Ambitions in life

[Quboid]

Originally posted by Daysleeper  

I got OK GCSE?s and have BTECS in maths and science. I am not a believer in formal qualifications at all, and although they can help you get the job of your dreams they don?t always guarantee that you can do it. I have worked with IT graduates and I have to say I am glad I didn?t take that path. I sell myself on my experience and the fact I am MSCE+I (LMAO) and 9 times out of 10 I will get a job over a graduate.

What I am trying to say the path you choose when you are 1617 needs a lot of thought. I chose to work and do part time education and I have to say I would highly recommend it to any of you unsure in what to do. I mean if you are getting 45% attendance rates, maybe School isn?t your thing, and spending another 4 or 5 years there isn?t going to do you any good.

Couple of other things? O?Levels.. what a laugh next you will be telling me the 11+ was a good thing too?.send the brightest to grammar school and forget the rest.. Also anti-social had been mentioned.. would you people say the net helps or hinders social skills ? al skills ?

Absolutely! Qualifications help for your first job - from then on it's past experience that will get the jobs. Of course of you get an impressive job at first with your Cambridge Masters, you'll have a more impessive resume to show the next employer.

I know GCSE's are a pile of crap, that's why I didn't repeat the year or anything. I got an A+ in maths in 4th year and average attendance. I then got nothing better than a B (of which I got 5) next year, quite a hit! Although of course maths is my strong point, which is why I did it early. I could have got several As in IT, science and advanced maths (which I didn't even sit as I was ill then). I also got a D in business studies, which I consider an absolute joke. I look around my BS class and see the people who got As and I see suckers who I wouldn't dream of putting in charge of a business. It's all remembering definaitions and reciting them in the exam hall and on projects. Not that this is relevant, but it winds/cracks me up anyway.

The net help or hinder? I'd say it does help, but it won't help as much as going out with friends.

[Daysleeper]

So what are you doing now Xain ? I really do sympathise with you. My farther suffers from depression and I feel fortunate that he left when I was 13. Its tough and many people don't understand it.

You really need to be careful not to isolate yourself from the real world... Thats when things get bad.

[Quboid]

Yeah, I try to get out ans socilise as much as possible, but it isn't possible much. I'm just trying to get back into normal way of doing things, like sleep partern and daily activities.

People who have depression to tend to make it worse for themselves, but the number of people that don't understand it is amazing. The worst is people saying "You just have to put your mind to it and DO the things that you think you can't".

So first hand advice to depression sufferers - get out and talk to other people. If you're too ill to go to work/school, ignore people who say it's just an attitude problem. You know best, and you know it's not. Go out for walks in the local park, go to the pub or catch a movie. Don't stay at home, don't just wallow in your self pity all the time and DON'T resort to drink. Accept you have a problem is step one, knowing your limitations and not over doing recovery steps is step two. Step three is be with other human beings when possible, even if it's people you don't particularly like (although being with people you positively dislike could be bad - I for one have a very short fuse these days and many (thankfully inanimate) objects have felt the brunt of my temper).

Once you accept you have a problem and do steps to recovery, things get better - even just if it's because you're doing things again.

I've never gone to one of these group meetings where you each stand up and say what's wrong and how you're combatting it, but I can see why that that may help some people - personally I'd find it horrible and over bearing, at least until you get to know some of the people there.

Sport is another great way of helping relieve the pressure. Get out for a game of football regularly and it will help your social life, your sleep and the weight gain that can also occor as your life tends to get more sedentary.

Not that this is any use to 99% of visitors here, but what the hell... ;)

[Daysleeper]

good on ya mate... you seem to have life under controll...

Nice PC BTW I run a bit of a beast (called boris) myself.. but am refusing to go out and buy a GF3.. I only play the occasional game - Undying is my current dable and the GF2 Ultra does the job fine.

I like this board ... I normally hang around IeXbeta but the admins are a little power crazy and its slow.. If only we had FTP links here :-))

[sOma]

Originally posted by mortensen

I don't feel threatened by gay people at all - It's just a nice conicidence that we've been going fine for thousands of years and since 1900 onwards gay people are all over the place. This is either because all the people were gay before and were afraid to come out or because promoting being gay has lead to MORE gay people.

--You should study your history... 'Cause gay people have been around since the begining of time.  In the early years of Rome, it was acceptable for a male to take another male as a student and a lover.  

--There has been no promotion of homosexuality that I have seen.  It's not the homosexual acts that are being promoted... it's tolerance and acceptance that is being promoted.  

