OT: Teaching Moments from your experience.

[FHSPSU67]

During my senior year I decided that reading about Saturday's away football game was more important than listening to the Professor's lecture. Until "Mr Schellenberg! Would you rather exit this class immediately or start paying attention!" I never listened more intently than I did for the rest of that class!

 

[JohnJumba]

High school had no AC. Jake L farted in the science lab, people ran for the windows. Was about 90 outside.

 

[BobPSU92]

Good post. I was a garbageman, a janitor. (Monday mornings in the men’s dorm remain seared in my memory.)

LionJim:

 

[MtNittany]

This movie hasn't aged at all. It's gotten better.

"Back then I thought, well, there will be other days. I didn't realize....that was the only day."



Whoever was in charge of casting for this film was a genius. From Karin to Doc Graham, there was not one swing and a miss.

 

[ApexLion]

Speak to the little people and people who look like them.

Right.

Blazing Saddles:

"You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons."

 

[MtNittany]

Right.

Blazing Saddles:

"You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons."

Improvised by Wilder. Cracked up Cleavon.

 

[BobPSU92]

During my senior year I decided that reading about Saturday's away football game was more important than listening to the Professor's lecture. Until "Mr Schellenberg! Would you rather exit this class immediately or start paying attention!" I never listened more intently than I did for the rest of that class!

I may have told this story before:

The schedule that we were expected to follow in graduate school at Illinois was long days Monday through Friday, a shorter day on Saturday (e.g., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Sunday optional. One Fall Saturday in my first year, Penn State had a noon football game (vs. iowa, as I recall). Since I had to be home to watch it, I got to the lab at 6 a.m. and left at 11:30 a.m. As I’m waiting for the elevator to head home, my research advisor and an older graduate student appeared at the end of the hallway. I heard my research advisor ask the student, “Where in the hell is Bob going?” The student just shrugged his shoulders. I took the approach to beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission.

Sure enough, on Monday morning, my research advisor asked me about Saturday. He was pissed, but I stood my ground. I told him that on Fall Saturdays, I would be watching Penn State and that I wasn’t going to apologize for it. He was still pissed and threw his arms in the air, but he let it go. He was a real dick my first year since he didn’t yet have tenure, but that was a rare disagreement between us that didn’t escalate.

I worked in his lab for three and a half years before getting my Ph.D. and never missed a Penn State football game during that time.

 

[CFLion]

Late 90's, working on the design of a building project. Was on a three-way call with my fire protection consultant and the local fire marshall on a code interpretation. My consultant was providing his interpretation of the code that would result in lower cost and headaches. The call went well, was ended but my consultant asked me to stay on the line. We did and he proceeded to tell me what a moron the fire marshall was, didn't understand the code, etc. Little did we know but the fire marshall never disconnected. A short while later the fire marshall called me and told me he heard everything that was said, but wouldn't let that cloud his ruling.

Lesson, which I follow to this day....always initiate a new call to continue discussions that not all on the previous call need/should be on. Teams, Zoom, whatever.

 

[LionJim]

LionJim:

I couldn't hack the Boston accent. Also, Minnie Driver kept tearing off her clothes every time she saw me, ruined take after take. Still, they made a decent movie without me.

 

[bdgan]

Law school was intense, and it was definitely a lot more work than I was used to at the time ... but we still all found time to go crazy (finishing up the MBA portion was a comparative nonstop party).

I'm going to counter that with no disrespect intended to your law degree.

76% pass the bar exam on their first try. 20% pass all parts of the CPA exam first try with an eventual passing rate of 50%.

I know an MBA isn't the same as a CPA. My point is a lot of schoolwork is as difficult as the professor wants to make it.

 

[1995PSUGrad]

My mother moved in with my wife and me. She lived there a few years. It's a long story, but things didn't go well. She no longer lives with us.
I have told my two children not to ever let me move in with them regardless of the circumstances.

 

[EricStratton-RushChairman]

Spelling and grammar are really important else you wind up a meme!

That accent is

I couldn't hack the Boston accent. Also, Minnie Driver kept tearing off her clothes every time she saw me, ruined take after take. Still, they made a decent movie without me.

