College Recruiter’s Advice


It was my son’s junior year in high school and the prospect of looking towards his future must have brought him a blend of excitement and trepidation. His grades were top notch—and his small high school offered all the required courses and a limited choice of electives to fill his course load.

Then came the visit with a college recruiter from a big Texas university. I was invited to join, so Tommy and I sat across from him in a Seattle hotel lobby. Tommy’s vital statistics were spread in front of this age-40-something, tie and sports jacketed, cowboy-booted professional.

 


I saw the man’s eyes narrow as he looked at my son’s current course load—besides the required courses, Tommy decided to take Auto Shop as an elective. The man shook his head and advised Tommy to double down during his senior year and not “waste” his time on courses that didn’t look good on his transcript.





The recruiter didn’t see the merit of a trade course—and many colleges don’t. But he didn’t realize that Auto Shop wasn’t a fluff class—just an easy "A" on the transcript. Indeed, it was a hard-earned grade. Mr. Cooke, the shop teacher, demanded action each day—working on rebuilding a car engine from start to finish—and it culminated with that engine roaring to life or you didn’t pass.


Besides that, there were weeks of useful lessons on the right tools for certain repairs, and learning how various machinery worked. Putting your tools away properly was mandatory. This wasn’t a course for slackers.




Sadly, many schools aren’t offering Auto Shop anymore —maybe college recruiters got the word out. But this much is certain—my son didn’t miss out on an amazing class that equipped him in ways that have lasted.


He's not a car mechanic, but he knows enough that in his free time he’s tackling rebuilding his great-grandfather’s 1965 Ford pickup. Besides the auto maintenance, how much else did he learn in Auto Shop? I can see that he learned some patience, meticulous attention to detail, and trial and error. Maybe the college recruiter wouldn’t be impressed with my son's efforts, but I know his old shop teacher would be. And so am I.




Popular posts from this blog

Counting the Cost

Image
Something big is missing in this photo. Let me explain. Here in my hometown, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe prepared a parcel of land for a new hotel. Plenty of planning and architectural designs were evaluated. A gemstone of a hotel would be built across from the waterfront—a beautiful, restful place welcoming travelers. A true four-star facility.   They cleared the aging brick structures that had been fading away between Front Street and Railroad Avenue. Then the pandemic hit, shortages of labor and supplies, add in the costly inflation that followed. Everything stopped.   But this is what I admire about the Elwha Tribe: they have counted the cost. They didn’t want to move forward and take on tremendous debt. They would rather move slowly and be financially ready, rather than begin building and then letting it sit unfinished.   Counting the cost is something I should have done earlier in life when I didn’t know what high interest rates would do to our farming cost...
Read more

Summertime Music

Image
During the summer months, in an outside seating area, a delightfully painted piano sits with a sign that says, “Play me”.   It was just before 8 pm as I walked past the piano. My bus would be arriving soon, and I still have another ten minutes to walk before reaching my bus stop. But no one is around. It’s a beautiful warm evening. I pulled out the piano bench and sat down. The sun was behind me, and the piano keys reflected its glow. I had no music in front of me, only the songs within me. Notes drifted into the air.  In those brief moments, the magic of music and summer came together. Isn’t that how it is? Summertime music has a way of lingering in our minds and lasting a lifetime. As I stood and grabbed my things, I heard distant clapping—I guess I wasn’t alone, after all.
Read more

Planting Good Seeds

Image
Harvest will always depend on what we plant and how well we care for our crop.    Looking over my seed packets, I notice they’re different than the ones I planted before. One package is called Word seeds. The directions say that each of my words is a seed, so it cautions me to think before I speak. Harsh words don’t produce sweet, nourishing fruit. These seeds will require thoughtful care in the garden. I see some Volunteer seeds. Those extra hours I tend to fritter away are going to be planted in a useful project.   It looks like time isn’t wasted in this garden plot. Next are some Love seeds—the directions are interesting: get up each day and love others. No specifics are given—just do something for someone every day. The seed package shows pictures of smiling faces. I smile back. As I’m ready to head to the garden with my seeds, a package falls to the ground. I open it. Inside are the tiniest seeds I’ve ever seen—but the directions s...
Read more