They did the same idiotic stuff 20 years ago for the same reasons. Been there, done that when I was in high school. The UIL competitions can be excruciating on all kinds of competitive areas, including sports, music, art, mathematics, forensics (debate, speech, etc.), foreign language, and much more. A typical US high school student who is aspiring to be competitive for college must have high grades in all studies (honors courses were starting to become mandatory back when I was in high school), lots of expertise and awards in extracurricular activities (such as the above mentioned UIL competitions), community service awards, recommendations from instructors and mentors in the education industry, and recommendations from neighbors and employers. Yes, the kids have to be employed, too. That's a lot of pressure to perform, just to get into college.

However, if I didn't have all of this going for me, I wouldn't have survived the rigors of an engineering degree in college. I learned the value of hard work on all fronts. I learned how to dig ditches and swing a 16 pound sledge hammer as a roughneck (oilfield worker) during the summers to earn the money for the next year of college. Yes, it was difficult, because I also learned how to fail and recover from it. When others quit, I persevered. It took me 5 and 1/2 years to earn my engineering degree. I've never looked back.

That's the goal of this game. Can you persevere in the face of undaunting competition? Can you survive in the jungle of professional rivalry? Can you work harder and think smarter than all of your peers? Can you quickly learn and adapt to new situations and still come out smelling like a rose instead of its fertilizer? That's what this process is all about. It's supposed to bring out the best in prospective college students and future white collar workers.

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