College and EX-JW Discontent....Questions and Stats

by teenyuck 55 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  run dont walk

  Why do *many* on this board claim/blame the WTS/parents for their lack of education?

  I think it's more to the point that they were not allowed to choose, I blame the parents more than anything, but , then the watchtower put the idea in the parents heads.

  Let's face it, most young JW's from 14-19, really do not get to choose, if they say they want to pursue a doctor's career (where about 20% if that actually graduate and less get into the field), the watchtower discourages them by saying why spend 10 years of your life when Armageddon will be here, then the parents say the same.

  The point is they are discouraged before they even attempt, isn't life about trying !!!!!!, at least if you try and don't make it, you can live with that, but being told you can't and MUST pioneer instead, sits in your stomach for a long long long time. I think alot are venting, and feel robbed because they were not allowed to at least try.

  I have neices and nephews, who are now in their 20's, never had a girlfriend/boyfriend, never had a full-time job, never had a friend who was not a JW. Have had no choice at all. We question races and religions where the family decides who their child will marry, many times without each ever meeting each other, are the JW's any different in EVERY FACET of life.

  btw, nice stats though.
• 

  teenyuck

  My wish would be for everyone on the board to take at least one college class, in something they are interested in....maybe pottery....maybe literature....anything.

  My story, quick and dirty:

  I did not graduate after 4 years. I went to a community college for 2 years and lived and home. I went to a university for 2 years. At the university I lived in a co-ed dorm which allowed drinking....my floor had 12 young women (I was the oldest at 21) and 36 young men.

  It was a young JW girls dream come true. I partied, I tried drugs, I fornicated. I did it all....all within walking distance of my dorm room.

  I was majoring in Accounting. I changed my major to Criminal Justice...I wanted to be in the FBI. The FBI had come on campus and tried to recruit...the problem was I didn't read the fine print. You had to be an Accounting major or be pre-law who was going on to law school.

  I stayed with criminal justice for 1 year....mid-way through my senior year I changed to Business. At the end of my senior year my 4 years were up. I had to go home.

  No one advised me to stay on for one more year, make up my credits and graduate. My mom told me that I had burned my bridges and that I had to come home and work; I blew the opportunity Jehovah gave me. (gag)

  When I started working my employer paid for me to go to a private local college and complete my degree...it would take 2 years now because the school would not accept credits from the other two. I went for 2 semesters and quit because work was requiring OT and the OT pay was too enticing....who needed a degree? I was earing big bucks!!!

  As my husband and I moved around the country, my degree would have come in handy. Saying I went to college for 5 years and never graduated, was humiliating.

  Cut to 1998....I was in Wichita, Kansas....not a lot to do except work....or learn. My employer was big on continuing education. They OKd me going back to another private college. They paid all tuition and books.

  I went 3-4 times per week for 14 months. I got straight A's for the first time in my life. I loved it. I learned and met people like me....people who dropped out. People who never graduated for any number of reasons. All of us were between the ages of 25 and 60.

  I finally graduated, with a bachelors degree in business, in 1999.

  We moved to Ohio and with the learning bug in me I went to law school for a year; realized I don't like attorneys, got a paralegal certificate and worked at it for 1 year before hanging up my legal docs....

  My points about college are this:

  IF I CAN DO IT, ANYONE CAN. I was a very average student at best in HS and initially in college. When I got older I really appreciated the profs and the work they do to help us learn. I learned more as an adult than I ever did as a teenager.

  Give it a try....you might like it and you are never too old to learn.

  Rah, Rah, Go Team!!!
• 

  JT

  I had a baseball scholorship at the university of Florida. Guess what? Pioneered instead AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

  I know the feeling

  I had an Engineering scholorship at the University of North Carolina. Guess what? Went to Bethel instead AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

  Just think i would have graduated with Michael Jordan

  damn that wt and its--- "Round the Corner" BS
• 

  stephaniesays

  For me personally, I blame my parents and the society for the lack of importance that education held for me. Education was not something that was ever a priority in our lives. After the 7th grade, my mother let me take a year off of school, telling my school that I was home-schooled. The next year, I had to go back and do the 8th gade, and so was a year behind. What kind of message is that to send to a 12 year old? After I went back, my parents would pick me up early whenever I wanted, or let me stay home quite often. Of course, I also lived in a very abusive home, and got pregnant at the age of 15, so my reasons for not going to college then were extensive, but yes, I do blame my parents for most of them and in turn, to a certain degree, the attitude of the WTBTS towards education, for basically giving people like my parents permission to raise their children that way.
• 

