USC, UIUC, UCLA, UCSD or UVa for Electrical Engineering

Schmaltz
Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:36:15 +0000

This thread has stumbled upon a topic I’ve been thinking about for decades…stereotypes, archtypes, typical situations, classic cases, ultimate experiences, etc.

I’ve been an auto worker in Detroit, an undergrad in Boston, a naval officer in San Diego, and a grad student in philosophy at the U of St Andrews (founded in the 14oos). So I know a thing or two about things that are very typical. I’ve also worked for Kinko’s, which was a company that was focused on things (computers, digital printing, etc) that didn’t even exist when I was growing up. The difference is that when you do the typical/sterotypical/classic/etc. thing, the thing that’s been on your mind since you were a little kid, you are experiencing more than what you yourself are experiencing. You are part of a tradition far beyond yourself…maybe even part of history.

When I went to visit my brother in Los Angeles, he didn’t put me up at any number of swanky local places…he put me up at the Roosevelt Hotel…a historic and classic Hollywood hangout where everybody who was anybody cheated on their movie star spouse in the golden era of Hollywood. When I ordered a drink at the bar, I could almost hear Errol Flynn talking some starlet out of her dress.

Get my point? There is something to be said for playing basketball at Kentucky and playing football at Oklahoma…these are classic situations, where you sweat not just your own sweat, but the sweat of countless historic firgures before you.