Is the pen mightier than the sword?
Is the power of the spoken word more effective than an armed mob?
Is a picture worth a thousand words?
In preparing for life and the battles there in, what implement would you choose to face the world?
Of course the honorable antagonist would always advise his adersary, "Choose your weapon!" It is not good to go into the fray feeling disadvantaged. Choose what you can best handle and that which affords you the best opportunity for success and survival. Though perhaps the metaphor is a bit militaristic, I think it is always wise to selectively pick your battles in life, and when you have selected your "high ground", be equipped with the tools, training and vision that afford you the best opportunity for success.
The call came to his mother last week; "Mom, once my phone is recharged, I've got something we need to talk about. Talk to you then. Bye!" Well, there was enough in that brief conversation to get a parent's imagination running like a squirrel trapped in a barrel of squirrel snakes. Is this going to be good or bad? - maybe neither. Or maybe really horrible.
Our son phones back in about an hour with the news that he has come to believe that he would rather emphasize broadcast journalism rather than the print/digital direction he was currently following. The emphasis would remain with sports, just a sports broadcaster TV/Radio) rather than a sports writer (Newspaper/Digital reading medium).
My advice was, finish what you have started this semester and then make the switch at the end of term. My rationale being another class is just that much more experience and education (you never know, it just may turn out to be useful some day down the road). Grant's thoughts were along the line that the class in question: Intermediate Writing, was at this point a waste of his time. His rationale being that he has already worked for a summer at a newspaper, he already knows how to write from that experience and it would be best to drop Intermediate Writing posthaste (which, as he argued, would give more time to devote to his other classes). Mom's advice was talk to your counselor and see what the faculty has to say about your new choice and the process to change direction. And so, it was agreed that Mom was right. Talk to your advisor, then pick your battle.
Grant called the following day with the news from his advisor [I thought I detected a note of glee and satisfaction in his tone]; "I HAVE TO drop the Intermediate Writing course. It is only for those who are in the print/digital department. A switch to broadcasting means I have to drop it - and if I do it by 5 PM today, you get half the course fee back." And so it was thus settled.
Actually, I thought he was going to select broadcasting from the start, but when he chose print/digital (writing) I was quite OK with that. After all, my son would be the fourth Suneson generation to be a writer/communicator, and the first to get paid to do so [note: this blog is non-commercial]. The art of crafting and telling a good story has been honored by all people throughout every age since the distant time when language first came among men. Grant's experience with the local campus radio station and his own coming recognition (and recognition by others too) of his quality voice tone and adroit use of words, his intelligent phrase construction and smooth cadence play well for broadcasting. He has chosen and his trade, he has chosen his tools, and I believe he has chosen wisely.
If you're going to adjust your life's course, college is the time to do it. After all, his father while facing a third semester of calculus chose not to become a civil engineer, and fell comfortably into the more ambiguous world of geologic exploration, a blending of science and some element of the art of following hunches. His mother confesses too to becoming disillusioned with a Communications major and then pursued a geologist and a geology graduate degree in studying volcanic rocks (maybe not in that exact order), before becoming seminary certified as a Christian Educator.
I came to the point in my sophomore year that I really could not see myself designing storm drainage and sewer hook ups for Tulare County for a career, best to follow your passion and live a life of few regrets. Good for Grant and good for everybody else who has taken their own measure and made the choice to move to a place in the world where they best fit and where they can draw upon their passion to make the place of their chosen stance more than bearable. Stand with confidence that you have chosen well and live your chosen life with a passion. All else is static and dead air.
Pick your battles.
Choose your weapon.
Pick your major.
Choose your sweet skills.
Choose a life of passion in your own convictions.
Set a course - not because you are confident that you will quickly get there, but rather set a course that you are confident you will enjoy traveling.
Enjoy the Journey!
Is the power of the spoken word more effective than an armed mob?
Is a picture worth a thousand words?
In preparing for life and the battles there in, what implement would you choose to face the world?
Of course the honorable antagonist would always advise his adersary, "Choose your weapon!" It is not good to go into the fray feeling disadvantaged. Choose what you can best handle and that which affords you the best opportunity for success and survival. Though perhaps the metaphor is a bit militaristic, I think it is always wise to selectively pick your battles in life, and when you have selected your "high ground", be equipped with the tools, training and vision that afford you the best opportunity for success.
The call came to his mother last week; "Mom, once my phone is recharged, I've got something we need to talk about. Talk to you then. Bye!" Well, there was enough in that brief conversation to get a parent's imagination running like a squirrel trapped in a barrel of squirrel snakes. Is this going to be good or bad? - maybe neither. Or maybe really horrible.
Our son phones back in about an hour with the news that he has come to believe that he would rather emphasize broadcast journalism rather than the print/digital direction he was currently following. The emphasis would remain with sports, just a sports broadcaster TV/Radio) rather than a sports writer (Newspaper/Digital reading medium).
My advice was, finish what you have started this semester and then make the switch at the end of term. My rationale being another class is just that much more experience and education (you never know, it just may turn out to be useful some day down the road). Grant's thoughts were along the line that the class in question: Intermediate Writing, was at this point a waste of his time. His rationale being that he has already worked for a summer at a newspaper, he already knows how to write from that experience and it would be best to drop Intermediate Writing posthaste (which, as he argued, would give more time to devote to his other classes). Mom's advice was talk to your counselor and see what the faculty has to say about your new choice and the process to change direction. And so, it was agreed that Mom was right. Talk to your advisor, then pick your battle.
Grant called the following day with the news from his advisor [I thought I detected a note of glee and satisfaction in his tone]; "I HAVE TO drop the Intermediate Writing course. It is only for those who are in the print/digital department. A switch to broadcasting means I have to drop it - and if I do it by 5 PM today, you get half the course fee back." And so it was thus settled.
Actually, I thought he was going to select broadcasting from the start, but when he chose print/digital (writing) I was quite OK with that. After all, my son would be the fourth Suneson generation to be a writer/communicator, and the first to get paid to do so [note: this blog is non-commercial]. The art of crafting and telling a good story has been honored by all people throughout every age since the distant time when language first came among men. Grant's experience with the local campus radio station and his own coming recognition (and recognition by others too) of his quality voice tone and adroit use of words, his intelligent phrase construction and smooth cadence play well for broadcasting. He has chosen and his trade, he has chosen his tools, and I believe he has chosen wisely.
If you're going to adjust your life's course, college is the time to do it. After all, his father while facing a third semester of calculus chose not to become a civil engineer, and fell comfortably into the more ambiguous world of geologic exploration, a blending of science and some element of the art of following hunches. His mother confesses too to becoming disillusioned with a Communications major and then pursued a geologist and a geology graduate degree in studying volcanic rocks (maybe not in that exact order), before becoming seminary certified as a Christian Educator.
I came to the point in my sophomore year that I really could not see myself designing storm drainage and sewer hook ups for Tulare County for a career, best to follow your passion and live a life of few regrets. Good for Grant and good for everybody else who has taken their own measure and made the choice to move to a place in the world where they best fit and where they can draw upon their passion to make the place of their chosen stance more than bearable. Stand with confidence that you have chosen well and live your chosen life with a passion. All else is static and dead air.
Pick your battles.
Choose your weapon.
Pick your major.
Choose your sweet skills.
Choose a life of passion in your own convictions.
Set a course - not because you are confident that you will quickly get there, but rather set a course that you are confident you will enjoy traveling.
Enjoy the Journey!
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