<p>Poetgrl, your husband is quitting or retiring?</p>
<p>My friends have various educations. No high school dropouts. No phds either. Intelligence varies depending on the subject matter, activity, etc., but one of the smartest guys I know dropped out of college. I think life can be harder without a college education and I think college gives a person many opportunities to study life, but my friend is intellectually curious and a self learner.</p>
<p>This question makes me think of all the UC kids whose parents are immigrants with little education. Many Berkeley and UCLA grads are in this category, and I wonder what it’s like for those kids at family reunions where they are the only ones to have gone to college. Do they ‘put on different hats’ when surrounded by family vs. colleagues? Do friends and relatives resent their higher status and income?</p>
<p>Those that live in my community and who are in my immediate circle are. That is primarily because we are not from here, and moved here for job reasons, and so the people I have met are in my neighborhood, in my children’s schools and through work connections. That pretty much comprises my everyday life.</p>
<p>Our family is split, where about 2/3s have similar educational and economic sittuations. My siblings and my husbands’ background in terms of education are very similar… There are some cousins that are close to us who do not, for the most part, share this background. Also, both DH and I have a number of old time, childhood friends who did not go the same educational route wed did. Both of us attended schools before college, where less than a third of the class even went on to college. But neither of us live in our childhood environments anymore. But we both do have contacts from those days.</p>
<p>dstark, retiring, I guess. He has agreed, once our youngest graduates from hs, to follow me to one of two opportunities I have. It’s “my turn,” so to speak. I think he doesn’t have much interest in the world of finance anymore, anyway. He wants to be working with his hands, now. </p>
<p>And there are a few things I want to do but haven’t pursued yet. So, it’s good timing for us both.</p>
<p>“It’s “my turn,” so to speak.” I understand that.</p>
<p>I think he doesn’t have much interest in the world of finance anymore, anyway. 
I totally understand that. :)</p>
<p>He wants to be working with his hands, now. I understand that.</p>
<p>Are you keeping it a secret what your future plans are, or your future ideas for yourself? If you are, I respect that. Otherwise, what would you like to do? Your screen name has poet in it, do you see poetry in your future?</p>
<p>I would say all of my friends have at least a college degree. I still draw most of my social circle from people I went to school with (graduated in 08). Many of them have (or are getting) another degree now too, whether it is an MA, MS, JD, MD, etc. Everyone I work with (federal government) has a college degree, and many of them have graduate degrees as well. DC is also a very educated area, at least in terms of degrees.</p>
<p>It would be just normal for a community to like have a mixture of degree holders and non degree holders. What I would want to focus on is the ability to adjust to situations. Like you don’t go about bragging or telling the whole world your PHds and other accomplishments when you are doubtful if the people you are talking to have not even reached freshman of university. That would be rudeness. I guess a real educated one would know how to blend and talk to people who have higher and lower SAT scores than he had. A degree is not a guarantee of a happy future and successful life anyways, but I know a good people skills can be a great tool to achieve success… =Kate)</p>
<p>I’m a high school student taking college level courses and getting along just fine. My friends are struggling in middle school classes. Yes, we are the same age.</p>
<p>Sent from my HTC One X using CC</p>
<p>That’s one of my life goals, to not be one of those stuck up yuppie adults that only mix with their own kind.</p>
<p>I remember socioeconomic stratification and self-segregation really annoyed me in high school.</p>
<p>High school never ends.</p>
<p>dstark, I’m staying general for anonymity reasons. But, thanks for the good wishes.</p>
<p>Poetgrl, ok. No problem. </p>
<p>I wish you the best.</p>
<p>I think educational attainment is one of those factors that correlates with your circle of friends, but isn’t necessarily a hard and fast rule for friends. If you have the same level of education, you’re typically going to be more likely to work together, earn similar salaries, live in the same neighborhoods, etc. All of those things determine who is in your available pool of acquaintances.</p>
