Christmas wrapped up after all the unwrapping, a New Gregorian Year began, and a college diploma in hand. Now what? Everything I've put off for four years!
College was a great opportunity to suppress ideas, creativity, and self for the pursuit of grades. But now college is over, at least the first round. (A cynical take, but I'll address it more fairly in the future.)
The lack of structured education has one major benefit and one major disadvantage for learning.
School has finally stopped interfering with my education (I apologize to Twain that I let it), and I have the time to pursue educational interests. In the three weeks since college, I've read a handful of fiction works, studied some differential equations to find out what it is, extended my study of Developmental Economics, listened to Torah commentaries, surfed Wikipedia, and organized a large pile of less-than-200-page books to read in the coming months. I want to 'have read' a good portion of the books piled on dressers, shelves, my desk, and under the bed in my room.
I now have the time, due to the lack of homework.
However, this leads to the major disadvantage. Without homework, I don't feel the strong desire to "burn my homework and go read". I'll discuss this more in the future when addressing my theory of Positive Productive Procrastination. (... Or PPP. There are two PPP theories I came across while studying Economics. I thought I needed one for myself.)
Suffice it to say that procrastinating isn't as fulfilling when there is nothing structured to procrastinate. Maybe the solution is to create my own rigid structure and avoid it by reading. Or I could have a friend ask a favor that I'll regrettably turn down because I have Dostoevsky to read.
In conjunction with self-education, I would like employment. I hope to first work at a coffee shop. Why?
I think it puts together the best of all worlds on the smallest scale. Working with people, manual labor, potential management responsibility, dish washing, possible experimentation, and creation of the product that one sells.
A waiter fundamentally moves the product from the kitchen to the table. A coffee shop employee requires skill in making a quality, consistent product. It also takes far less time to become employed making coffee than it does becoming an experienced waiter. ("Applicants require 2+ years Fine Dining Waiter Experience...")
Also, a coffee shop is a small scale operation that I can study. A business case study.
Output is customer service, atmosphere, varieties of coffee, tea, drinks, baked goods, sandwiches, and caffeine.
Input is rent, employees, managers to schedule employees (and whatever else), coffee and tea orders, facility upkeep, espresso machine depreciation, advertisement, and innovation.
I would like to see if my vision is accurate. And I would like to study it with the help of yet another book I found "How to Open a Financially Successful Coffee, Espesso, & Tea Shop". Looks useful and well written, attending to all the various facets of the business.
Working at a coffee shop includes one more invaluable advantage. I will be able to make coffee for loved ones, saving them (and me), thousands of dollars over the coming years of The Rest Of My Life.
Be Good,
Enjoy Life,
Yaffe
Brainstorming Future Blog Topics:
PPP (Positive Productive Procrastination)
Reduced Social Activity Without College
Merits of Community College
Merits of University
Post-Graduation Job Market
Youth and Healthcare
Youth and Retirement
Living on Minimum Wage
College was a great opportunity to suppress ideas, creativity, and self for the pursuit of grades. But now college is over, at least the first round. (A cynical take, but I'll address it more fairly in the future.)
The lack of structured education has one major benefit and one major disadvantage for learning.
School has finally stopped interfering with my education (I apologize to Twain that I let it), and I have the time to pursue educational interests. In the three weeks since college, I've read a handful of fiction works, studied some differential equations to find out what it is, extended my study of Developmental Economics, listened to Torah commentaries, surfed Wikipedia, and organized a large pile of less-than-200-page books to read in the coming months. I want to 'have read' a good portion of the books piled on dressers, shelves, my desk, and under the bed in my room.
I now have the time, due to the lack of homework.
However, this leads to the major disadvantage. Without homework, I don't feel the strong desire to "burn my homework and go read". I'll discuss this more in the future when addressing my theory of Positive Productive Procrastination. (... Or PPP. There are two PPP theories I came across while studying Economics. I thought I needed one for myself.)
Suffice it to say that procrastinating isn't as fulfilling when there is nothing structured to procrastinate. Maybe the solution is to create my own rigid structure and avoid it by reading. Or I could have a friend ask a favor that I'll regrettably turn down because I have Dostoevsky to read.
In conjunction with self-education, I would like employment. I hope to first work at a coffee shop. Why?
I think it puts together the best of all worlds on the smallest scale. Working with people, manual labor, potential management responsibility, dish washing, possible experimentation, and creation of the product that one sells.
A waiter fundamentally moves the product from the kitchen to the table. A coffee shop employee requires skill in making a quality, consistent product. It also takes far less time to become employed making coffee than it does becoming an experienced waiter. ("Applicants require 2+ years Fine Dining Waiter Experience...")
Also, a coffee shop is a small scale operation that I can study. A business case study.
Output is customer service, atmosphere, varieties of coffee, tea, drinks, baked goods, sandwiches, and caffeine.
Input is rent, employees, managers to schedule employees (and whatever else), coffee and tea orders, facility upkeep, espresso machine depreciation, advertisement, and innovation.
I would like to see if my vision is accurate. And I would like to study it with the help of yet another book I found "How to Open a Financially Successful Coffee, Espesso, & Tea Shop". Looks useful and well written, attending to all the various facets of the business.
Working at a coffee shop includes one more invaluable advantage. I will be able to make coffee for loved ones, saving them (and me), thousands of dollars over the coming years of The Rest Of My Life.
Be Good,
Enjoy Life,
Yaffe
Brainstorming Future Blog Topics:
PPP (Positive Productive Procrastination)
Reduced Social Activity Without College
Merits of Community College
Merits of University
Post-Graduation Job Market
Youth and Healthcare
Youth and Retirement
Living on Minimum Wage
You should read Twain's Autobiography published 100 years after his death in 1910, the year my maternal grandparents married.
ReplyDeleteFine and well....
ReplyDeletefigure out what you really enjoy doing and then put that off to read (hah!).... better yet, get books on tape to read while you are commuting to your coffee shop job by bicycle.
go gettum.
Good thoughts, cousin. I have also decided to read more and pursue the passions that I let fade whilst earning my degree. 1st stop: travel writing!! :)
ReplyDelete