by Julia Orwell 119 Replies latest jw friends
Thanks for the thought Julia.
I think I'm a little too old to restart. I've been stuck with menial jobs and put up with the injustices of corporate America for years.
If I had my life to live over I would have learned a trade and gone to school to become a paleo-anthropologist (The study of prehistoric humans).
The trade would have been a back up since paleo-anthropology is a limited field with a long line of aspiring students.
We have family members who took the 1969 article to heart and pioneered. Now they are living on social security and working menial hard jobs in their golden years (ugh!). There is alot of resentment there! They all encourage us to let our kids go to college.
We believe this is why so many JW's are putting their kids in college. Mother doesn't like the disobedience. Too bad mother!!!
Village idiot, I dont think it is ever too late. Why you still have a good 20 or 30 years that you could use to pursue your passion.
Why dont you check about some courses? You might be able to get some grants or scholarships.
Miss.Fit
I'd feel silly complaining about how the WT screwed me given how badly others were affected, but that being said, the WT's policies did lead to a 6 year delay for me.
I graduated high school when I was 17 in order to pioneer and pursue kingdom interests. I languished around a bit until it came together for me in my early/mid 20s. Once it clicked, I went back to school and got my bachelor's degree at the age of 27.
Had I had parents who encouraged me to go to college (or at least didn't discourage me), perhaps I would have gone straight to college and graduated at the age of 21 instead. Alls well that ends well, though. My career has gone pretty well for me, six-year-delay notwithstanding.
In contrast, my parents are approaching 70 and have nothing but social security and government assistance to get them through. I won't let them starve, but I will not set myself back financially to help them out. They made their bed and they need to lay in it.
I'm fortunate that I have a talent in my chosen career. It's paid me well, so I'm living proof that one does not necessarily need a college education to succeed. I realize that my situation is unique. Most people in my profession DO need a college education. I happen to excel naturally at what I do. That said, I have indeed lost out on opportunities SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE I didn't have a degree. Am I bitter about it? A little. It definitely took me a lot longer to get where I'm at.
What I'm more bitter about is the admonition the organization gave years ago about not saving for retirement. I started very late, and currently have very little to show for it. The end was supposed to be here a long time ago. When it comes time for me to retire, well, just forget about it. I'm pretty sure I'll be working till the day I die.
Count me in with those who got duped. I graduated fourth in my high school class, turned down a full college scholarship and went off to "pioneer where the need was great" in the middle of nowhere-- small town, North Dakota, USA in l976.
I didn't wake up to TTATT until I was 52. My husband is older and too near retirement for us to spend money on a college education now. I do love learning new things though and am currently taking an online class called Fundamental of Photography from the New York Institute of Photography. I'm very happy with their program. I've always been told I'm a good photographer. I like working with the professional photographer who is assigned as my mentor.
At least we have some retirement savings in Simple IRAs. I am the Human Resources administrator for our small business. It's my job to make sure we have good health insurance and other employee benefits. We also have long-term disability which is a relief, because my husband is having some health problems now, and we may need it.
Old thread, I know. However, here is my post I made on another thread earlier today...
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I am new here, I honestly stumbled upon this site - about 2 hours ago - for the first time in my life due to generalized searching for, and reading of, the news after the Russian results.
I'm not really sure how well this forum does regarding notifications when someone comments on a, nearly, one month old thread and thereby I have no idea if this will be seen.
Anyway, I digress...
I am - most likely will - not be getting too engaged in discussions over all. However, this was the thread, this was the topic, that piqued my interest enough that it warranted account creation.
About me:
I am a 35 year old male in Utah, USA. I was born to Jehovah's Witness parents & large JW families on both sides. *Insert stereotypical JW upbringing details here*, yada yada, 1st talk on TMS was the #2/Bible Reading (with Intro & Conclusion back then) when I was 5 years old, Unbaptized Publisher when I was 6 years old, Baptized at 14 years old, Auxiliary Pioneered every July, etc.
I was Appointed as a Ministerial Servant when I was 16 years old (to be fair, it was 6 days prior to my 17th birthday), blah blah blah, interviewed (starting on the actual date I was baptized) on 6 District Conventions & 7 Circuit Assemblies/Assembly Days, had 2 different 15 minute District Convention talks (ages 18 & 21) & 3 different 10 minute Circuit talks (ages 18, 19 & 20), you know the drill.
