This might come across as a very strange question but is it uncommon to find engineers who did not enjoy school or think highly of the schools that they attended? I have encountered numerous computing and IT types over the years who did not enjoy school or had bad experiences at school but very few electrical or mechanical engineers.
I hated school. Bulled by the teachers and others at school. All my school reports were bad, quite and shows no interest. But I was suddenly interested in been told about a magnet and compass. I made with a few bits of wire and a battery a magnet and able to reverse a compass and took it into school. I showed it to the teacher and he was astonished. Soon after I left school as I was now 14 years old. We then moved to a new area and I then worked in a shop for a while and then got the sack for not doing enough. Got a job as a electricians mate on a large site with about 6 electricians on it, all with their mates. Got bulled again but this time that I should go to college and lean to become a electrician. I gave in and it gave me a day off. Also had problems with a few others on site that kept putting me down and unpleasant. The first teacher at collage came in and started putting up math questions. First few were quadratic questions and then simultaneous and then basic. I simple asked was there a preference of any of the way I can solve the simultaneous questions, no he said. So just got on and did them all, and correct. But the rest of the class just looked and had never seen a quadratic question before and only about half had ever seen a simultaneous one. Apparently he was trying to find out what we knew and level. I was astonished and found I had more knowledge than I had ever been given credit for. This gave me a boost and I carried on and qualified to be an electrician. But then a new manager asked me to work with him on a few jobs, with the result I re-qualified to be a mechanical engineer and then. Moved on in to electronics and computer systems and research, working with scientists. Final moved on into management. When my children started school, all was good at primary school and I became a school governor. They did well and when the boys moved on to secondary all was still good. Then my daughter moved on to the same secondary school as her brothers. After one term she asked her teacher why they (the girls) were not doing football as was the boys, as she had in last school. The teacher said Football is for boys not for girls and complained to us that she should have even asked. That was the end of it for her, as she now questioned all and was always in troubled, we try to change schools but with no real success. She left school as soon as she could with no qualifications. Started work in local horse stables yard. Her two girls she now has, are home schooled as she has no trust in the schools. At one of the many meeting we had at her school, I noticed a few doing/learning catering and realised that my sons had not had any lessons in catering and I love cooking. When I asked, we were told, no not for them. Catering lessons are for the intellectual impaired. My conclusion it is the view/attitude of the teaches and those running the schools that can make or break the person and if and how you fit in to the system you find yourself. I have also found that in my working life. My sons fitted in at school and went on to university and now have good jobs in the IT systems. We all have potential and it is helping in a way to make it happen as you may wish. J Bidmead FIET
I hated school. Bulled by the teachers and others at school. All my school reports were bad, quite and shows no interest. But I was suddenly interested in been told about a magnet and compass. I made with a few bits of wire and a battery a magnet and able to reverse a compass and took it into school. I showed it to the teacher and he was astonished. Soon after I left school as I was now 14 years old. We then moved to a new area and I then worked in a shop for a while and then got the sack for not doing enough. Got a job as a electricians mate on a large site with about 6 electricians on it, all with their mates. Got bulled again but this time that I should go to college and lean to become a electrician. I gave in and it gave me a day off. Also had problems with a few others on site that kept putting me down and unpleasant. The first teacher at collage came in and started putting up math questions. First few were quadratic questions and then simultaneous and then basic. I simple asked was there a preference of any of the way I can solve the simultaneous questions, no he said. So just got on and did them all, and correct. But the rest of the class just looked and had never seen a quadratic question before and only about half had ever seen a simultaneous one. Apparently he was trying to find out what we knew and level. I was astonished and found I had more knowledge than I had ever been given credit for. This gave me a boost and I carried on and qualified to be an electrician. But then a new manager asked me to work with him on a few jobs, with the result I re-qualified to be a mechanical engineer and then. Moved on in to electronics and computer systems and research, working with scientists. Final moved on into management. When my children started school, all was good at primary school and I became a school governor. They did well and when the boys moved on to secondary all was still good. Then my daughter moved on to the same secondary school as her brothers. After one term she asked her teacher why they (the girls) were not doing football as was the boys, as she had in last school. The teacher said Football is for boys not for girls and complained to us that she should have even asked. That was the end of it for her, as she now questioned all and was always in troubled, we try to change schools but with no real success. She left school as soon as she could with no qualifications. Started work in local horse stables yard. Her two girls she now has, are home schooled as she has no trust in the schools. At one of the many meeting we had at her school, I noticed a few doing/learning catering and realised that my sons had not had any lessons in catering and I love cooking. When I asked, we were told, no not for them. Catering lessons are for the intellectual impaired. My conclusion it is the view/attitude of the teaches and those running the schools that can make or break the person and if and how you fit in to the system you find yourself. I have also found that in my working life. My sons fitted in at school and went on to university and now have good jobs in the IT systems. We all have potential and it is helping in a way to make it happen as you may wish. J Bidmead FIET