  JT

  Sorry class, not much sympathy here!

  i find this comment to be very interesting for it clearly shows in my view the poster missed the point,

  i have yet to read of anyone who is asking for "Sympathy"

  the post merely have demostrated what happens when we as humans are subjected to a belief system built on sand-

  while most parents in the "Nomal" world would rejoice if their child recieved a scholarship a good jw would have been disappointed in the accomplishments of their child-

  it is this type of system that has lead many of us to choice what we believed as 17 and 18 yrs to be the "Best Portion"

  so no I don't want your "Sympathy" and I'm sure most others don't either, but merely an understanding of why many of us are where we are in life-

  this poster reminds me of a Non-JW who tells a jw "Just get on with your life"

  while that is true in some context, the nonjw lack of understanding the ins and outs of being a jw are merely reflected in their comments

  many times we have seen former jw express how difficult it is to talk to those who have not exp what they have and yet they don't want "Sympathy" just understanding and that is oftentimes why they will only find it among those who have walked in thier shoes

  as for college i grew up as jw kid and took my belief system seriously, sad to say i was burned by it, yet both my wife and i are back in college and moving forward like so many others here

  so we ask for no "Sympathy" my friend

  just my 2
• 

  JT

  Education was not something that was ever a priority in our lives.

  and this is the point

  i work with so many nonjw who belong to churches where going to college esp for black folks is viewed as the Key to getting a leg up on life,

  think of all the religions who have their own colleges- yet wt COMPLETELY DISCOURAGES HIGHER EDUCATION- EXCEPT IF YOU PLAN ON PIONEERING- SMILE
• 

  teenyuck

  stephaniesays:

  Education was not something that was ever a priority in our lives.

  My mom was very much the same way....I would miss HS at least 3-4 days a month. I would say I was sick and she let me stay home. She would call in for me. This was 25 years ago, so the principal took the parents word. I would lie around and watch TV. I rarely did homework.

  That was my mother's fault. She just didn't care. She had other things on her mind. Namely finding a husband for herself. I was an after thought.
• 

  JT

  While I can't say any of this was hugely important to my career, it did provide me with a sense of filling in a piece of my life that I thought was robbed from me as a JW

  EXCELLENT POINT while some poster keep on talking about a college degree will not ganrantee you a good job they too miss an important point

  part of life is education, the learning process and for anyone who goes to college they are challenged to explore beyond the hills of NC and it's way of thinking, to take on a world view of matters

  AND MOST OF ALL TO QUESTION TRADTIONAL THINKING ON MANY ISSUES

  so many times it has nothing to do with MORE MONEY, but an expanding of ones mind

  we took a class on Critical Thinking and i almost wanted to cry - to think that i along with millions of others were told never to use our brain, beyond what we were told and now to be free to CONSIDER ANYTHING, TO QUESTION ANYTHING and not have to live in fear of displeasing god cause i asked a question-

  yes college and higher education in general is much more than just making more money

  consider all the athletic players who quit college , go on to make millions and then return to get their degree, did they do it for the money of course not why should Shaq go back to college - yet he and others do-

  for many it is for the sense of accomplishment- looking backon our lives in wt what did we accomplish- other than selling useless books

  just my 2
• 

  stephaniesays

  It's always amusing to me, too, that those JW's that do make decent money (i.e. are able to afford a few material things beyond basic neccesity) are often looked down upon by others for being materialistic. My mother takes pride in their not having money to send their grandkids gifts or come visit, etc.. because she doesn't work so that she can pioneer. My husband makes more money at 31 than my parents combined at 50, our home is much nicer, etc.. and my mom would love for there to be something in my life that shows that I do not have Jehovah's favor, but, you know, all in all...life is good...Must be that the demons already know that they have us..:)
• 

  Francois

  When I went to college in the sixties, graduating in 1969, I went to a public universitiy in Tennessee. It wasn't expensive. Didn't need Pell grants, or financial aid, nor any of those other fancy things like student aid and such. I graduated college not owing a cent. So some of your premises just don't work there Ace.