university?

Alright well that's it. People are officially stupid. Let's start with people and their snide comments about me not going to university this semester. First of all, I am taking a course at UofC, and it's a real course, it is required for a degree. Why should it matter to you that I'm not in school, and why should I be any different than you. I didn't look down on those people who decided that they wouldn't start university after high school because that was their choice and they had reasons for doing so.

Now, we must move on to the topic of college versus university. I am told that if college had the same standing as university that nobody would ever go to university. I doubt that is true because how would one become a airline pilot without going to a college (at least in Alberta). What is the point of going through all those business course to be an accountant if one can become a CGA if they take courses/pass exams. People go to university because they want a B.A., B.Sc.,B.S.W., nursing degrees and even for some odd reason B.Com. I know a few people that have gone to colleges (gasp!) so they could be in smaller classes for their first year or two and then they have continued on to university from their transfer programs.

Since college is that much cheaper why would anybody who could go into a transfer program want to even think of doing first year at a university? The answer has something to do with people not being sane from one analysis or not caring that they are spending double for two years. I imagine that most people don't care about spending double or think that they will be better off if they go to university for the whole time. They don't do better. The transfer students overall get higher than average grades through all their years of school, not just their so-called "easy" college year(s). I guess people who go to college for the star of their degree are smarter since they don't spend as much money and mostly get better grades.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I think that people should not judge everybody by what they thought before they found out about the person. Like B.A. students shouldn't be judged by business and science students as being lazy. Sure most "Arts" classes don't have labs but that doesn't mean they are easier than science class, in fact, having taken both varieties of classes as well as engineering classes, I would say that arts classes are more challenging because you have to write essays and opinions. Science and Engineering labs and assignments are formulaic, once you know it then you can write a good lab that will get you above average marks. Essays are different every time you one. Opinions are some of the hardest things to get from people once they are prompted for one. Many people can and will tell you all their opinions if you never ask about them, but not many of those people can provide you with an opinion on a specific subject. (I know some people will disagree, but I know quite a few science students and even some engineering students who will agree with me about essays.)

This little rant has been brought to you by the January 27th post on this page, and the comments attached to that post. And for the record entrance marks mean dick all about how smart somebody is. I didn't do anything for most of high school (and first year engg come to think of it) and I did fine, as many people who know me can attest, but I could still get into Queens, UBC, UofA, McGill, Carleton, UofT, and even Waterloo, with those grades. Why on earth would somebody in their right mind go to the University of Calgary for engineering when they could get into those schools, it is only ranked 11th in Canada according to Gourman Report from 1999. You know why because all engineering degrees are going to get me to the same place and UofC has one of the most respected internship programs in Canada. That's right it will give me my P. Eng. and then will it really matter if I spend way more money going east? No, it won't.

I think that is enough for now. I'm sure the comments will flow from this because people are protective of their Ivory Tower universities which somehow in their minds rule the world, and can not under any circumstances be compared to colleges.

Song: Watch This - Swollen Members, In the City - Milton
Book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon