This person is applying to college.

[Dr. DTVT]

As someone who came up through the public education system in Mississippi

and you're literate?  Thank Jesus its a miracle!

More on point, I saw it even in college.  I had a student write me a "Table of Context" (pic is in my facebook account if you care to see and are friends with me).  I would like a table of context, it would make figuring out women so much easier.

I'll reply with more thoughts from my home computer.

[Stadler]

I can agree with all of that. And to clarify, I didn't mean to suggest that this is as simple as an issue of what's being taught in schools (i.e. evolution vs creation), only use that as one example of what I might label a red flag. If I'm muslim in that school, I certainly could read the Bible and get something out of it. But I'd also feel potentially marginalized and offended.

And while I know this is a hackneyed argument, it's worth pointing out that unfortunately a lot of parents simply can't and won't be there every step of the way to help their children and encourage good and bad habits. Many will never be able to read that message and say something is wrong, because a lot of them are out working overtime at some shitty job to put food on the table.

On the general premise though, I absolutely agree. Education *should* start in the home, with the parents and the kids.

Please understand, I am not picking on you, but some of what you write is part of the problem.  This notion of "marginalizing": it's a fabrication for people who's agenda is based on the minority.  I look back when I was a kid, and I probably was "marginalized" in the sense that you are using the word, but in that case ignorance is bliss.

Do the math:  if you worry about marginalizing someone on every single issue (can't show same-race, male-female couples, because mixed race and gay couples will be marginalized.  Can't show nuclear families, because integrated families will be marginalized.) then by definition, EVERY student will feel marginalized by something.  That's not the solution.  It's the old "to a hammer, everything is a nail" syndrome.  It's not up to the schools to teach diversity (and I mean that in the broadest sense).   It is up to the parents.  Sure, some won't do that, but most will, and those that don't will feel the consequences without being "shamed" by the schools into driving politically correct behavior. 

School's job is to communicate information, period.  Be a resource, like a book in a library.  Not coach them into scoring high on a specific test so that the community can get more federal tax dollars.   That's a self-defeating proposition (and by the way, there is no direct cause and effect - though there is some correlation - between "more money" and "better performance").

It's getting dated now, but "Dumbing Down Our Kids" by Charles somebody is must reading for this discussion.

Perhaps I shouldn't have brought up marginalization, because the issue that I was briefly touching on in the bible example was actually much larger than that. Most likely my fault for doing so. Or maybe you'll disagree?

Are you suggesting that using depictions of same-race, male-female couples (or nuclear families) is an issue on the same level as public schools handing out bibles (and bibles only) in a supposedly secular state? Or that maybe that's the path we're on if we take issue with the latter? Or something else entirely? For now, I'm sensing either false equivalence or slippery slope. But it's absolutely possible that I've misunderstood.

I mean look, I'm very sympathetic to the issue of constant preoccupation with offending anyone and I wholeheartedly agree with the specific examples you mentioned. I know, from personal experience, that this PC on steroids (for lack of a better phrase) can be very problematic and (ironically) marginalizing to anyone with an unpopular opinion. However, I'm not on board with your examples as they relate to mine. Or maybe I should say, I'm not sure they're entirely relevant to the larger point I was originally trying to make. Which at the end of the day was not so much an issue of marginalization as it was of poor education (i.e. greatly limiting the resources in the library, if I can borrow your analogy). It just so happens that in this case, the things that might marginalize a young atheist boy (or what have you) are also actively obstructing the communication of information which the school should stand for.

I think you finally hit on what I was trying to say in your last couple sentences.  The handing out of the bible is wrong, but not because it's marginalizing.  That's what I was saying. We shouldn't worry about marginalizing, but we should worry about what is the best possible tool, the best possible strategy, for teaching our kids in the short time (relatively speaking) they are in the classroom.  Period.

[ReaperKK]

Hi-Dro? That's just fucking priceless.

My wife has had a student who's name was spelled La-a. What/how would you say that?


























Her name is La (dash) a                    La-a   =   "Ladasha"

I came here to post this!!! My gf used to be a pediatric nurse and she had someone come in with the exact same name.

[Cable]

Cannot read through everyone, but all had good points that I did look at.

