In my day, I had to sip.. NOT sup :)

The cost of University Education, & soup sipping
Ya know the cost of education is sure expensive, ha I hear ya all say, tell me something I don't know, well how about my son's law book that cost a cool NZ$99.99+GST (12.5% Tax). I mean he said he knew how expensive it was gonna be, so he got himself a part-time job, got himself a scholarship, and whatever government assistance he is entitled.

Now even with all of this he is still finding things incredably expensive. He lives at home, so I dunno how the ones that don't make out, as the cost of supporting yourself in a flat appartment whatever is just heaps.

As another Um .. "Hurdle" lol .. the powers that be, deign that any Allowences are not to be paid out until the Third week of the semester... trouble is ya need the books and supplies right from the get go, not 3 weeks later.

He told me that there are a myriad of "Types" in his Law class, ones who have every book and gadget known to assist them, some with brief-cases and A4 pads, some with Digital Note recorders and some with the latest Laptop and accessories to digitally devour the lesson. Then he turns around and informs me that the "lesson" is also "Posted" on the internet after classes finished for class members to download and use however. I asked him what sort he was... he said, a bit from all collums ..

He seems to be amazed at the amount of work he has to get through, I thought back to my days, and chuckled... well inwardly at least, good grief I said in my day I had to transport my "Books" around in a wheeled airline handle bag, as did everyone esle for that matter more or less, either that or trapse right back accross campius to the lockers, and that was, IF, ya could even get a locker.. so he just dunno how lucky he is man.

He can store all his notes on a bloody memory stick, or download it from the web, listen to it again, and again, from his MP4 player, that he used to record the lecture, man I woulda given my right arm to have a recorder in my day, **** .. well I guess I could have had one, it woulda been hard finding the power socket though, and the extension cord, could pose a bit of bother... Oh there were battery ones the size of house brick and as heavy. He can digitise it all and store it on a laptop, upload and download resources and lessons yup he's got it hard alright... still there is just so much more to learn now that the load is staggering and if one didn't have all the support there would simply be no way to do it, the entire thing is just so intensive, and now it all on-line.. ya know I am jelous I really am going to University these days is just amazing the amount and quality of resources that are at hand are just awesome compared to what I had access to, and yet we all used to get results it is just now I think the results have more substance to it more depth more body, cause we get more information all a tonce we are saturated with it, every concievable fact can be found and presented and stored away for future reference.

It is true, as I have said to my Son, it's not so much the learning, as, it is the learning to learn, that is important. These days as I have just said, the sheer volume af data that must be processed and presented is enormous, yet the young are absorbing it all like the proverbial sponge, there is obviously no limit as to the amount of data that can be processed, and it is all only made possible because of the digital age, and computers and the Internet have changed everything now. Everything is now organised, assignments are Emailed, typed out complete with hard copy, DVD & Power Point Presentations, PDF formats, students sign in and out, there is no escaping the digital trail followed and left.

So I just think that the costs involved to "Buy" your education is a shame, I got my education for FREE, 100%, Books, Fees, the lot.. BUT my education was more like thin soup in comparrison to the Hearty Stew Brerakfast that the students of today get, oh don't get me wrong, my soup was very satisfying and was the serving of the day for all, but now, students get a richness of experiance that I frankly envy, yes, the Thick Stew students get these days is far and above what was served in my day.. so I say sup it up, take your fill, gorge untill you can digest no more 'cause your lucky to do so, in my day I had to sip soup.