To be honest, this guy is forcing it a bit. Once back in my freshman year i asked a group of students hanging out in the Hub where the "pahhde (party)" was and a girl looked at me funny and pointed to the men's restroom.

 

[BobPSU92]

That accent is

To be honest, this guy is forcing it a bit. Once back in my freshman year i asked a group of students hanging out in the Hub where the "pahhde (party)" was and a girl looked at me funny and pointed to the men's restroom.

Good Will Hunting is a genius. His Boston accent is correct. Everyone else is wrong.

 

[BobPSU92]

I couldn't hack the Boston accent. Also, Minnie Driver kept tearing off her clothes every time she saw me, ruined take after take. Still, they made a decent movie without me.

I have a mini driver for Minnie Driver.

 

[Moogy]

I'm going to counter that with no disrespect intended to your law degree.

76% pass the bar exam on their first try. 20% pass all parts of the CPA exam first try with an eventual passing rate of 50%.

I know an MBA isn't the same as a CPA. My point is a lot of schoolwork is as difficult as the professor wants to make it.

What do you think you're countering here?

What does the CPA exam, or the Bar exam (which is state specific, so general pass rates don't matter, even if it was an on topic point) have to do with the point that law school was a very strenuous workload, that you had to take seriously, but folks still made time for fun, frivolity and decompression? I have a BS in Accounting (University Scholars program), so I'm quite aware of how easy accounting courses are. Even taking grad-level courses as an undergrad was silly easy. It was fun getting straight As in your major without having to attend class and without having to crack a book until the night before an exam.

I've also made it known in the past that one of my roommates during law school was a post-doc in the sciences ... in other words, he already had completed his PhD. That dude was super nerdy, studious and dedicated. He still partied. In fact, he told us that, while he allegedly didn't partake, some of the biggest drug takers (coke ... even harder stuff) were folks in his field (toxicology), because they understood the effects better than anyone, and thought they could "control" it. And if you looked at, or talked to most of those folks ... man, they were at the front of the nerd bus. I couldn't picture them doing anything other than reading science-related literature from the moment they woke up, until they went to sleep.

 

[EricStratton-RushChairman]

Good Will Hunting is a genius. His Boston accent is correct. Everyone else is wrong.

This scene is the most "Boston" scene in any movie i have every watched...

 

[Connorpozlee]

I may have told this story before:

The schedule that we were expected to follow in graduate school at Illinois was long days Monday through Friday, a shorter day on Saturday (e.g., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Sunday optional. One Fall Saturday in my first year, Penn State had a noon football game (vs. iowa, as I recall). Since I had to be home to watch it, I got to the lab at 6 a.m. and left at 11:30 a.m. As I’m waiting for the elevator to head home, my research advisor and an older graduate student appeared at the end of the hallway. I heard my research advisor ask the student, “Where in the hell is Keith going?” The student just shrugged his shoulders. I took the approach to beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission.

Sure enough, on Monday morning, my research advisor asked me about Saturday. He was pissed, but I stood my ground. I told him that on Fall Saturdays, I would be watching Penn State and that I wasn’t going to apologize for it. He was still pissed and threw his arms in the air, but he let it go. He was a real dick my first year since he didn’t yet have tenure, but that was a rare disagreement between us that didn’t escalate.

I worked in his lab for three and a half years before getting my Ph.D. and never missed a Penn State football game during that time.

When we were planning our wedding, I wanted a fall wedding because I love fall. My wife wanted an end of summer wedding because she was about to start her career as a teacher and didn’t want a wedding to be during the school year. Very practical. Finally, she said, “So, you’re OK with missing a Penn State game to get married, then missing a game every year after to celebrate our anniversary?”
Our anniversary date is July 31st.

 

[olelion]

mid sixties. I was at a fraternity mixer with one of the sororities, I forget which one. I was sitting up on one of the picnic tables in the party room talking with a coed. I reached for some popcorn and as I get it near my mouth this girl makes an ugly yuk face and steps off the table and walks away. What happened was this. I reached for the popcorn but by mistake I reached into an ash tray. Hey, it even looked like popcorn at the time but god it tasted awful and I lost my chance with that coed

 

[LionJim]

mid sixties. I was at a fraternity mixer with one of the sororities, I forget which one. I was sitting up on one of the picnic tables in the party room talking with a coed. I reached for some popcorn and as I get it near my mouth this girl makes an ugly yuk face and steps off the table and walks away. What happened was this. I reached for the popcorn but by mistake I reached into an ash tray. Hey, it even looked like popcorn at the time but god it tasted awful and I lost my chance with that coed

That beats my “lost my chance with that coed because of a whistling snot” story.

