Teachable Thursday

**Madisonian** · 04-27-2011, 09:59 PM

Rain today, rain tomorrow, maybe some sun on Saturday and then back to rain.
I'm sensing a pattern here.

In high school I took a typing class and it was the only one I failed miserably. Not E or F failed, but certainly not one I do well.
35 years later, I spend all day at work pounding out PLC and NC computer code and wish I would have tried harder and could be a 60 or better wpm typist.

TOTD: What subject in school did you or should you have taken that would have made life easier now or better nurtured an interest you now have?

**BadCat** · 04-27-2011, 10:10 PM

It's not Thursday yet

**Madisonian** · 04-27-2011, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by BadCat

It's not Thursday yet

Yeah, I know but I have to be in to work early tomorrow and Ginger gets mean and sends nasty messages if I don't have it in by 10 am.:D

**malloc** · 04-27-2011, 10:13 PM

Weather: High 70's and sunny.

TOTD: In High School I was a math & science nerd and that's all I really cared about. So for my language arts credits I took drama and speech/debate instead of a foreign language. Now I wish I had taken Latin instead of drama. That would have made it much easier for me to get into College without barely passing my way through a Spanish course at a community college. Even to this day I can barely speak the slang-riddled Mexican Spanish I learn just by growing up in the Southwest. The Castilian Spanish classes I took did nothing to help my language skills.

*Yes, I was in many school plays. Stop laughing. :mad:

I had a lot of trouble in Typing as well. However, that seems laughable now. I don't know how fast I can type English, but I think I can type C , Java and Python even faster, which shouldn't make sense, but it does.

**Gingersnap** · 04-28-2011, 11:05 AM

It should be clear, sunny, and in the 60s today but this is probably the best day of the week.

TOTD: I just hated French and I staggered through it under enormous protest. Now I wish I had tried harder and taken it past high school and through college. I switched (instantly) to Latin and the Norse languages as soon as I could.

In college I often worked for professors doing biostatistics and I had a natural inclination for it. One professor in particular encouraged me to change my major and go into it but I never did. At that age, I saw biostatistics as being pretty unsexy and I completely failed to see the professional and income potential. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I'd taken his advice.

**Starbuck** · 04-28-2011, 11:54 AM

70. Clear, clear, clear!

Having ADD (without the hyperactivity component) before it was diagnosed was a real pain. I didn't do well in anything. Later, I became a salesman and did very well.

In my next life I will be a better student. I'm going to go to the Merchant Marine Academy and make a maritime career.

**jendf** · 04-28-2011, 11:59 AM

TOTD: Typing for sure. What a difference it makes. Occasionally I'll see a college student pecking away at the keyboard. I can't imagine typing a whole research paper that way. I'm glad my high school required us to take it.

**ralph wiggum** · 04-28-2011, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by jendf

TOTD: Typing for sure. What a difference it makes. Occasionally I'll see a college student pecking away at the keyboard. I can't imagine typing a whole research paper that way. I'm glad my high school required us to take it.

And before taking typing in junior high, my parents made me take piano lessons. Which I think in turn made me a better typist.

Thanks Mom & Dad!

**Wei Wu Wei** · 04-28-2011, 02:19 PM

I hated struggling with Foreign languages. Like with learning music, it's a skill that takes a lot of regular practice, trial and error. I liked subjects like math or science where I could quickly figure out how something works, and once I 'got it', I got it.

However, I see now how useful learning Spanish would have been, especially where I live in Texas where there are A LOT of Spanish speakers.

If I were going to go back to college again and take even more classes purely for interest, I would be taking sociology and economics classes. Studying Marx lately has been incredible, and it's difficult to do on my own. There's a lot of reading and notes, and I can find lectures online, but I miss the classroom setting where we could debate, discuss, and really break down the text.

**Wei Wu Wei** · 04-28-2011, 02:22 PM

I would love to take courses on Lacanian psychoanalysis. This would be a dream come true right now.

It's another topic that I'm absolutely in love with, but I'm forced to (poorly) self-study at the moment.