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<p>What do you call the guy who graduated last in his in medical school class?</p>
<p>“Doctor”.</p>
<p>In other words, WP is right in that academic pedigree alone only goes so far. I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that the SA’s are a possible exception to that rule simply because so much more than just academic grades go into the mix, but even then the underlying point stands.</p>
<p>I’ve known PhD’s who were absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to work with and who were an incredible detriment to every single team they were assigned to. By the same token, I’ve known people without a degree that were smarter and more effective in every capacity you can think of when compared to some of the degreed folks. BTW, this is out in the REAL world, not in the sheltered ivory towers of academia.</p>
<p>I, for one, am sick to the teeth of all the excuses being bandied about for differences in performance, be it in college, in the workplace, in the sports arena, or anywhere else. I don’t buy the idea that just because you grew up poor means you have to stay that way, or that just because your school didn’t have computers gives you the right to remain computer illiterate, or that just because you’re a woman that somehow the very best cannot be expected of you. </p>
<p>This is AMERICA, damn it! If you can’t succeed here it’s because YOU DON’T WANT TO! As a country we have always (with apologies to Clint) adapted, improvised, and overcome. If we hadn’t we’d still be a bunch of damned colonies rather than the lone superpower on Earth (a fact that some nitwits actually seem to find problematic, which just goes to show how inept our education system has become). You don’t have the talent to be a doctor? Fine! Go out and be the BEST you can be at whatever it is YOU are GOOD at!</p>
<p>You want to get ahead? NEWS FLASH: It’s up to YOU. From another favorite movie: “If you do not succeed in life, I don’t want you to blame your parents! I don’t want you to blame the white man! I want you to blame YOURSELVES! The responsibility is YOURS!”</p>
<p>Stop blaming everyone else for YOUR failures or for the challenges you face. Stop looking to others to help you where you should be helping yourself. Get off your ass and WORK! Don’t tell me it can’t be done: I managed to get two Masters degrees in parallel while simultaneously working full-time AND having a family. Don’t tell me it requires money: my Bachelors and both Masters degrees were “free” monetarily, but I WORKED MY TAIL OFF to get into those programs. Whether you like it or not, Clarence Thomas rose from poverty to the Supreme Court. Steve Jobs started in a garage. So did Bill Gates. Tom Clancy was an obscure insurance salesman before he rolled the dice on a book. If they can do it, why can’t you?</p>
<p>They keep pouring poison into the ears of those they claim to want to help. How pathetic is it that an entire segment of our society looks DOWN on educational achievement as a dis to their “struggle”? How abhorent is it that we have to lower standards in so many places in the name of “diversity”, yet are shocked when the result is a LOWER quality of output?</p>
<p>I can rant about this for hours. It is SICK that we DON’T challenge people to be THEIR BEST anymore, and instead coddle them for their weaknesses. Unless this trend is reversed soon, we are sunk.</p>
<p>Of course, most of the morons who espouse all this PC hypersensitivity crap would welcome that. :rolleyes:</p>