 

[rudedude]

That accent is

To be honest, this guy is forcing it a bit. Once back in my freshman year i asked a group of students hanging out in the Hub where the "pahhde (party)" was and a girl looked at me funny and pointed to the men's restroom.

That is his intent to do the exaggerated Boston accent.
Personally, I think it just makes it more humorous.

 

[Erial_Lion]

mid sixties. I was at a fraternity mixer with one of the sororities, I forget which one. I was sitting up on one of the picnic tables in the party room talking with a coed. I reached for some popcorn and as I get it near my mouth this girl makes an ugly yuk face and steps off the table and walks away. What happened was this. I reached for the popcorn but by mistake I reached into an ash tray. Hey, it even looked like popcorn at the time but god it tasted awful and I lost my chance with that coed

A guy on my floor freshman year did something similar, except that there wasn't a girl involved, he was reaching for his Pepsi, and instead drank his bottle of tobacco spit. His door was open at the time (as were most of ours), and most of the wing could hear him vomiting immediately after it happened. Fun times.

 

[BobPSU92]

When we were planning our wedding, I wanted a fall wedding because I love fall. My wife wanted an end of summer wedding because she was about to start her career as a teacher and didn’t want a wedding to be during the school year. Very practical. Finally, she said, “So, you’re OK with missing a Penn State game to get married, then missing a game every year after to celebrate our anniversary?”
Our anniversary date is July 31st.

My wife and I got married on a Saturday in October. It was a bye week. She’s a Penn Stater and fully supported that date.

 

[bdgan]

When we were planning our wedding, I wanted a fall wedding because I love fall. My wife wanted an end of summer wedding because she was about to start her career as a teacher and didn’t want a wedding to be during the school year. Very practical. Finally, she said, “So, you’re OK with missing a Penn State game to get married, then missing a game every year after to celebrate our anniversary?”
Our anniversary date is July 31st.

My brother-in-law got married on New Year's Day and made me miss a bowl game. It wasn't a good start to our relationship.

 

[JohnJumba]

Good Will Hunting is a genius. His Boston accent is correct. Everyone else is wrong.

Also, a dumb movie.

 

[slwlion01]

Second Lts should ALWAYS consult with their NCOs!

Amen. From a Staff Sergeant.

 

[JohnJumba]

Will Hunting...... va-room!

 

[kgilbert78]

Good post. I was a garbageman, a janitor. (Monday mornings in the men’s dorm remain seared in my memory.)

When I was at PSU Ogontz, I was a porter at Sears Automotive in Abington. That was essentially a glorified janitor. And yeah, I was "college boy". But I learned a lot from the guys about doing a job and doing it right and to respect the mechanics and the rest of the workers (and I married a mechanic's daughter, as it turned out, though not from PA). And nobody cared what you looked like--only how you worked.

 

[Keyser Soze 16802]

When I was at PSU Ogontz, I was a porter at Sears Automotive in Abington. That was essentially a glorified janitor. And yeah, I was "college boy". But I learned a lot from the guys about doing a job and doing it right and to respect the mechanics and the rest of the workers (and I married a mechanic's daughter, as it turned out, though not from PA). And nobody cared what you looked like--only how you worked.

Were you working there when the car fell off the lift? A legendary Sears Abington moment

 

[psuro]

I may have told this story before:

The schedule that we were expected to follow in graduate school at Illinois was long days Monday through Friday, a shorter day on Saturday (e.g., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Sunday optional. One Fall Saturday in my first year, Penn State had a noon football game (vs. iowa, as I recall). Since I had to be home to watch it, I got to the lab at 6 a.m. and left at 11:30 a.m. As I’m waiting for the elevator to head home, my research advisor and an older graduate student appeared at the end of the hallway. I heard my research advisor ask the student, “Where in the hell is Bob going?” The student just shrugged his shoulders. I took the approach to beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission.