With the OP and topic, I will comment that a lot of university degrees are about effort and time management. When I struggled in undergrad, a professor gave me just that observation; time management. The man was black/african-american, and had an accent for what it is worth. Sure, a person with borderline to intellectually disabled level IQ will not be a physician. Also though, an amount of poor skills result in poor education and support. John Mighton, who had a part in "Good Will Hunting," really pushes this concept. https://utoronto.academia.edu/mighton. Whether or not he is 100% correct I do not know- no 100% here anyway. But doing basic intelligence/cognition testing for my job, to me it is the case a lot of the time.

On the other hand, we used to assume that people in university have a certain level of maturity, and conversational ability. I feel that with the U.S. push of "degrees degrees degrees!", a lot of people who would not have gone to higher ed in the 50s do so in the 2000s. And as universities have expanded to take more in, as well as the for-profit University Predators, more situations like this occur.

[Calvin6s]

This person needs to be entering the third grade or making hats.

You think the person could program embroidery software?  I highly doubt it.

[Grizz]

My girlfriend works as an admissions counselor for a university in CT.

What a coincidence! I'm applying my way out of this state and its godforsaken weather!
its big government is underrated tho, even if Malloy is a knucklehead

[Chino]

My girlfriend works as an admissions counselor for a university in CT.

What a coincidence! I'm applying my way out of this state and its godforsaken weather!
its big government is underrated tho, even if Malloy is a knucklehead

My biggest problem with this state is that, while definitely decent, it's a lot worse off than the number lead you to believe. If you omitted the net worth and assets of the top 2% in this state, you'd see our standing compared to others drop significantly. We have so much money in Groton and along the coast that is skews reality for the rest of the state. The state doesn't have as much money as it appears to on paper.

The weather is good for college up here though. Snow days!

[Stadler]

Cannot read through everyone, but all had good points that I did look at.

With the OP and topic, I will comment that a lot of university degrees are about effort and time management. When I struggled in undergrad, a professor gave me just that observation; time management. The man was black/african-american, and had an accent for what it is worth. Sure, a person with borderline to intellectually disabled level IQ will not be a physician. Also though, an amount of poor skills result in poor education and support. John Mighton, who had a part in "Good Will Hunting," really pushes this concept. https://utoronto.academia.edu/mighton. Whether or not he is 100% correct I do not know- no 100% here anyway. But doing basic intelligence/cognition testing for my job, to me it is the case a lot of the time.

On the other hand, we used to assume that people in university have a certain level of maturity, and conversational ability. I feel that with the U.S. push of "degrees degrees degrees!", a lot of people who would not have gone to higher ed in the 50s do so in the 2000s. And as universities have expanded to take more in, as well as the for-profit University Predators, more situations like this occur.

Well, this person is APPLYING to college, didn't say they got in.   I know for my school - a large state school that you've seen several times in the NCAA backetball championship game - it was my safety school back then, and today I'd be lucky to get in, because the number of seats hasn't changed, but the increased volume of applicants has allowed them to be more selective in who they take.  I have faith in the college system (at least the accredited, well-regarded schools). It's the level before that bothers me.

I think what most people know intuitively but are afraid to say it in this PC culture we live in, but not only is a high school degree from 1950 not worth as much as a HSD today in terms of job opportunities, but a HSD of today is not worth as much as a HSD from 1950 in terms of what that student is prepared to do.  In other words, we all agree that a HSD is not enough to today, but part of it is that the student graduating today is not as well-read and well-prepared across the board as the high school students of a half century ago.   Yes, they know more about computers and Twatter and what not, but we've lost a level of problem-solving and issue analysis that only broad exposure to knowledge can bring.   My stepdaughter is going to graduate in a couple months and she will have graduated without taking ANY physics, and with taking one chemistry class, that she failed.   She is a smart kid, in all respects, but that is a woeful record of "well-rounded education" (and a large reason why my other daughter is in private school). 

[cramx3]

Wow, how can one not take any physics and fail at the one opportunity for chemistry and still graduate?  ANd that is not a knock on your daughter, but a knock on "what exactly are they teaching kids in school these days?" 

