Hubbys new brainwave

gillyfromlyre

Hi all, my hubby is a halfwit who is considering going to UCC as a mature student to study science. The problem is he can barely read yet he thinks hes Einstein. How can I tell him he will be out of his league, I don't want to insult him but how can I break it to him gently that hes, for want of better words, a clown.

Fabio

I'd say you'd best off asking this in the "personal issues" section of boards.ie to be honest.

Maybe you could get him a book on whatever section of science he claims to like and allow to see how complex it can be....

Maybe suggest that an evening course in something may be better suited as a "starter point to make sure that you're interested hon" (you say that to him and make him a cup of tea).

Hope that helps!

vodochilie

Get him to sit in on lectures in the boole to see what he thinks, better off going to 2nd year lectures as most of my 1st year lectures were really easy and the work load is a bit of a shock this year.

No offence (to myself) but most people could probably get a pass degree in most of the biological sciences (with the exception of neurosciene) if they just worked hard, In my opinion it's physics that requires someone a bit bright.

Like, anatomy just takes balls load of study.

Once he get's past ecology and all that spoof in 1st year his language skills won't hinder him too much, all the in term exams are "tick the box" or calculations.

ZygOte

gillyfromlyre wrote: »

Hi all, my hubby is a halfwit who is considering going to UCC as a mature student to study science. The problem is he can barely read yet he thinks hes Einstein. How can I tell him he will be out of his league, I don't want to insult him but how can I break it to him gently that hes, for want of better words, a clown.

regardless of your husbands literacy issues all i can say at this is....WOW. Nice way to insult and degrade him, he must be so lucky to have someone so supportive like you in his life. :mad:

gillyfromlyre

thanks for the replies guys, I think the best idea was him sitting in in lectures, mind you Id be afraid he'd ask a question or get in a fight, hes never got past the 3rd question on "who wants to be a millionaire",I didnt mean to insult him,hes a dote

Ekancone

gillyfromlyre wrote: »

thanks for the replies guys, I think the best idea was him sitting in in lectures, mind you Id be afraid he'd ask a question or get in a fight, hes never got past the 3rd question on "who wants to be a millionaire",I didnt mean to insult him,hes a dote

I wouldnt recommend sitting in on lectures at this stage, it might end up putting him off. If i jumped into my lectures at this stage of the year i wouldnt knwo whats going on either. Education is a gradual process and one needs to be there from the start. Things get tougher as each year passes but thats to be expected. Perhaps doing a short course with the Open University might a good start to see if he is up for a study routine. If he enjoys it then he might be able to move on to UCC. I would encourage anyone to educate themselves, its the best thing anyone could do with their time.

Bob in Belfast

If he's serious about getting smarter. he really should cut down or maybe even quit drinking for a few weeks.

experiMental

gillyfromlyre wrote: »

Hi all, my hubby is a halfwit who is considering going to UCC as a mature student to study science. The problem is he can barely read yet he thinks hes Einstein. How can I tell him he will be out of his league, I don't want to insult him but how can I break it to him gently that hes, for want of better words, a clown.

Now did his brainwave happen suddenly or was this consideration of studying science a gradual process?

For both cases, the best suggestion is to say that some of the greatest scientists were self taught, such as Faraday. Try getting him through this: http://www.wired.com/science for at least 1 hour. This is bare bones stuff, if he cannot understand that then he should forget about opening Open University pages!

Also say that there's no point of being a scientist if you're not going to be good at it. That might help him....

deRanged

Tell him to contact the mature students office. They'll explain the procedures for applicationand suggest appropriate courses. He might find a diploma course more suitable time wise than a full on degree course.
I've dealt with a number of mature students and found that they seemed to really enjoy college, and get a lot of out the experience. (far more than many of the undergrads)
Even if he doesn't want to do the exams and only wants to attend a year of college why shouldn't he.
The university is there to be attended.

vodochilie

no bother, the chances of being asked a question are very remote, worst case scenario he could just say he's been sick! If you tell me what type of science he's interested in I could find out lecture times and location, if he got a B in physics,maths,biology,chemistry he would walk 1st year biological and chemical sciences. But most in the year won't have that standard, if he got a C in biology and didn't do chem or phy he'll have to work hard but it is achevible. If he isn't good at maths (like most biology people) don't worry about it as it is very easy stuff. I'm actualy excited for him, SCIENCE ROCKS!

vodochilie

deRanged wrote: »

Even if he doesn't want to do the exams and only wants to attend a year of college why shouldn't he.
The university is there to be attended.

That's true! Education is more than preparation for employment.

tbh

gillyfromlyre wrote: »

thanks for the replies guys, I think the best idea was him sitting in in lectures, mind you Id be afraid he'd ask a question or get in a fight, hes never got past the 3rd question on "who wants to be a millionaire",I didnt mean to insult him,hes a dote

of all the gimmick posters on this site, you're certainly the most annoying.

FutureGuy

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