School marks

[Kid_Recruit]

Hi,

I was wondering about the academic advantages in the forces, because according to my guidance councillor i have been misplaced in my academic level of work, like I work a lot faster then my class but i don't understand enough to go into the university level of work so i have to stay in colledge. All that aside my marks have declined a little bit because I find class pointless now because it is to boring to me and I Skipp a lot, and well i wanted to know if my marks will affect me in the forces and if colledge will help me to gain rank quicker?

 

[Roy Harding]

You're not going to like this reply - but read it anyway.

I grew up in the 60's and 70's.  Back then, "smart kids" skipped grades.  In my own case, I skipped grade two.  Throughout my school career, I found that I was doing the work easily, and was actually helping my sister (two grades ahead of me) with her schoolwork.  By the time I reached grade 11, I found that I could skip most classes, show up for finals only, and STILL maintain a high "B"/low "A" average.  It didn't take much to convince me that High School had nothing to offer.  I dropped out at age 14 and began a long career"on the road" (just like my then hero Jack Kirouac).

At one point, when I was 17, the idea of joining the Army struck me, and I did.  You could still get into the CF then with a grade 10 education, not any longer the case, I believe.  I stayed for my initial engagement (3 years for Infantry at the time), and decided I was too smart for the Army, so I got out.

Along the way, I met a girl, got married, and started a family.  This was in 1980 (ancient history, I know - but keep reading).  At that time, Alberta's economy was booming - JUST LIKE NOW!!  Life was good, I was making good money as general labour, and everything was coming up roses.  All of a sudden, the boom went bust, I had a wife and a babe in arms to support, and nobody was hiring high school drop outs.  I went to the recruiting centre and practically begged to be let back in.  I was lucky - they re-enrolled me, this time as an Adm Clk.

I never regretted re-enrolling, the military helped me grow up, become responsible for my actions, and taught me to FINISH what I had STARTED.  I spent the following 22 years in the military, along the way raising three kids, finishing high school (not bloody easy when you're constantly on ex or deployment), and achieving a BAdm degree through long distance education.  For what it's worth, I continued to find academics easy, topping every course I was ever on, with the exception of the CLC.  As boring as I found some of them, I nevertheless applied myself, and FINISHED the damned things.

Two years ago I got out, and looked around the civvy world.  It took me a year to decide what I wanted to do, and eventually decided to turn a life long love of woodworking into my living.  I attended a trade college (NAIT in Edmonton for the curious amongst you), and today is, in fact, the last day of the course.  Once again, I found that I was easily ahead of the rest of the class when it came to academics - the hand skills portion, however, was extremely difficult for me.  THIS time, I stuck out the boredom - assisting fellow students with the academics and receiving their assistance with hand tool skills.  I have found immense joy in working with my hands, and look forward to my second career as a "hands on" kind of guy.

Having already achieved an undergraduate degree myself, and putting three sons through University, I thought I would find "college" overly simplistic.  I was wrong - the technical skills taught at college and trade skills are just as intricate as those in a University.  If I were to make a comparison, I would suggest that an education in University is "broad", whereas that achieved in college is "deep" in a specific area.  Others may disagree, but that's my impression - based on experience.

How does all this relate to YOU???

1.  Don't denigrate the college/trade school route - it may be right up your alley.

2.  FINISH HIGH SCHOOL - I don't care how boring it is - get involved in something that challenges your mind - perhaps tutoring your less "gifted" peers??  Whatever, it doesn't matter what it is, as long as you FINISH what you STARTED.  The military is not interested in quitters, and although I don't know it for a fact, I suspect that the CF will be less forgiving of your "drop out" status than it was of mine in 1982.

3.  Finishing your schooling "later" will be MUCH MORE DIFFICULT than sticking it out now, when it's your ONLY focus in life.  Trust me, if you don't finish now, you will want to sometime later in life.

Your profile says you are 16 - so I already know that you probably won't listen to me - but I had to try.

BTW your profile ALSO says you are a Pte(R) in the GGFG - how is that possible?  I thought you had to be 17 to join, although I could be wrong.

Whatever course your life takes, good luck to you.

 

[kincanucks]

BTW your profile ALSO says you are a Pte(R) in the GGFG - how is that possible?  I thought you had to be 17 to join, although I could be wrong.

It is 16 to join the PRes.