[Chino]

Wow, how can one not take any physics and fail at the one opportunity for chemistry and still graduate?  ANd that is not a knock on your daughter, but a knock on "what exactly are they teaching kids in school these days?"

I never took a physics course or anything harder than algebra. I passed chemistry with D+. Granted, that was when I was in highschool and didn't do shit. I got a 100 in college level bio when I took it and a 92 in chemistry.

[cramx3]

Wow, how can one not take any physics and fail at the one opportunity for chemistry and still graduate?  ANd that is not a knock on your daughter, but a knock on "what exactly are they teaching kids in school these days?"

I never took a physics course or anything harder than algebra. I passed chemistry with D+. Granted, that was when I was in highschool and didn't do shit. I got a 100 in college level bio when I took it and a 92 in chemistry.

Crazy (not how you did well in college lol) how physics isnt required, i thought it would have been.  We had to take it in my high school.

[Calvin6s]

Wow, how can one not take any physics and fail at the one opportunity for chemistry and still graduate?  ANd that is not a knock on your daughter, but a knock on "what exactly are they teaching kids in school these days?"

I never took a physics course or anything harder than algebra. I passed chemistry with D+. Granted, that was when I was in highschool and didn't do shit. I got a 100 in college level bio when I took it and a 92 in chemistry.

I know it is possible to graduate without taking higher level science and math, but it was very rare at my high school. 

I took Algebra in 8th grade, Geometry in 9th, Algebra 2 in 10th,  Trig in 11th and AP Calculus in 12th.  The average kids were 1 to 2 cycles behind me (so Algebra 2 in 12th).  The dumb kids took *remedial math* to get their math credits.  And this kids were f*cking stupid as all sh*t.

For science, I took Chemistry, AP Physics, Biology and passed on AP Biology because Biology is my least favorite science.  It was supposed to go Biology, Chemistry, AP Physics, AP Biology, but the Biology classes were so full, they asked the kids further along in math to start with Chemistry and return to Biology later.  Physics was easily the most rewarding of the science classes.  Not even close.  They didn't have "remedial science", so I'm almost positive you couldn't graduate without at least passing Biology and Chemistry.

My school was in a mostly lower class to some middle class zone, but the curriculum was some of the best in the country.  The sad part is the guidance counselor was probably the worst in the country.  She was new and clearly had no idea what she was doing.  Thanks so much for training a guidance counselor at such a crucial time in my life.  She and the administration that put her in that position should be taken to a dog shelter and put down.  So many promising students that had to blindly find their way into college.

[kirksnosehair]

College in this country is a fucking scam.  Really, our entire education system is terrible. 

[cramx3]

College in this country is a fucking scam.  Really, our entire education system is terrible.

I wouldn't say its a scam, but it's certainly not worth the cost for everyone.

[Phoenix87x]

College in this country is a fucking scam.  Really, our entire education system is terrible.

Agree 100%.

The fact that an in-experienced teenager applying to college can get themselves $40,000+ dollars in debt for a Liberal arts degree is really something else. And i don't really blame the kids. How would they even know.

When I was growing up the attitude was "just go to college and then the job will follow", nobody ever said that a degree is an investment and doesn't guarantee a job. I wish someone would have just said "choose wisely when picking a major". I learned this lesson the hard way.

[cramx3]

College in this country is a fucking scam.  Really, our entire education system is terrible.

Agree 100%.

The fact that an in-experienced teenager applying to college can get themselves $40,000+ dollars in debt for a Liberal arts degree is really something else. And i don't really blame the kids. How would they even know.

When I was growing up the attitude was "just go to college and then the job will follow", nobody ever said that a degree is an investment and doesn't guarantee a job. I wish someone would have just said "choose wisely when picking a major". I learned this lesson the hard way.

That's not college (in general) fault, it would seem no one properly advised you.  I agree with the debt is likely not worth some liberal arts degrees, but thats why I said college isn't for everyone.  I 100% believe it is not a scam though, many degrees are worth the money, including my own degree.  I would not be able to get the job I have without it (it is not in liberal arts).

[Lucien]

I've been blessed in that my scholarships pay for everything, and I get $700 every semester extra. The issue is that among that is a $5500/year FAFSA loan that I'll eventually have to pay back. The problem with that is that I'm going to be a teacher.