--I don't think most people are going to "turn" gay after they see someone "promote" it.  I think we all make our own decisions, and we don't let a certain group affect our decisions.  If someone likes girls, then they will always like girls.  If someone likes guys, they will always like guys.  No-one is going to change someone else's sexual preference.

As for blacks, I don't have anything against them in particular. I just don't like people coming into this country and scrounging or speaking POOR english.

--Are only the black people the one's scrounging and speaking poor english?  

If they come into this country, speak good English [without a nasty accent - it's bad enough having to understand people with a strong welsh accent, let alone a FOREIGN accent] and get a good job then I am fine with them... this goes for EVERYONE, not just black. If a french person comes into this country I think it is direspectful to talk french here. People should learn English. It's bad enough that native UK'ians live off benefits all their life, without other knobs from other countries doing this too.

--This paragraph is confusing, as if you mean everyone should speak english in your country, why did you only blame black people earlier?

Also, I don't like other religions, etc, going around in the full ethnic gear with headdress. ****, if we were to go over there we have to respect their wishes, but they come over here and everyone bows over to them.

--I dislike all religion.  I dislike what it does to people, and their countries.  Look at Israel and Palestine.  I think this world would be much better off without religion, and without people who can't live their lives how they want to, and not how they are expected to live it, or how a book tells them to live it.  I do respect what people believe in, but when they come to my home with their bibles, and their pamplets, I lose all respect, as that is my private property.  It is fine that they have their radio stations, and television channels, because if you don't like it, you can turn it off, or avoid it.  But when they come to your home, that is unavoidable, and it is unfair.  

I'm not a homophobic or a racist.

--Not to flame or offend, but you have made some very racist and homophobic comments... And you have made some hypocritical comments, like the comment about how you believe in equality, but you think gay people shouldn't be allowed to talk about being gay, but you didn't say anything about straight people being able to talk about being straight... And you said being gay should be illegal... I can't understand how that is equality.  I don't think there should be laws telling people who they should and shouldn't have sex with, cause that's just... insane, and intrusive.  

--I really don't mind what other people choose to do, or what color of skin they are born with.  I think we shouldn't dislike a certain person for thier own personal choice, and their skin color.  It's just pointless, and it gets us nowhere.  We are all capable of getting along... We are all human beings, and no-one is better than anyone else.  

--Anyway, I am in your same position with not knowing what I want to do as a career, and what I want to make of myself, so I know how you feel.  I am 17, going on 18.  I know I want to get involved into some kind of career with computers, but I just don't know if I am capable, and I don't really have much motivion either.  I've talked to several of my friends, and they seem to expect me to move out as soon as I am 18, and make a life of my own... and go into college... And it's too much.  Too many people are expecting me to do something, and I have no real plans or goals of my own.  I'm just stuck... but I hope to figure out something before I am 18.

--I am currently finished with school, and I have mostly just been taking a break away from the real world, and enjoying the comforts of my bedroom, and I spend a lot of time online.  I don't really even have an ideal job... like I said, I want to do something with computers, but I don't know what, and I don't know how likely it is that it will happen.  It really sucks not knowing these things.

--Anyway... "that's all I have to say about that"... heh :p

-sOma

NOTE: I also believe that the benefits system should be REVISED REMOVED to stop the UK being a haven for foreign scoungers.

-mortensenj

[Quboid]

Originally posted by Daysleeper  

good on ya mate... you seem to have life under controll...  

Nice PC BTW I run a bit of a beast (called boris) myself.. but am refusing to go out and buy a GF3.. I only play the occasional game - Undying is my current dable and the GF2 Ultra does the job fine.

I like this board ... I normally hang around IeXbeta but the admins are a little power crazy and its slow.. If only we had FTP links here :-))

Yeah, it the bragging rights more than the performance I like ;) - althouh 1600x1200 Quake 3 is niiiiice.

Just got back from Rush Hour 2 - top movie, especially the out takes at the end credits, but not only these - the rest is top class farce comedy.

[willywonka69]

im not going to say anything at all

mortensen<--wtf

[mortensen]

- - - Mainly @ pctuk - - -

GCSE's are worthless now, it's official. If a 6yr old can pass his MATHS GCSE then we're screwed. It is NOT true that people are more intelligent now than 50yrs ago.

I don't need to prove myself in any ****ty GCSE's. Unless I know EXACTLY what I want to do then GCSE's aren't very useful. I will of course take my GCSE's and do well, but I won't need them in my life. I know I'm intelligent enough [as I've PROVED in all previous tests I've done].

