Factoid

I have never attended a public school. I attended parochial schools from kindergarten through 8th grades, a private high school, a private college, and a private graduate school. I am the only member of my family of whom that is true. All of my siblings attended public high schools and most attended public colleges. My youngest siblings also went to kindergarten at a nearby public school since our parish’s school didn’t have a kindergarten.

My parents both attended public schools K-12. My dad attended private undergraduate and graduate schools. My mom attended a public undergraduate school and a private graduate school.

I’m not citing my experience as an advantage. In some ways I think it was a disadvantage. It’s merely a fact.

20 comments… add one
  • Public school for 11 years, private colleges, with a smattering of courses at public universities. Bachelor’s in journalism after a start in biology.

  • Andy Link

    Public schools for me.

  • Bachelor’s in journalism

    You have my sympathy. Although one of my most successful friends also went to J-school. He then went to law school and is now an extremely prominent healthcare attorney.

    And one of my brilliant and beautiful nieces graduated from J-school a year or so ago and, unlike many of her contemporaries, immediately got a job and is carving out a niche for herself in public relations. She works in the social media subgroup for a major public relations firm. Basically, that means that she Facebooks and tweets for a living. I strongly suspect that for her contemporaries that’s practically a dream job.

  • I did fine. I worked with a group of suburban newspapers south of Dallas, eventually nearly ran a paper in Las Colinas, could have become a publisher if I so cared, eventually.

    Never went without much, but I know how to spend wisely.

    I would have liked biology better, I think, but that damned Fortran required for the physics lab defeated me. I was fine with physics. It was the effin’ computer that got me around 1977.

  • Andy Link

    Fortran is still going strong. My wife did the modeling for her doctoral thesis in Fortran.

  • Andy Link

    I loved physics too, but hated the math. Unfortunately you can’t really have one without the other. It wasn’t until my own kids started elementary school that I realized my hatred of math came from the way I was taught. Things turned out pretty good for me though, so I can’t complain.

  • What’s her field, Andy?

  • Ah, FORTRAN. The first higher level computer language I ever learned. After that came Simula, the first object-oriented computer language.

  • I certainly wish you’d been around back then. I suspect you’re a good teacher, Dave.

  • Thank you. I come by it honestly. My dad taught law until his practice took off. My mom taught at the primary school level.

  • Andy Link

    Janis,

    She’s a nuclear engineer.

  • Cool, Andy.

  • jan Link

    I enjoyed my public school education. However, it is a different arena in today’s schools. Although our son also had a public school education, if I had a chance to redo that choice, I would have opted for a private school, instead.

  • Drew Link

    Andy

    Reactor physics, or peripheral systems?

    I simply ask because my best buddy I college was in reactor physics.

  • Andy Link

    Drew,

    Her focus is a bit more defense-related, primarily uranium enrichment and nuclear weapons and effects, though I think a lot of her undergraduate work was in reactor physics.

  • Drew Link

    Andy

    Thanks. I always enjoy understanding the backgrounds of the folks here.

    Dave

    I was wondering why you made this post. You often share your personal background and interests, which I think the group finds interesting. But why this?

    As for me, I went to jack squat schools as a kid. You could almost say the farther I went the better the school,although studying under aManhattan Project guy at Purdue was quite the experience. I don’t know what conclusions to draw, actually. I do know that U of C changed my life.

    Oh, and by the way, I made that happen.

    Reynolds and I both had awful and misspent youths. I had to recover, as I guess he did too. Getting into U of C took a four year detour to get a 4.0 MS and a thesis.

    But I sure had fun when I was younger. No regrets.

  • jan Link

    Drew

    What state do you live in?

  • Drew Link

    Jan

    Grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, worked in NW Indiana out of college…steel mill….moved to Chicago……Masters in Engineering Chicago (Illinois Institute)…. MBA University of Chicago……leveraged lender And small business operator Chicago, moved to CT for 6 years with my firm which is metro NYC, then back to metro Chicago. Naperville, if you want to look up the area.

    For all the world I thought Scottsdale, AZ would be my residence today. Desert Mountain if you want to look it up. Some things happened. Scottsdale is still in the mix, but today Naples, FL might happen. Gawd……

    My inner Mick Jagger is singing……”you can’t always get what you want….”

  • jan Link

    Drew,

    Somehow I had you pegged for the Carolinas. Chicago…wow, quite different from the warm desert climate you seem attracted to. Anyway, appreciate the time line. You’ve moved around a lot more than I have. Basically, I have stayed in CA my whole life, just moving from the south to the north, in our monthly transitions.

  • Drew Link

    Jan

    Well, one of my favorite golf courses is Pinehurst #2 in NC. But no, Midwest all but 6 years of my life. I’ve always had a fascination with the desert climate and scenery. Umpteen vacations out there. Just a personal preference.

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