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screwysquirrel
03-18-2004, 02:23
I've been reading and sometimes contributing to (to many people's dismay according to my button) this site for awhile and I was wondering how many of the visitors or members have gone to college. I was just wondering since I see so many loggers saying that they have a PHD in this or that, or some kind of degree. I've hiked since 1998 and really didn't notice or ask about a hiker's education but since I've been on this site it makes me wonder. Is hiking really for the educated person or not?

Chappy
03-18-2004, 06:12
I've been reading and sometimes contributing to (to many people's dismay according to my button) this site for awhile and I was wondering how many of the visitors or members have gone to college. I was just wondering since I see so many loggers saying that they have a PHD in this or that, or some kind of degree. I've hiked since 1998 and really didn't notice or ask about a hiker's education but since I've been on this site it makes me wonder. Is hiking really for the educated person or not?

I have a masters degree, but don't think education is important to hiking as long as you can read...a map. ;)

Jaybird
03-18-2004, 06:25
I've been reading and sometimes contributing to (to many people's dismay according to my button) this site for awhile and I was wondering how many of the visitors or members have gone to college....................blah,blah,blah......... ..............................?



ScrewySquirrel:

i'm with Chappy on this one...doesnt take too much of an education to "Walk in the Woods" (with or WITHOUT a map)...but i'd think most of us went to college & have a degree in one thing or another.
My degree is in Mass Communications (Radio & TV Broadcasting). Currently working on another in Religious Studies & Philosophy. :D

Have been working in Broadcasting world for 30+ years now!


good luck with your hike & your curiousity!

Mr. Clean
03-18-2004, 07:43
I agree most prolly have a college degree of some sort. I never quite finished, have three years in a major I didn't care for called "Industrial Technology". I have a great job as an operator at a water filtration plant, though, so I guess I did stay with that theme. Tried going back to finish, but I just don't care for school (never did) and it didn't seem necessary to my well-being so I gave up on the idea.

Lone Wolf
03-18-2004, 08:21
I ain't got no stinkin education. Just a lot of money. :cool:

Kerosene
03-18-2004, 13:57
Hiking's for everyone, regardless of education or socio-economic status. That said, it is surprising at how folks stereotype hikers. I've got my MBA and an executive-level position in the IT industry with a ridiculous salary, which is all the more reason that I look forward to getting away to the woods to hike. People always presume that I have all this time to think and ponder life, when in fact 99% or more of the time is thinking about staying warm, monitoring pain and exhaustion, making sure I can get to shelter and water, enjoying the views and solitude, hoping that I didn't leave anything behind, watching my footing, monitoring my pace, enjoying a birdcall or the sunlight streaming through the trees, wondering why I do this to myself year after year, trying to keep hydrated, eating, trying to sleep, etc. (Of course, the normal male sexual thoughts are sprinkled liberally throughout:D). After a week, I find that I'm much more focused on whatever I'm doing and much less stressed and ready to get back. My education and practice help me to solve problems, but hiking has a lot more to do with common sense and preparedness.

Jersey Bob
03-18-2004, 14:35
at least 10 characters

gravityman
03-18-2004, 15:07
I have my PhD in physics (Gravitational Wave Detection was the area - hence the Gravity Man).

The reason that I think that you see more educated people out there on the trail is because they have more time to recreate. More time off from their jobs, more money and fewer kids.

Just a theory...

Gravity man

Jersey Bob
03-18-2004, 15:38
at least 10 characters

The Old Fhart
03-18-2004, 15:49
Jersey Bob,
Your last comment was a real joule ;-)

Aesop
03-18-2004, 16:08
Five courses away from an Associates Degree which is not recognized at the real University only at Community Colleges...so I don't have a degree. Although I've taken alot of different types of classes through-out the years. I've been hiking since I was 9 years old and I'm 47 now.

Miss Janet
03-18-2004, 16:20
I've hiked with brain surgeons; I've hiked with tree surgeons. I've hiked with guys who designed $100 million dollar bridges and tunnels; I've hiked with guys who dig ditches. I've hiked with guys that owned four-star Manhattan restaurants; I've hiked with prep cooks and pot scrubbers. I've hiked with university presidents and professors; I've hiked with guys who droped out of the seventh grade. I've hiked with guys who breed and own thoroughbreds; I've hiked with guys who mucked out stables.

There are fewer things out there that matter LESS that your formal education, your chosen livelihood, your station in life, the size of your house; the health of your bank account.

The Trail is a great leveller, and this is absolutely a good thing. It is amazing the way the Trail changes the way you see----and the way you pre-judge---other people.

Miss Janet
03-18-2004, 16:23
Whoops! I forgot to notice that I was writing while Miss Janet was still signed on: While I'm sure she agrees with what I wrote, I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth.

The comments above were mine.

---Jack Tarlin

bobgessner57
03-18-2004, 16:31
I have an AA in photograpghy and worked in photojournalism and advertising doing the crap you pull out of the Sunday paper and immediately place under the parakeet. Made decent money doing that which allowed me to work as an organizer for an environmental group working on toxic and radioactive waste issues. Also have a BA in sociology which was mostly an independent study program. I learned the independent thought process while attempting a GA-Me trip the year I was supposed to be a high school senior. Hiking taught me invaluable life lessons and put the surreal world in perspective. The post secondary education and training helps make money and contributes to the enjoyment of the hiking experience (and life in general) but is certainly not necessary.

I am now a self employed artisan restoring masonry chimneys. I like the creative aspects and because my partner and I are "the experts when you want it done right" I can juggle my schedule to hike and paddle within reason.
The best part is few people have the knowlege to even consider telling me how to do my job, kind of like hike your own hike in the work world.