How can people claim that EVERY YEAR teachers are getting better than EVER b4? You look at the plebs coming out and it's stupid! And it should be impossible to take 14 GCSE's! You couldn't do THAT 50yrs ago [or the equivilant]! I DO NOT believe that teachers are getting better and better ALL THE TIME.

Look in the news. Markers are saying that it's getting easier, there are major teacher shortages and there is a huge number of incompetant teachers yet despite all this adversity people are getting more intelligent.

Sorry, this was more of a rant than anything useful. But when a 6yr can get a GCSE it proves that the kid is either the next Einstein or that the tests are A LOT easier now. YOU figure it out. And look at the rich and famous like David Beckham... he pretty much sums up the intelligence of the country [in case you hadn't worked it out that's VERY BAD!].

PS - This is only my opinion... don't go ranting or swearing at me people. :D

-mortensenj

[pctuk]

So how did this 6yr old kid do? Scraped an E or something?? There's a subtle difference between that and gaining a mark of any worth. So some kid gaining an almost worthless grade makes all GCSEs "worthless", ohhh I'm sure you'llwalk A*s if they are so easy. We all know saying you don't need any "****ty" GCSEs is just you trying to cover your back, it's easy to say "Oh I couldn't be arsed they are worthless" afterwards - it's the real man who says "I don't know what I want to do with my life but I'm going to knuckle down and do it until I do know" instead of this laughable, half-baked, anarchistic "fuk school" none-sense a self-proclaimed Tory boy is spouting.

And could you tell me how an employer would know you have any more intelligence than the next bloke when you walk in with Es and Fs? Oh you did well in previous tests I see, sorry to tell you this but if you think GCSEs don't mean much you might as well have not sat your SATs.

Oh and as to that "GCSEs mean ****" thing you keep saying, I was told by the careers advisor of the 2nd best college in England that Oxbridge and the other top unis are looking at GCSEs more and more to determine who they let in. Oh you know better I forgot.

Any reason why you picked David Beckham to be representative of the whole of Britain? Why didn't you choose one of our world famous authors? One of our engineers? So because the captain of our national team isn't the smartest that means all the country is dumb? Sorry the logic evades me, I look forward to being enlightened.

--------------------

pct

[cheekymonkey]

Play the game Mort....

You know as well as anybody else in the UK that GCSE's do mean something, namely:

GSCEs and A-Levels *are* getting easier, so more and more people get them, and therefore so does the need to get them: as long as employers see them as the primary decision-making factor as to whether they employ you.

As someone who went the whole hog through the English education system whilst deciding what to do with my life I encountered some the dumbest people...guess where... that's right - at uni. And by dumb I mean no common sense, unaware, and generally unclued-up.... but perfectly able to read from a book and spew it out in an exam.

Richard Branson was a failure at school..... nuff said!! :)

*Generally* in the UK, exam successes are useful in getting a job but, as with anything in life, they are no guarantee.

Just make sure that the decisions you make now - at such an early age - are not the ones you spend your life paying for.

To all you young 'uns out there: Take your time, get to know yourself and the world a bit before you decide what to do: I didn't at 15, still didn't at 25..... I suspect like most people.

Job: Industrial Engineering Manager, which I really enjoy (most of the time)

[mortensen]

I believe that they are becoming worthless... but there are always reports of the opposite [remember the report about games causing brain damage - then quickly followed by games make you more intelligent and are equal to doing athletics?]. Whatever the case, I won't need them for NE job "I" intend to get! I intend to get a job that doesn't need them [music industry]. I REALLY don't see NE job that I'd WANT to do that needs GCSE's. I still intend to take them and do brilliantly.

NEway, Bill Gates pulled out of school because it just wasn't good enough.

But I am just explaining from my point of view. I don't intend to get a crappy job and work my way to the top... I don't want to get any job. The economy is set to collapse! Also, the volcano that looks set to devate half the world with a huge tidal wave. From my point of view all I want is to chill out...

-mortensenj

[Quboid]

What I think people forget is these 6 year olds getting passes are about 4 pupils in the entire country. It's by no means a reflection of easier exams or better educations, or cleverer children - there has always been the few that get extraordinary results. Mortensen, you make it sound like any 6 year old can do this - it's far from any.

I think it's stayed pretty constant - possibly a bit easier, or more likely teaching has improved (as it probably has) and the exams are easier. New teaching techniques always come under critisim, but I believe most of them are improvements else they wouldn't be considered (of course not all are).