Sure enough, on Monday morning, my research advisor asked me about Saturday. He was pissed, but I stood my ground. I told him that on Fall Saturdays, I would be watching Penn State and that I wasn’t going to apologize for it. He was still pissed and threw his arms in the air, but he let it go. He was a real dick my first year since he didn’t yet have tenure, but that was a rare disagreement between us that didn’t escalate.

I worked in his lab for three and a half years before getting my Ph.D. and never missed a Penn State football game during that time.

So, safe to say the lab was not at a Starbucks?

 

[PSU_Lions_84]

I had just been assigned to a team after over a year in training when the company went to the mortar range. Being new and low in rank, I participated but in a low-key fashion. I offered my "opinion" several times to the mostly Southeast Asian conflict veteran sergeants but tried to be diffident. Finally, one of the senior sergeants pulled me aside to tell me, "You have excellent knowledge but need to be more confident in sharing it. Our primary mission is to advise, train, and assist - know your subject matter and communicate it with confidence to get better results."

Lesson stuck with me ever since.

 

[BobPSU92]

I had just been assigned to a team after over a year in training when the company went to the mortar range. Being new and low in rank, I participated but in a low-key fashion. I offered my "opinion" several times to the mostly Southeast Asian conflict veteran sergeants but tried to be diffident. Finally, one of the senior sergeants pulled me aside to tell me, "You have excellent knowledge but need to be more confident in sharing it. Our primary mission is to advise, train, and assist - know your subject matter and communicate it with confidence to get better results."

Lesson stuck with me ever since.

 

[HarrisburgDave]

In the 1960s every other television show was world war 2 themed. Dramas and comedies.

Our neighbors were Jews. The father drove a black sedan, and seldom washed it. It was always covered in dust and dirt, perfect for writing words or symbols with your finger. I thought it would be fun to draw a swastika on the car. Well, why not ten or twelve? 8 year olds have brilliant ideas.

My father got home from a hard days work at the Bethlehem Steel plant and found out about my art project. He grabbed me by the back of my neck, lifted my feet off of the ground and carried me to the neighbors house. In his other hand he carried a water and soap filled bucket with a sponge. First, he had me knock on their door and apologize, second he had me wash their car.

Lesson learned.

BTW, my father died two years later after a long illness. There has not been a day in the last 60+ years where I have not had him in my thoughts. He was an incredibly handsome man and the best Dad anyone ever had.

 

[Lion84]

Two lessons from previous bosses
1) When opportunity knocks answer the door - it may never knock again
2) Be nice to the people on the way up because they are the same ones you will see on the way down

 

[PSU_Lions_84]

True story: After weapons classroom training, we went to the ranges to fire most of the weapons. The 60mm mortar can be fired in a "handheld" position - baseplate in the ground, left arm of operator acting as the bipod. The deflection range (determines the angle of the fired round) is 0 - 88 degrees. One stud dropped a round down the tube - then leaned back, changing the tube elevation to almost 90 degrees. We watched the round ascend almost vertically, then ran like **** to get away from the impact area. Fortunately, the round landed on the good side of the berm - no injuries.

Needless to say, that candidate was not invited to continue training.

Good times!

P.S. The mortar in the clip is the 81mm model - old style. Demerits for the round-dropping technique - not safe.

 

[LionJim]

In the 1960s every other television show was world war 2 themed. Dramas and comedies.

Our neighbors were Jews. The father drove a black sedan, and seldom washed it. It was always covered in dust and dirt, perfect for writing words or symbols with your finger. I thought it would be fun to draw a swastika on the car. Well, why not ten or twelve? 8 year olds have brilliant ideas.

My father got home from a hard days work at the Bethlehem Steel plant and found out about my art project. He grabbed me by the back of my neck, lifted my feet off of the ground and carried me to the neighbors house. In his other hand he carried a water and soap filled bucket with a sponge. First, he had me knock on their door and apologize, second he had me wash their car.

Lesson learned.

BTW, my father died two years later after a long illness. There has not been a day in the last 60+ years where I have not had him in my thoughts. He was an incredibly handsome man and the best Dad anyone ever had.

Thanks for sharing.