[AT] Agricultural Equipment Diagnostic Technicians was OT two university STEM majors to avoid

[Cecil Bearden]

I graduated with a BS degree in Ag Engineering. power & machinery 
option.  Intent on going to work for Massey or Case or IHC or maybe 
Allis.  I wanted the old Block Man job, the troubleshooter in the field, 
Allis had one I had talked to a lot. I graduated in 75 and the 
manufacturers were playing merger and acquisition, Massey was going 
bankrupt and Allis was being dismantled by the Germans..  I went to work 
for the state of OK a year later.  I stayed 30 years, but I always 
wanted to work on injector pumps.   I had a scholarship offered to me to 
the OSU technical instutute for diesel injection.  My folks nearly 
disowned me if I went that route.  I ended up working every waking hour 
as a mechanic to pay my way through college as an engineer. Then went 
back to mechanic work to make a living after I graduated with that 
precious degree......   I got a retirement, but I worked for less than 
half salary of my counterparts for 30 years to get it...  If I could do 
it over, I would go to the tech school.  I would have been $40K ahead at 
the end of that 5 year period..
Cecil

On 8/24/2019 6:54 PM, John Hall wrote:
> Interesting comments on trades vs 4 year schools. My son just began 
> college, math major. He has book sense way more than most--gifted in 
> brains and the desire to learn on a higher level. On the other hand, 
> he can't change the oil in his truck without my assistance. I tried 
> very hard to teach him the basics of farming and mechanic work, but 
> thats just not how his mind works. For folks like that, 4 year degrees 
> are where its at. Myself, I didn't have the brains or the desire to go 
> to 4 years of school, so I went to community college and have spent 
> the last 30 years in a machine shop.
>
> Schooling should match the student, that is my families take on the 
> situation.
>
> John Hall
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