We’ll done. I’ve always reckoned anyone who has the motivation and discipline to see through an OU degree is worth a lot more than a conventional qualification.
You can take the boy from the farm; but not the farm from the boyI had worked on the farm since I was 6, never had a choice and even if I didn't work I still had to be out in the fields because both my parents were. I can't claim to be hard done to because it never felt that way it was just how it had to be at the time. Winter and wet weather was miserable though and the pain when the blood flows back into cold hands is not forgotten. I have watched the feathers of ice crystals forming across the back of my hands when cutting cabbage in winter, no fun in that!
When I got to 16 I decided I wanted out, the earache I got over that was a bit of a surprise. Probably the most intense emotional blackmail I have ever had, mostly from my grandfather who was not a bad man but extremely selfish and controlling. (He had 8 daughters so can understand it a bit). As my plan to get a job elsewhere was scuppered I chose the alternative route and went away to college (similar blackmail but not enough to stop me).
Fast forward 4-5 years and I had learned enough to now know I wanted to go back home.
Perhaps not "employ" directly but rather "pay".
Good for you getting away , I think its unhealthy for offspring's to stay at home indefinitely after school , youngsters need to get out and experience the world even if its just working on another farm overseas with no college/Uni .I had worked on the farm since I was 6, never had a choice and even if I didn't work I still had to be out in the fields because both my parents were. I can't claim to be hard done to because it never felt that way it was just how it had to be at the time. Winter and wet weather was miserable though and the pain when the blood flows back into cold hands is not forgotten. I have watched the feathers of ice crystals forming across the back of my hands when cutting cabbage in winter, no fun in that!
When I got to 16 I decided I wanted out, the earache I got over that was a bit of a surprise. Probably the most intense emotional blackmail I have ever had, mostly from my grandfather who was not a bad man but extremely selfish and controlling. (He had 8 daughters so can understand it a bit). As my plan to get a job elsewhere was scuppered I chose the alternative route and went away to college (similar blackmail but not enough to stop me).
Fast forward 4-5 years and I had learned enough to now know I wanted to go back home.
Even bin men use doctors and lawyers and your kids could go and do degree in agronomy and still work on the farm afterwards , the point being a good education gives you a good start in life , where ever you get in life without an education you can be sure you`d have got further with one.
I agree. I'm just saying that if you don't have the degree, you end up paying someone who does. The agronomist is a prime example, if you go and do a degree in agronomy, you're not likely to have to pay an agronomist later while you're running your farming business. The same could be said of accountancy or similar. If you don't do the qualification yourself, you have to pay someone else who did.
You`ll find most without a degree belittle them even though they have no idea what a degree is , what getting one involves, its value or the benefits of going to Uni , I`ve got a degree and will be dropping off my daughter at Uni next month, sure she will mount up some debt but it will only have to be paid off when she earns over £26k so a win win really .
I’ve got a degree in Agriculture being from a farming family I didn’t learn much about farming but that wasn’t the point a degree gave me options that staying at home didn’t. My son has just finished his History degree and my daughter would have finished hers next year but has deferred due to Covid. I have no problem with them doing history but both of them I hope will end up back on the farm.
That's a very sweeping statement.
Couldnt agree more !! I couldnt bear the thought of another minute of study after secondary school. Six months working on the buildings taught me more about economics and the value of hard work .
Money always helps