God I hope Bernie Sanders is elected.

[cramx3]

I've been blessed in that my scholarships pay for everything, and I get $700 every semester extra. The issue is that among that is a $5500/year FAFSA loan that I'll eventually have to pay back. The problem with that is that I'm going to be a teacher.

God I hope Bernie Sanders is elected.

So 22k after 4 years... not bad at all and definitely something a teacher can pay off over time.

[cramx3]

https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/teacher-marks-child-s-55515-answer-incorrect

And shit like this is why our schools are failing 

[Accelerando]

Check out this list of first names. She's had to communicate with everyone on this list.

Most of these names I recognize, my friend, and they come from Arabic and Swahili backgrounds.

So yeah.

[TioJorge]

https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/teacher-marks-child-s-55515-answer-incorrect

And shit like this is why our schools are failing 

Holy. Cunting. Cupcakes.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-

Mentally deficient teachers teaching! 

[cramx3]

That example is just so wrong and reminded me of something that happened in math class for me that actually helped turn my math around, I was always strong in math and was in honors math from 6th grade (as early as they offered it) until I did AP calc my senior year, except as a freshman I was in regular trigonometry.  We had to do proofs on our exams, for one proof I got the question correct and full points, but my teacher asked to speak with me about it after class.  He told me I was the only one in the class and only one he had seen to prove it correctly, but by doing it a completely different way than expected.  It through him off, but he told me that I thought about it in such a different way and was still able to prove it right, he said I belonged in honor trig and helped push me back into honors math the next year which had a huge impact on me later passing my AP exam, getting into a great university, and getting an engineering degree.  Something like that would NEVER happen with common core.  That is so sad, I would have been marked wrong and who knows what would have happened as I look at that as a legitimate turning point in me learning math.

[TioJorge]

It really is just utterly fucked. What you said and that picture are the differences between a good teacher and a piece of shit collecting a paycheck.

Thing is, even if it was a word problem that accurately explained to precisely solve the problem in that manner (even though it still absolutely does not matter, but let's play devil's advocate for a second), the way in which she 'corrected' the answer is so screwed. No explanation of why it was wrong, of why the student should have done it the way that the teacher solved, nothing. Just "nope, THIS is the right way". Fuck that. It's a big reason why I hated math because I usually did things differently as well even if I did get it right. Except I still wasn't fantastic at it, but that made those points I did lose for asinine, illogical reasons that much more important.

So fucking disheartening.

I'd also like to add that it *looks* like the kid does know how to group properly when it's explicitly explained and when it matters, in the problem on the bottom of the picture. It's cut off, but as it says in the word problem, it poses it in such a fashion that makes it sound like it wants you to write it out that specific way...which the student does. Clearly not an issue.

[Calvin6s]

I liked math quite a bit.  It just seemed so logical that once you got it, you just kept getting it because it was a continual building block.

But I hated the "show your work" part of homework and tests with a passion.  I don't recall ever being marked down for it (because the end answer was correct), but a few teachers loved to write in red pen "Show your work".  If I found a way to do it in fewer steps or I can consolidate 2 to 3 steps in one step, that's a good thing.  That was one of the most basic goals of math.  Simplify things.

[Cool Chris]

When I was growing up the attitude was "just go to college and then the job will follow", nobody ever said that a degree is an investment and doesn't guarantee a job. I wish someone would have just said "choose wisely when picking a major". I learned this lesson the hard way.

I feel the same way, and was told the exact same thing, with the exact same results. Though I try not to blame my parents for it. 

God I hope Bernie Sanders is elected.

So I can pay for people to go to college and get degrees that won't help them in any way in life? We don't need more people to go to college, especially at everyone else's expense.

[Sacul]

https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/teacher-marks-child-s-55515-answer-incorrect

And shit like this is why our schools are failing 

Holy. Cunting. Cupcakes.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-

Mentally deficient teachers teaching! 

Ugh, dunno man. I for one think that the purpose of the part of the test was understanding how to properly do 5x3 (which is 3+3+3+3+3, because it's, literally 5 TIMES 3), rather than just putting 15 as an answer. But I'm unsure as to how this would actually help when learning more advanced math.

