Yuba College professor urges girls to ‘start your own stories'
January 14, 2011 11:52:00 PM
Hundreds of youth heard a Yuba College professor recount Friday what it took for her to reach that post and urge them to "start your own stories" of careers in math, science and other fields.
Susan Ramones said her brother, who is a truck driver, once asked her how much money she made — and then laughed at her answer.
Professors and truck drivers sometimes make about the same money, Ramones recounted at the Math Science Conference for eighth-grade girls. But, she added, I can be a truck driver
whenever I want — while he can't be a college professor, said Ramones, who teaches science classes.
whenever I want — while he can't be a college professor, said Ramones, who teaches science classes.The local branch of the American Association of University Women put on the conference at the college.
"There is some awesome female energy in this room," Ramones said as she began her keynote speech. "I love it."
Ramones said that her road to Yuba College wasn't a direct one.
"When I was 13, I knew that I loved animals," Ramones said. "I was going to be a veterinarian."
But she recalled a range of work, including a summer job where "I got paid to snorkel up streams in the Sierra and count fish." Another job involved locating spotted owl habitat. While studying at U.C. Davis, she also drove a bus
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.Ramones noted the life skills that are learned in college. They include, she said, "how to be brave enough to ask a professor a question."
I'm not sure she knows what's involved in becoming a truck driver.
ReplyDeleteIf her brother is a truck driver I would bet she does know what is involved in his training.
ReplyDeleteOh, not more of the "You can be anything!" crap. And if I hear anyone else crow about "female energy" or "girl power" I'm going to scream.
ReplyDeleteDriving a truck, well, is difficult. For all the easy jokes academics normally make up about other careers, this is a job I've seen up close through a number of family members, and it's involves a complicated set of regulations through state and federal bodies, varying and draconian rules through different companies, and then just the skills of actually getting the truck where it needs to be and maneuvering it in ways that a car driver could simply never understand.
ReplyDeleteFor all the easy jokes academics normally make up about other careers...
ReplyDeleteReally? I'd love to hear some. The only jokes I hear academics tell about jobs are about academics from other fields, particularly natural sciences people making fun of each other. I'd love to hear some real academic snark about the proletariat. Bring it on!
The biggest joke is someone who identifies as an adjunct slave talking about the proletariat.
ReplyDeleteWho, pray tell, is lower than you?
Wait, I can make the same amount of money (probably more) driving a big rig where I don't have to talk to whiney lazy grade grubbers and can live in solitude? Sign me up!
ReplyDeleteFML, you will have to go to trucker school and get a Class B license. Truckers do live on the road so many of them have small sleeping quarters in the rear of the cab. It can be a boring job but stressful because you have to get from point A to B in the shortest amount of time. If you don't want to go anywhere, operating a cement truck could be another way out.
ReplyDelete