Jersey Bob
03-18-2004, 17:56
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Chappy
03-19-2004, 02:25
I ain't got no stinkin education. Just a lot of money. :cool:

Wanna trade? :)

d'shadow
03-19-2004, 04:39
:banana

It is for anyone who loves being in the wild and has a passion for hiking, regardless of their level of education...my cousin, Melvin, was an expert woodsman with a high school degree, he spent his life in the woods...I'm a life long learner with a Masters in History...life is an adventure! lets enjoy it:sun

The Old Fhart
03-19-2004, 07:24
Jersey Bob,
Sorry, couldn't resist the pun. I have an electrifying wit in my ohm way. I say that with some reluctance.

someday
03-19-2004, 14:22
I have a PHT from Ohio State - that's Putting Hubby Through. Education has nothing to do with hiking. All I need is a measure of health and heart.

c.coyle
03-19-2004, 16:02
I have my PhD in physics (Gravitational Wave Detection was the area - hence the Gravity Man).

I knew a physicist once. Eddie Currents. Poor guy died of hysteresis.

Jersey Bob
03-19-2004, 17:44
at least 10 characters

gravityman
03-19-2004, 17:56
I can't even answer these they are so bad...

sigh...

at least you don't have to have a sensor of humor to hike

:)

Gravity man

UberPest
03-19-2004, 18:15
well, the ink on my B.S. is barely dry (August '03) and it's in Recreation and Park Management. Honest--I wanted a job that would pay me to go backpacking. The closest I've come so far is taking photos of one park for a grant, some guided funwalks, monitoring wood duck reproduction (sometimes on snowshoes), removal of beaverdams, and flagging/signage of trails. Still, not too bad. I could be in an office or a factory.

Dances with Mice
03-19-2004, 18:23
I never really had a formal education. I graduated from Texas A&M.

Bonehead
03-19-2004, 19:03
Education is that whut them guys who grajuatd from high sckool got?

zydecajun
03-19-2004, 20:27
I am a pediatric ER doc and the thing I like best about hiking the AT is that no one knows I am. THey jusy think I'm a coonass from Louisiana (who snores too damn loud)-and I like it! I love what I do,but if I didn't have bills to pay, I would quit tomorrow and start hiking north.

foodbag
03-19-2004, 20:42
B.S. in Recreation :jump here (SUNY Cortland, 1989). Now I spend all of MY precious time helping other people have fun on THEIR time off. I shoulda stayed in the Coast Guard and did my twenny like a lot of these other vets. Oh well, hindsite is 20-20.

Regardless of ones' education anyone who has learned that hiking on the A.T. is a heckuvalottafun, is a smart cookie, in my book.... :jump

Chappy
03-20-2004, 00:04
I never really had a formal education. I graduated from Texas A&M.

I heard they had a big fire at the library that burned both their books. A later report said they did manage to restore the coloring book. :)

steve hiker
03-20-2004, 01:18
I am a pediatric ER doc and the thing I like best about hiking the AT is that no one knows I am. THey jusy think I'm a coonass from Louisiana (who snores too damn loud)-and I like it! I love what I do,but if I didn't have bills to pay, I would quit tomorrow and start hiking north.
Hay Zydecagum lets be honest here its the woman thats generatin those bills or those baybees thats generatin those bills huh thats keepin you from the trale theres no way a doc-ee-tor could say in all honesty that i cant afford to do the at for 6 monts unless the VOMAN was bak there keepin him tide down huh

Cehoffpauir
03-20-2004, 03:14
.....
:-?
.....

weary
03-20-2004, 09:00
Of course, I have a degree. And it only took 12 years -- 46-58. I used to think that no genuinely intelligent person could graduate from college -- at least not from U of Illinois. I've modified my views somewhat since.

Do you suppose three years of electrical engineering and one of journalism could have contributed to my woes? (I ended up a journalist)

Anyway, several nice kids between graduation and their first jobs were on the trail in 1993. One, as I recall, had graduated in geology, but his passion was plants. His goal was to find a different edible plant each day.

We met off and on through Rusty's and I met him a final time at the Wadleigh Stream lean-to in the 100-mile-wilderness as we were all rushing to make Katahdin before snow fall.

Weary

Dances with Mice
03-20-2004, 13:20
I heard they had a big fire at the library that burned both their books. A later report said they did manage to restore the coloring book. :)

Someone returned it?

zydecajun
03-21-2004, 12:13
Hell, she'd probably get a job so I would go! :jump

walkin' wally
03-21-2004, 13:06
No degree, but I do aimlessly collect college credits.

onetake
03-22-2004, 15:08
MS Degree in Communications. Work and teach at a community/technical college. Live vicariously through Whiteblaze and Trail Journals. Hike when I can which is not near enough.

onetake

cryptobrian
03-22-2004, 15:51
I am "college educated" but my hiking partners aren't. Hell, one of them hasn't made it past 3rd grade yet and the other is still working on Kindergarten ... but their legs get them there in about the same manner as mine.

;-)

Tweedledee
04-03-2004, 01:23
I finished my BS in Biology in August of 03. I currently am jobless, but not exactly. I am serving as an AmeriCorps *VISTA (Volunteer In Service To America). While I have a degree, I don't think one is required to enjoy hiking or backpacking. I have worked at a GS camp in the summers while attending college and have worked to teach the basics and take groups out and hike and backpack on some short 3-7 day trips. My degree is in biology, but I am looking into the idea of doing something with the outdoors or going back to school and becoming certified to teach high school. My true love is the outdoors though. The science of it is just an added bonus.