Also I object to David Beckham being describes as typical *and* I object to him always being described as stupid (and no, I'm not a Man Utd fan). There is no evidence, no IQ tests done or anything to prove either way. All people base this off is the fact that he doesn't talk much (yeah, what about the Wise Old Owl?) and a few dumb quotes, but those could be down to not hearing the question or not thinking before speaking - I'm sure we've all come out with stupid things at times, it just his luck that he's often in front of cameras. If anyone is stupid it's his wife - she constantly comes out with dumb comments and revealing personal things as if there will be no consequences.

I'm not saying he's smart - I'm saying no one knows.

[mortensen]

I AM BORED OF THIS NOW!

- - David Beckham was a poor example but people are on the whole getting stupider.

- - Race problems are causing chaos in the world. Black are treated as a higher class because of the way they have been treated in the past. I am FED UP with seeing all the crap like "Artists Against Racism", etc. They having f*cking black music awards yet you would be arrested for setting up a white people awards.

- - The world cannot continue as it is. The UK population is living for longer and are collecting state benefits [which don't exsist because the government can't afford to pay them]; people collecting benefits do so as a living instead of as a last resort; the trade defesit is in the billions which is unsustainable; the state of the planet is bad... a volcano is set to send around 500 billion cubic metres of earth into the sea causing a tidal wave [NE time soon now] set to damage many miles inland [specifically America and even the UK].

- - I know one 6yr old does NOT represent the world but it is sad when a 10yr old kid [assuming it was not fluke at maths] can have all the qualifications to get a brilliant job. But by reducing the pass mark GCSE's are worth less.

- - How is it that while it was exceptional to get 5 O-level [the equivilant of GCSE's] that people are now taking 14+ GCSE's??? Oh no, they CAN'T be getting easier cos I read it is a newpaper / saw it on the news / the government told me it isn't true. Sometimes you just have to put two and two together and come up with four... instead of being told five and accepting it!

- - Look at TV. It is SO dumb. Jerry Springer and depressing soaps dominate TV. Intellectual programs are ignored.

I can't give a good arguement on a forum but I CAN back this up - I just don't intend to. :)

-

This is the last time I intend to comment in this topic.

-mortensenj

[Daysleeper]

Exams are a test of memory not an indecater of intellegence. I believe that you can become an expert at just taking exams ...these people are called over-educated idiots. This 6yo has proved that he can remember certain mathmatical functions not that he is some sort of genesis. Like its been said in here you prove yourself on how you live your life not how much you can remember.

[mr.Bojangles]

I am FED UP with seeing all the crap like "Artists Against Racism", etc.

I hope you don't mean you support racism.

BTW, I think the reason "black music" awards are allowed is because they are the minority. IMO, when you're part of the majority, it might be easier to overlook the work done by those who aren't part of the bigger crowd.

[mortensen]

@ Daysleeper

I wasn't expecting to post on this topic again but I had to to let you know you got it dead right. :)

-mortensenj

[mortensen]

Originally posted by mr.Bojangles  

 

I hope you don't mean you support racism.

BTW, I think the reason "black music" awards are allowed is because they are the minority. IMO, when you're part of the majority, it might be easier to overlook the work done by those who aren't part of the bigger crowd.

Grrr... I just can't keep away. At least this topic has progressed of a slagging match. :)

I DON'T support racism, nor am I racist. I think it's wrong promoting equality and then only allowing the minority to do something. You shouldn't be able to set up awards for a genetic thing. It would be wrong to do "Blonde" people awards. But the problem is drawing the line.... and the simple answer is NOT TO DRAW ONE. If a Blonde person can set up a Blonde award then a Brunette should be able to set up a Brunette award. This is NOT what happens with races as you CANNOT have a "white" radio station. Grrrrrrr.

-mortensenj

[mr.Bojangles]

Didn't mean to offend ya. :)

But I know what you mean, it doesn't really seem fair to have a certain community give out awards to only those in that community. But my point was that the work of those who belong to a minority group might be lost or ignored by those of the majority. So, if you're a talented artist, and you're ignored by the majority.. you've got you're fellow chums to give you the recognition you deserve.

Ideally, there wouldn't be a need for a "minority" award show if everyone was treated equal but the world isn't that way yet. :(

[mortensen]

I see where you're coming from but it's wrong [in my opinion]. Quality will always rise above colour of skin or political beliefs. That's the simple answer.

-mortensenj