Re: Attention Potential Riddle Students - Got ques
The biggest problem I have with academics here is that it's waaaay too "big ol' jet" oriented, which then can screw up students' priorities. Students are led to believe that they're being prepared to go fly jets straight out of college, when in fact the vast vast majority of us will be making $12k/year teaching snot-nosed kids how to land.
For example, I'm taking a lower-level human factors course during the summer at the moment, which is populated by mostly private pilots (none with instrument ratings yet). The professor, however, doesn't seem to realize that he's giving these folks the wrong idea of what happens when you have 250-300 hours and a CFI ticket. He put a Lear 45 on the screen and said (verbatim): "some of you may fly this really soon," which was followed by nods of approval from the class. Can't anyone tell it how it is? You look for an instructor job that pays nickels and dimes, and hope someone hires you before your loans eat you alive. Hell, at least that's what I'm doing. Gah.
This is a side story, but I'm riled up enough to tell it. The other day, I had a guy tell me that he "thought he went the extra mile by doing his CFI at ERAU." I just busted my ass everyday for 4 weeks to get my ticket, and this dude is telling me he "went the extra mile"? I controlled my temper with this guy, but man...this kinda crap has to stop.