 

[Roy Harding]

BTW your profile ALSO says you are a Pte(R) in the GGFG - how is that possible?  I thought you had to be 17 to join, although I could be wrong.

It is 16 to join the PRes.

Thanks, kincanucks - I stand corrected.

 

[Kid_Recruit]

Well thanks for the advice, of course i will stay in highschool but now a days the teachers mark for attendance and participation in class so I've been losing marks from that, but i will probably move on to colledge and take police foundations or sumthing that i will find exciting and hopefully it will help me in the reg forces.

 

[yoman]

Well thanks for the advice, of course i will stay in highschool but now a days the teachers mark for attendance and participation in class so I've been losing marks from that, but i will probably move on to colledge and take police foundations or sumthing that i will find exciting and hopefully it will help me in the reg forces.

Motivate yourself. Compete with your class mates to see who can get higher grades. Join a school sports team or club. Do not talk in class. Pay attention! If you pay attention you will most likely get interested in the subject at hand. Take classes that interest you. Don't take construction class because your friends tell you too when you know you really want to be in psychology class (to each his own).

My suggestions.

 

[monika]

Join a school sports team or club.

+1 to that.

The most useful skills I learned in school were actually from extra-curricular activities. I was and still am an artsy type(yes, I know I can hear your heads shaking!) so I went for drama club. No matter what career you get into, I think some time in drama will be a great benefit. Working to deadline, all the while having to put up with inferior equipment, constant change of plans, annoying know it alls, bosses who have no clue what the workers are doing, higher ups who think they know how to do your job, the mandatory slackers, having to deal with people who cannot stand but with whom you must co-operate to get the job done, never a big enough budget...stop me when it sounds familiar.

 

[civvy3840]

I am starting the process soon (1 month), and also skip a fair bit and find class boring/to easy. I still have an 85% average. The only way skipping will bring your mark down enough to give you a bad mark is if you skip that class everyday. So skipping etc... is no excuse for your your marks.

If you want to get better marks join a team (I'm on my schools rugby team), and actually listen to what the teacher says. (I know this can be incredibly hard sometimes.)

The following is a guess: I doubt that college would help you get promoted. (It is a good idea to go though). They will treat everyone as equals, I'm sure in your unit you'll have people that went to college who are the same rank as you will be.

 

[Zertz]

I know atleast in Manitoba you can challenge courses, so if you know the materials/meet the outcomes next September you can write an examination for a course to get credit for it. If you know any languages other than English and French ask your Student Services/Guidance Counsellor about getting credits for those. Read your student handbook, check out if you can go for Student Initiated credits. There are options available to you if you look around.

 

[paracowboy]

Kid,
stay in school, apply yourself. If you don't have the discipline to do that, how well do you think you would do in this job? The better your grades, the more diverse your knowledge base, the better you will do in the Military, and life in general.

I skipped a couple grades, found school too easy and boring, never studied, aced everything anyway, and developed poor study habits thereby (read: I didn't study. Period.) I decided I was too smart for school, and now, with a bad back, I face a future with no prospects.

Learn from my mistakes. Or repeat them. Your call.

And, to give you some focus: work on your writing skills. They're atrocious.

 

[orange.paint]

I had certain intrest in high school,becoming a soldier,drinking and womanizing (the ones I could).I rarely made it to class in the afternoons as some young girl would need company elsewhere in her car..as I was too poor to own one ;D

I still managed to get two uni credits in high school but made it barely out of grade twelve with a 51 in math,I just missed too many classes and didn't really catch up.My days absent were actually higher than my mark.

Having said all this I had no intrest in RMC at the time,going back to school for 5 years didn't appeal to me.All I wanted to do was go do some cool army stuff and got my paper work going and joined the army at 17.

As for people who do not apply themselves in highschool will not do well I disagree.IMO my career is doing fine and I think soldiering has a lot to do with personal character.At 17 parabola's and Hesse's law just didn't make logical sense to me to even learn.I was more orientated to woodworking,home maintenance and things that made sense to learn for my goals.I didn't want to be (or maybe couldn't have become) a doctor,chemist etc.

So all in all yes school is important,secondary is where it's at for me.Learn something that you want to learn.I find our schools are geared towards the 10 percent who become great biologist etc,not the rest who work for a living being welders,physical trainers (which I'm taking a course in in may hopefully) or carpenters.

Finish school,join and go from there.A few years time what your priorities are now will change drastically....womanising will always be important but yes even that may change...a little.