[Lucien]

God I hope Bernie Sanders is elected.

So I can pay for people to go to college and get degrees that won't help them in any way in life? We don't need more people to go to college, especially at everyone else's expense.

Obviously this is something for p/r, but the man won't tax people for others to go to college, he's taxing wall street transactions for that (0.5% on all wall street transactions apparently pays more than enough for the program, and doesn't hurt the average person at all)

[Evermind]

https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/teacher-marks-child-s-55515-answer-incorrect

And shit like this is why our schools are failing 

Holy. Cunting. Cupcakes.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-

Mentally deficient teachers teaching! 

Ugh, dunno man. I for one think that the purpose of the part of the test was understanding how to properly do 5x3 (which is 3+3+3+3+3, because it's, literally 5 TIMES 3), rather than just putting 15 as an answer. But I'm unsure as to how this would actually help when learning more advanced math.

Funny, because it's totally the other way around in Russia as far as I know. 5x3 means you should take 5 and count it three times. Just like the guy did.

[BlobVanDam]

https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/teacher-marks-child-s-55515-answer-incorrect

And shit like this is why our schools are failing 

Holy. Cunting. Cupcakes.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-

Mentally deficient teachers teaching! 

Ugh, dunno man. I for one think that the purpose of the part of the test was understanding how to properly do 5x3 (which is 3+3+3+3+3, because it's, literally 5 TIMES 3), rather than just putting 15 as an answer. But I'm unsure as to how this would actually help when learning more advanced math.

Funny, because it's totally the other way around in Russia as far as I know. 5x3 means you should take 5 and count it three times. Just like the guy did.

Either way should be just as acceptable in this context anyway, since it's only numbers. 5x3 doesn't indicate whether it's 5 lots of 3 things, or 3 lots of 5 things. And that second question is beyond BS. It angers me that any kid is being taught and judged this way, it's doing more harm than good to mark it as wrong and beat such an incredibly narrow approach into children. The kid very clearly understood the concept.

[Evermind]

https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/teacher-marks-child-s-55515-answer-incorrect

And shit like this is why our schools are failing 

Holy. Cunting. Cupcakes.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-

Mentally deficient teachers teaching! 

Ugh, dunno man. I for one think that the purpose of the part of the test was understanding how to properly do 5x3 (which is 3+3+3+3+3, because it's, literally 5 TIMES 3), rather than just putting 15 as an answer. But I'm unsure as to how this would actually help when learning more advanced math.

Funny, because it's totally the other way around in Russia as far as I know. 5x3 means you should take 5 and count it three times. Just like the guy did.

Either way should be just as acceptable in this context anyway, since it's only numbers. 5x3 doesn't indicate whether it's 5 lots of 3 things, or 3 lots of 5 things. And that second question is beyond BS. It angers me that any kid is being taught and judged this way, it's doing more harm than good to mark it as wrong and beat such an incredibly narrow approach into children. The kid very clearly understood the concept.

Yeah, I agree. I guess it's things like this that can turn a kid off the subject.

[orcus116]

College in this country is a fucking scam.  Really, our entire education system is terrible.

Agree 100%.

The fact that an in-experienced teenager applying to college can get themselves $40,000+ dollars in debt for a Liberal arts degree is really something else. And i don't really blame the kids. How would they even know.

When I was growing up the attitude was "just go to college and then the job will follow", nobody ever said that a degree is an investment and doesn't guarantee a job. I wish someone would have just said "choose wisely when picking a major". I learned this lesson the hard way.

That's not college (in general) fault, it would seem no one properly advised you.  I agree with the debt is likely not worth some liberal arts degrees, but thats why I said college isn't for everyone.  I 100% believe it is not a scam though, many degrees are worth the money, including my own degree.  I would not be able to get the job I have without it (it is not in liberal arts).

The main advice I would give someone applying for college is stay the hell away from any creative arts degrees unless you're looking to teach the class some day or get a job as a curator somewhere.

