How many of you followed the WTS direction on education years ago and have been screwed by it?

by Julia Orwell 119 Replies latest jw friends

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  Julia Orwell

  Yeah right, everyone knows you can't work in fast food beyond the age of 18 unless you're a manager. You're too expensive to the company so they out you. These ex jws who claim they could have been brain surgeons would now be assistant managers lol.

  But really, people can be successful without tertiary education. I know heaps of trade teachers without degrees, but yes, they value trades education. My never a Jw brother never went to uni and is now a police officer. Before that he was in the army earning nearly 100k a year. He got a lot of training and certificate courses thru the army though to qualify to rise thru the ranks.

  It's a rare individual who can rise in his or her industry without education and training these days. It's getting near impossible in Australia except in mining, but who wants to go live in the outback, and retail management, which is a crap job too.
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  Julia Orwell

  Bumpin' for all the newbies! I'd love to hear your stories and perspectives on the WT's view of education or lack of education...
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  tiki

  count me in.....and i always resented it because I was a top student and could have gotten into an Ivy League school easily....ended up having to work stupid jobs in retail part-time and hated the poverty route. ended that eventually and got a decent job - and just recently completed my bachelor's degree - after all those lost years. moving into a master's program inthe spring. if kids don't have the intellect or the drive to further their education, the technical job prep trainings and apprenticeships are the way to go for sure....but for those with good minds, they should not be wasted....it is incredibly frustrating to not be intellectually fulfilled - and i grew up in the era where publications we studied were a lot meatier than the dribble they spew out now......but even so, there was no intellectual challenge whatsoever.....now it must be hundreds of times worse with this 2nd grade level stuff they are pushing.
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  Julia Orwell

  Yes it's pure fluff. But the JWs these days can't really think beyond a slogan.
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  truthsetsonefree

  I was screwed by it. I rallied and am doing okay, but I wish I had my bachelor's right now plus a masters in one of the sciences like I wanted. I'll get there but it's a challenge working it around life.

  Isaac
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  Bungi Bill

  I have said this before, but will say it again for the sake of any "newbies" listening here.

  I was prevented from attending university by direct inervention of the elders. Then -- - to compound this, 12 months later, the very same elders made me abandon my apprenticeship that I had just started. Seven years later, I started again as an adult apprentice, only this time I was married, with one dependent child and one other on its way.

  At the end of my apprenticeship, my employer offered to sponsor me through the diploma course. However, my wife of the time strongly objected that "the children needed a father." She was quite correct , of course.

  Now ... I am several months into the Advanced Diploma course.

  I will need this qualification just to retain the position that I have - and which I will need to continue working at for at least the next eight years :

  - being one of that age group who wouldl "never grow old in this system" I have #&ck -all in the way of retirement savings.

  So .... did I follow the WTS direction on education years ago an end up screwed as a consequence -- you're bloody right I did!

  Bill
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  Julia Orwell

  Yes Bill, they don't seem to understand that we are living in a world that increasingly expects its workers to be skilled and keep upgrading their skills. There's just no other way. I was working at an educational institution when the GFC hit in 2008 and we had adults crawling out of the woodwork to finish their high school certificates because they dropped out of school 20 years ago, got one of the plentiful unskilled labour/retail or hospitality jobs, and now the work is just not there anymore unless you have your school and vocational certificates. There are more applicants than there are jobs now, so if you have no skill, trade or profession, no one will even look at you.

  I'm wanting to do a master's degree, not because I need one, but just because I can do it now! No guilt.
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  Julia Orwell

  Bumping! This after hearing about ex jws who were told all their lives university/college education was selfish and wicked and pointless, but are now old and slaving away at minimum wage jobs they'll be doing 10 years after they die...
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  DisArmed

  Julia,

  Glad to see this bump. As a newbie and former lurker there are many topics I have read and did not post a reply. I was married very young. My Father-In-Law was a nonJW and a physician. He stressed education and even offered to pay for mine. Being the good JW that I was and convinced the big A was coming soon I turned him down. After all what would be the use in having a degree in the "new world?" Fast Forward 20 years, the first thing I did as I was exiting was enroll at the University. I was 40ish and wondered if it was too late because I would be 45 before I could have a degree. I enrolled in one class just to see how it would go. Next semester I enrolled in two classes. Before long I was working full time and taking full time classes. I figured if all goes well I will be 45 either way. 45 with a degree or 45 without a degree. Receiving my degree was a highlight in my life and it not only opened many doors it was great therapy as I was exiting Wally World. I write this in hopes of encouraging anyone at any age to pursue an education. It will not only open many doors it will open your eyes!
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  DJS

  Julia,

  Ditto to DisArmed. You've heard (read) my story before. I left college - and a full scholarship - because of the Borg's influence. Upon exiting the Borg I returned to college, completed by undergraduate degree, then completed an MBA and am now pursuing a PhD. It has opened many, many doors and has enriched my life - and my bank account - immeasureably.