<p>Also, a lot of people meet their adulthood friends in college or right afterward. Then you meet new friends through those friends, who are also likely legacy friends from college or work. Again, these people are likely to have the same level of education. But, depending on what your hobbies and interests are, you may be setting up potential relationships with people whose interests overlap, but whose education may not.</p>
<p>I will admit I a more comfortable with people with the same education attainment. I do agree it is more challenging to relate to others with less education or considerably more education. I begin to get uncomfortable. Like the oddball. I find this most often happens when I have to be with parents of my kids friends.</p>
<p>Most of our family members and work associates are highly educated – “top” colleges, professional degrees. Most of our fellow church members are well-educated, but there are also people who did not go beyond high school. At school (PTA parents, parents of our children’s friends, etc.), it’s quite a diverse group – from parents with graduate and professional degrees to parents who are probably illegal immigrants and do not have even a high school education. I like to be reminded that the one thing that unites most parents, regardless of education level, is concern for our children.</p>
<p>“Would never think to ask a friend or associate about their education. Its pretty obvious when we are with friends with professional degrees, but unless they happen to bring it up in conversation, I would not expect to ask anyone about their education.”</p>
<p>Same here. Everybody we work with is required to have at least a bachelors degree, so that is a legitimate topic, but I don’t ask my friends or acquaintances. Some obviously have doctorates or law degrees, but others may not have any college or might not have completed it. Most of my friends don’t know I have a masters degree, and there would be no reason to bring it up. If they talk about their education, I’ll ask questions, but otherwise there’s no reason.</p>
<p>Well there’s no reason to bring it up if education is being treated like some sort of social filtering metric, as opposed to a memorable experience one talks about (like getting fruit flies high on cocaine, then studying their neurobehavior).</p>
<p>This topic got me thinking about my circle of friends and the colleges they attended:</p>
<p>SUNY Albany, now an actuary
Bryant, now an insurance agent
George Washington, now a financial advisor
Queens College, now a pharmaceutical rep
Bowling Green, now an insurance agent
RIT, now a network engineer
SUNY Albany, now a fashion buyer
Cooper Union, now an actuary
Ithaca College, now an HR director
U of Illinois, now head of security
SUNY Albany, now a financial advisor
Northeastern, now a nurse</p>
<p>All have six figure incomes. Not an Ivy or elite school in the group.</p>
<p>I’m in university at present, and the social group I spent my time with for the most part has no ambition in regards to education. Out of the six of us, three are in post secondary at all, the other two had to return to high school because of poor marks (for lack of effort, not lack of intelligence.) And we all came from more or less the same background, middle/upper class families.
My parents personally never received post secondary education yet I was the youngest person in my graduating class by a good number of years, whereas my colleagues whose parents have very nice post secondary diplomas never had any desire to go into post secondary.
Though I’m certain social status and upbringing have a good deal of impact on ones education I’ve learned that it certainly isn’t the only thing. In fact it seems to have been the exact opposite for my group of friends.</p>
<p>Virtually all in our community/social circle have college degrees and many/most have grad degrees including JD, MBA, MD. Wide variety of schools, however, e.g., both public and private.</p>
<p>Everyone we know (neighbors, work colleagues) has a least a bachelors. You know who’s who by the flags they fly on football Saturday, but we never talk about it. Our depression comes from being surrounded by people who are educated but have absolutely no interest in education. Our schools are dismal (we rank in the bottom three for per-capita spending per student), and we have no one who understands why our child attends boarding school (or has heard of it). I hang on this board for the sole purpose of listening to intelligent people discuss issues relevant to me.</p>
<p>So, the bottom line for me is that even though we are all “educated”, we have almost nothing in common with those around us. (Neighbor across the street is a gastroenterologist at a famous clinic and doesn’t care that his kids are struggling to pass state proficiency tests.) We’ve lived here for thirteen years and have scores of “equal” acquaintences we can chat happily with but no soul mates, no one we can call at a moment’s notice for easy, casual fun or deep conversation. In our circles, at least, education is not the great equalizer.</p>