Lifestyle > Train of Thought
Incompetence rules...
Elevz:
For another 48 hours I won't be having any time to get back at you, but I'll answer all your questions on Friday morning :P
Kill:
--- Quote from: Eleven 2 Three on March 12, 2008, 02:50:43 AM ---For another 48 hours I won't be having any time to get back at you, but I'll answer all your questions on Friday morning :P
--- End quote ---
lol, that's cool
Elevz:
In fact, I may just chop my time into pieces and answer your questions in small bits. Let's start in a logical order for the answers.
--- Quote from: Kill on March 11, 2008, 01:39:44 PM ---
--- Quote ---Only in recent years I've started to recover from that depraved morality and its consequences...
--- End quote ---
Would you mind outlining what you mean by that? I mean, I do think we have/had similar experiences there...
--- End quote ---
The western part of the country is where the major cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague are. I grew up in the east, among socialists, farmers and conservatives. I was basically bored to death in primary school, as the teachers put all their efforts into making sure everyone in my class could understand the lessons. It required endless repeating of the same explanations, and really, after the 25th time of explaining the workings of a long division, you'll really, really feel bored when you readily understood it the very first time. The teachers didn't pay it any mind, so I started tinkering until the drawer of my table was stuffed with my creative findings, which ultimately, the teachers took from me.
High school wasn't much different. As a freshman, my grades were amazing. That's when I stopped bothering, because everything was too easy. Combine that with the eastern mentality, which focuses on practical things rather than theoretical things, and I quit caring for ending up at a university. I thought I'd enjoy things a great deal better when I could actually see and feel the results of my work. Business, writing, whatever it would be. A lack of challenge at the intellectual side, and a lack of motivation at the cultural/social side...
I descended in school level, from VWO/gymnasium level to "havo" (Higher General Continued Education) one level below that. To keep it short: I had a hard time coming back from that, basically because the system wasn't designed for making quick advancements. I still struggled to make my way through HBO (Higher Professional Education, which is what I meant by college: it's a so called "practical university"), basically because there's no mental challenges in it at all. They don't expect you to be interested in the subject matter at all, and they don't aim for shaping interests either. My first year in HBO College was a miserable failure, so I changed studies to HBO Communications, which was enjoyable but far too easy. Through my HBO propedeutical diploma, I managed to enroll in Utrecht at the University of Utrecht. But really, what if I personally hadn't been able to find inspiration through reading scientific works as a hobby? In no way would I have been able to climb back up on that educational ladder. The whole system wasn't designed for challenging and getting the best of people. You get a degree and it must match certain criteria, that's all.
--- Quote ---But maybe you can answer some questions I got, out of mere interest:
- What university is this? (just curious)
- What exactly are your studies?
- You mentioned "college", "university college" and "university"...since I have no idea of the Dutch system how's that work then?
--- End quote ---
Anyway, I'm now attending the University of Utrecht, which is supposedly the seventh best university in Europe and #1 in The Netherlands. That's basically because there have been a couple Nobel Prize winners connected to the university throughout the years. When I mentioned University College, I was referring to the Honors College of the University of Utrecht, which does seem like a great institute on the outside. I wouldn't know what they're like on the inside, but one thing's for certain: you'd have to be damn near genius to make it in there, and certainly they wouldn't allow someone with my background in.
Anyway, to summarize the system:
- There's the MBO (middle-level vocational training) for people who want to become a secretary, or a butcher, or a car technician. A finished MBO-degree gives you the ability to enroll for HBO. People usually start their MBO around the age of 16/17, and finish around 19/20.
- There's the HBO/College/Practical Universities (higher professional education) for people who want to become an accountant, or a nurse, or a communications advisor in my case. A HBO propedeutical diploma (= having fully completed the first year of HBO) gives you the ability to enroll at a university. People usually start their HBO around the age of 17/18 and finish around 21/22. A fully completed HBO education gives someone a BA-title. To get their masters, they'll have to attend a university next, after first going through another transmission year.
- (Theoretical) Universities are basically for those who have finished high school at the highest level. They deal in BA and MA degrees, studying subject matters such as Law, Literature, Psychology or Physics.
- University College is basically a universitary institute for those who are to graduate with high honours. The subject matter is comparable to a traditional university, but the type of education they provide for students is way more exclusive and going way deeper.
Shit, I'm wasting the time that I should be spending studying... lol. I'll come back with more later!
Kill:
--- Quote from: Eleven 2 Three on March 12, 2008, 04:31:57 AM ---Shit, I'm wasting the time that I should be spending studying... lol. I'll come back with more later!
--- End quote ---
yeah, you're a lazy fuck. Nah seriously, I appreciate your detailed answers, it's an interesting topic. So props 8)
Joe Bonanno:
^^i just now realized thats the chick from jefferson airplane :P
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