I'll apologize in advance for the braggadocio here but I was "The Golden Boy" of JW's, lol. I was the one that my parents friends look at and say "Hey, BXXX, can you please wait until our daughter is old enough so she can marry you?" (Let's put a pin in that statement please; weird doesn't always demand dissection, am I right?)
In amongst all of those details was the fact that I was one of two Ministerial Servants in our congregation and the other was a 90 year old blind man with two hip replacements; anyone want to guess which of the two MS's did 'all the congregational work'?
If there was a problem, yo' I had to solve it.
Ultimately, it meant that I had the *Privilege* of being responsible for every department - I mean *every* department:
Literature coordinator for 3 congregations, territories, magazines, accounts, sound, attendant, Assistant TMS Overseer, TMS Scheduling & Assignments, Assistant Congregation Book Study Overseer, Public Talk Coordinator, cleaning & maintenance, hospitality coordinator, field service coordinator for a Service Overseer with health problems, the Presiding Overseer delegated the scheduling of the Service Meeting to me as well scheduling the chairman & WT readers.
One final detail is that I also gathered, formatted, put together & distributed binders containing:
All source or study material, created my own table of contents, an index that I took time to create, loose leaf notepaper, 1 blue, 1 black, 1 red pen & 1 highlighter for every Kingdom Ministry School for Elders & Servants.
Once completed, I provided a binder to every Elder & MS in the District (and the DO & CO) along with shipping some to various family & friends around the country; NOTE: every aspect of this *privilege project*, from supplies, toner cartridges, driving all over to deliver them, shipping the very long distance binders, was all done out of my own pocket & at my own expense. Lest we forget to *count the cost* that would be MY TIME to do the work. (It was no less than a 4 month project every year)
(P.S. All of that congregational stuff began immediately upon my appointment as a Servant when I was 16, I began making those binders when I was 14 years old)
Finally, when I was 23, I pretty much "snapped" from burn out. I, quite literally, walked up to the PO after a Tuesday night meeting and said "I'm stepping aside as a Ministerial Servant, effective immediately, please find other arrangements. This will help you transition..." and I handed him 3 CDs I had burned that evening before the meeting which contain all data for everything I was responsible for.
I walked out to my car, and I was done.
*With that out of the way, the last statement to make is that I will be seeking to limit the conversations in which I engage within the forum. I'll freely admit that there is a side of me that does indeed maintain *some* strong agreement for aspects of the organization; notably, there are also plenty of areas in which I have *never in my life* agreed with as well as yet other topics upon which I feel are truthful in the strictest sense of doctrine & even find the accuracy of the foundation to biblically supported yet I know they are implausible or even impossible in a real world setting. Thus, taking that all into account, please respect that I - at times - will decline to get into hairsplitting or otherwise *heated* debates to which I see no intellectual, psychological, emotional or other type of benefit.*
Regarding the topic of Education, this is one of those areas in which I have always - even as a 'mere young boy' - had an internally vehement struggle, negative perspective and complete disagreement with.
To my mind, if fundamental to ones teaching or topical 'education' - in this case, religious education - is that:
'...no man knows the day or the hour..', that '...not even Christ Jesus knows...' and that '...it will come as a thief in the night...'
Than, in that case, I am left with a surfeit glut of questions & comments I'd love to levy at the GB but I'll condense it down to its deepest root as a single - and, I think, a pretty weighty - question:
Whether it's 1975, or another example, implying ANY sort of future *possible* date as the end is simply not in keeping with 'no man shall know the day and the hour'. Furthermore, by implying such things in combination with such negative commentary on continued education, HOW are we not crippling 'the friends' to, what is now, 42 years watching as the 'scene of this world is changing'?
In fact, can I not reasonably posit that the condemnation of attending College has now had a diametrically opposed effect in that many are now forced to take multiple, low paying, jobs with a higher grand total of labor hours just to make ends meet which thus deals a fatal blow to any hopes or ability to increase their theocratic activity; is not the imposition of said educational restraint the causal link to this real world, factual, problem?
