things you wish you had known

[Erin]

...the opportunity to listen to people thinking out loud, that you get at a university.

Or should.  People seem these days to treat it like a technical school (which is probably bad-mouthing technical school) or correspondence course or just giving you a piece of paper to take to a job interview.

(do you think that this discussion hit one of my hobby horses?)

I think I have this same horse out in my herd...

I'm not such a good example... Grade school teachers have to have a college diploma, but my husband on the other hand is a cowboy.  Very hands-on type of occupation.  Rather like desdawg described, my husband is a definate jack of all trades.
And despite what Cowboy U tries to sell, you can not learn this job in a two month course.   On the other hand, while the job itself is best learned via apprentice-type experience over many years, "book-larnin' " doesn't hurt either.
He has his Bachelor's degree in Agri-Business and has never regretted getting it.  

Formal education teaches you to think outside the box.  To realize there might be a bunch of boxes you didn't even know about.  To gain experience from far more people than you could possibly apprentice under.  And as you mentioned, Amanda, to hear others developing their own ideas that might differ dramatically from your own.  

I wish there was a school somewhere near my area that I could pick up carpentry types of classes now and again!  As it is, I just buy a lot of books.  

And from what I've heard, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity is one of the best ways to gain real building experience. Again, something that I wish was a little closer, geographically, for me...

[desdawg]

I wouldn't have minded getting some of thet thar booklarnin'. Seems like I just never had a time in my life when I could afford to sit around without an income and go to school. But it didn't turn out too bad this way.

[Okie_Bob]

Glenn, you are not going to believe this but Charles Machine Works ie: Ditchwitch in Perry, OK is a huge customer of mine! I was just up there last week in fact and have to go back up for a big meeting with the CEO and some of Her people Jan 4th to sign a huge contract!!! We are going to build an anechoic chamber for them and I represent the company that will be doing the construction plus, I represent the company that manufactures all the electronic test equipment used around and in the chamber!
SMALL WORLD Glenn!
Okie Bob

[Amanda_931]

I had to look up anechoic.

And wondered why I'd had to, after I realized it divided up an (without) echoic (echoes)

[glenn kangiser]

OK - Amanda -- I looked it up and after I found out I wondered why anyone would want one.

Bob - I have dealt with Ditch Witch since I worked maintenance, equipment operating and cable splicing for the phone company from 72 to 74.  I bought 2 R65's and still own one which may get put back together someday.  Super digging machine.  I've been into the guts of them several times and dug miles of trench and house footings  with them when I sold  and installed drip irrigation and sprinkler systems or anything else I could sell my self for.

[Okie_Bob]

Hahahahaha....guess I shouldn't have used that .50 cent word without explanation!
Thanks for looking it up Amanda.
Briefly, everyone by now has seen the little CE mark on everything electric you buy? To sell anything into European Union countries you have to have that mark which means you have tested this product and it's use will not interfer with any other electrical device nor will any other electrical device interfer with it. Clear?
To test your device to see if it meet the criteria you have to do so in, you guess it...an anecohic chamber! It's a huge cost to everyone making anything electrical being sold into the EU but, it provides some safety we get since once proven safe, we get it too!
Okie Bob