Also I wouldn't really call the whole system a scam. I put more of the blame on people who don't have any foresight and are just bad at handling money/debts. The whole shock at how much people find out they owe where it was pretty clear what they were getting into just makes me laugh. Maybe I ended up with the only honest advisor in the universe but the majority of the complaints I see from people are from situations they put themselves in and are just looking to cast blame elsewhere. Not that there aren't bad advisors but let's be real here.

[Dr. DTVT]

College is an investment, you get what out what you put in.  If you want to point the finger at anyone, point it at colleges.  They accept students who shouldn't qualify academically because it's income, they let them linger around too long because it's income, all the while bombarding these students with messages about how they won't be able to make it in society if they don't have a bachelors.  They start the propaganda in high school by paying reps to go schools and talk about how their life will be so much better if they go to their school.

The other part is that qualifications have slid needlessly up.  Jobs that don't require any sort of education sometimes now need a bachelors just because a few people with degrees took those jobs in the past - that's the new standard.  Society, in turn, now looks down at young people without degrees.  The most important jobs for a working society only require training.  I honestly believe that truck drivers, garbage men, and field laborers produce a greater good than I do, even though that does not seem to be society's view point because if a kid in school said he wanted to do any of those jobs, the adults would get on their case immediately.

[Stadler]

I've been blessed in that my scholarships pay for everything, and I get $700 every semester extra. The issue is that among that is a $5500/year FAFSA loan that I'll eventually have to pay back. The problem with that is that I'm going to be a teacher.

God I hope Bernie Sanders is elected.

HAHAHA.  As if the one has anything to do with the other.    If you think that miraculously, instantly, college is going to be "free" (NOTHING is ever free, my friend) if Bernie is elected, I don't know what to tell you.  Right now, SOME kids have a debt burden from college, and are not able to find jobs.   Not EVERY kid is in that boat.   

College isn't a "scam" any more than Obamacare is, but like Obamacare, if you think that just "checking the box" gets you where you need to be, then, well, you're just not paying attention.  College isn't a substitute for hard work, initiative, being able to effectively communicate in the environment you are in...   

Not in my current position, but in the four positions prior to that, I was in a hiring position, and while it wasn't a dealbreaker (though for some positions it was, company policy), the non-college graduate had to come up with something more than "it just wasn't for me".  If that's your answer, guess what, this job "isn't for you" either.   I figured out a way to get an Engineering Degree, a Law Degree (from a Top 25 school) and an MBA (from a Top 10 school) with only minimal debt from the undergraduate degree. 

I don't get this mentality of dumbing things down.   I'm not necessarily blaming everyone who has debt from college, but I would also say that this idea of "my passion" is killing us as a society.   What YOU want to do doesn't automatically mean that the world wants to pay for it. Engineering was NOT my first choice in terms of "life loves".  I would have loved to have spent four years at UConn learning guitar and music theory, but even I knew that wasn't going to provide for a family and put food on the table.   Not saying my decision was right or wrong, but it was a decision that accepted the consequences.   I don't feel sorry for people that have $40K in college debt with a "Performance Art Major" who wonder why companies won't hire them fresh out of school for Vice President jobs (I've actually seen something like this, by the way). 

Our decisions have consequences.

[Stadler]

God I hope Bernie Sanders is elected.

So I can pay for people to go to college and get degrees that won't help them in any way in life? We don't need more people to go to college, especially at everyone else's expense.

Obviously this is something for p/r, but the man won't tax people for others to go to college, he's taxing wall street transactions for that (0.5% on all wall street transactions apparently pays more than enough for the program, and doesn't hurt the average person at all)

And if you read in the P/R section, you will know that the math STILL doesn't add up.   If you think Wall Street is going to a) stand idly by as Bernie takes over a 100 BILLION dollars from them, and/or b) is going to absorb that cost and not pass it to investors, you really aren't putting in the due diligence on this.   Yeah, the "100 BILLION" is a subjective number (20 million college students times $5,000 per; I get that not all private schools will be paid for, and the $5K number is subject to debate), but regardless of your assumptions we are in "B" territory, not "M" territory, and that many zeros gets attention.   

[cramx3]

College is an investment, you get what out what you put in.

This.  I like to think the best investment you can make is an investment in yourself since you can control that, hence why I generally believe college is a good thing if you are going to put the effort into not only getting a degree, but using that degree in your career.