Is it not fair to postulate that, had these individuals been afforded the opportunity to truly 'live their lives as though Armageddon is coming tomorrow, but PLAN their lives as though it's never coming at all' and determine what educational course was best for them, personally, that they may in fact find themselves able to obtain employment of 30-40 hours per week - perhaps even working from home - and have even more time available for theocratic needs were they to have had a College Degree?
Were we to exercise 'wisdom & discernment', could it not also be plausible that, by having obtained their degrees, these educated brothers & sisters would have managed to start and operate small businesses with far greater success, scope, revenue and profitability which would allow them to remain in even greater control of their work schedule so as to avail themselves to the kingdom effort on a - potentially - unparalleled scale sans working 3 different minimum wage jobs at 80 hours per week AND be able to offer the added benefit of now helping others in the congregation by hiring them & providing them a work schedule immensely more conducive to the kingdom work than anything this system provides?
**I could go on and on, obviously. Nevertheless, I've made my point.**
So, without any further ado, here are the final details about myself which pertain to this topic:
Graduated High School at 16 by accelerating the coursework ON MY OWN.
GPA at graduation: 4.0 out of 4.0 (straight A's)
Through a chance encounter with the Dean of a University, he arranged for me to take the SATs and ACTs 'for fun'. Results?
SATs: 1590 of 1600
ACTs: 38 of 40
Upon receiving those scores, the aforementioned Dean asked if I wanted to test my I.Q. Results?
I.Q.: 162
Upon receiving that result, the aforementioned Dean proceeded to offer me a FULL Academic Scholarship to his university; COMPLETELY 'free ride' on everything: books, tuition & dorms, etc. although I lived close enough at the time that it was only a 20 minute drive from home.
The name of that university?
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
You read that correctly...M.I.T.; the very bastion of scientific achievement & capability, a place where people like John Nash & Stephen *effing* Hawking can/could/did show up to lecture.
The result of that offer?
I turned it down because it was a 'worldly desire to pursue a college education'.
AND...I was tempted to accept it but - and this is always a great thought to reminisce on - had I decided to accept said scholarship, well that's just it, there was no scenario where I would have accepted because when my parents heard of this - as well as hearing that I was considering it (even though I was 99% sure I'd decline of my accord) - they made it QUITE CLEAR that I wouldn't be accepting the offer.
After all, I was 16 years old and a minor. It was ultimately their decision to control that outcome and they emphatically informed me that it was "not where a Christian belongs, a Christian 'keeps on putting first the kingdom & his righteousness' and that my good grades in high school are all that I needed in order for me to get a job and then go to Ministerial Training School so I could be sent where the need was great".
End result from THAT decision?
My I.Q. tested out 13 points higher, 175, only 3 years later when I was 19. However, I entered the workforce with my high school diploma and began working jobs that - although they paid 'decently' in the $50k to $70k range - were jobs that didn't just require a 'pound of flesh' through how many hours I worked but also a 'pound of my flesh' in a physical sense.
The inglorious end of my tale being that I am now 35, I have a litany of medical conditions, my body is 'falling apart' so badly that I am now considered permanently disabled. I can walk (barely) and have a fair quality of life, all things considered. But, I am 35 and have been told by doctors that my body is 85, it won't get any better and they are in shock that I actually am walking still.
I have had 6 surgeries in the last 2 years and need to endure at least 5 more in the next 12 to 18 months and then - hopefully - I won't need any for about 5 years.
Right now I currently have 3 fractured discs in my lower back - yes, I have a broken back - along with a minor ACL tear in my right knee & minor MCL tear in my left knee and those 3 problems are the 'less crucial' to deal with. Consider that. 'Ruminate' on that.
My entire Spinal column has begun to form calcium deposits which will lead to my spine fusing to a solid state but - by planning to undergo surgery every 5 years for the rest of my life - we can prolong the inevitable by *hopefully* 20 years.
As if I'll be alive at 55!
It's both a wonderful escape from my reality, as well as a thoroughly infuriatingly depressing exercise, to sit and think about "what if I went to MIT? What if I put my brain to real use...?".
*The End*
Someguywhocares... Oh my goodness!!! I could cry!
I am so, so, so very sorry all of this has happened to you.
You are so articulate, so genius, such a good person.
Words fail me.
Please accept this heart felt internet hug from me.
Dear Lois...
...is it truly an internet hug or may it -perhaps - call its place of origin 'Metropolis'?
