Advise for a 17 year old
Advise for a 17 year old
(OP)
I've got a question for the group. I'm a retired Tool & Die maker/Machinist/gearhead. My Brother is married to a Thai national who had two kids. The oldest boy (17) is without a doubt the best natural mechanical talent I have ever seen. This kid should be going to MIT. The problem is that he doesn't have language skills. He's having problems graduating from a Detroit area high school. My brother is planning on retirering to Thailand next year. This kid will be wasted without the benefit of some kind of formal training. Anybody know of any kind of mentor program or training program for this guy? Any other advise? Just as an example, he is the best welder I have ever seen after three months of high school shop. I've worked with certified welders that aren't better than he is.





RE: Advise for a 17 year old
MIT doesn't require welding skills. Seriously, if the kid is smart enough to get in there, he'd probably be able to find some help locally. Big universities like that are, well, international.
Here in FL, community colleges offer a two- tiered program. The one with the easy math gets you an associate's degree. The one with the hard math serves as a transition to a four year school. Good grades get you into any of the Florida state schools as a junior.
They don't publicize it, but other schools in other states have 'farm teams' like that, too, where they will accept credit from selected 'tech' community colleges.
So, visit the local community colleges, and find out which ones send graduates to which universities, then talk to the universities to find out what you need to do.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Advise for a 17 year old
SBI
Central Ne.,USA
RE: Advise for a 17 year old
I'd love to mentor the boy, but I retired to Phoenix and Anon is in Detroit. My place is to small to have him live here. I wish I knew someone with a shop in Detroit that would take him on. You have no idea what this kid can do. I'm a good natural mechanic but fall down in electronics. Anon is as good as I am in mechanical and seems to understand electrons as well I understand gears. All this without good english skills. If I had the money I'd buy him a lathe, a bridgeport, and a mig welder and turn him loose.
RE: Advise for a 17 year old
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Advise for a 17 year old
Does Anon have citizenship issues that would prevent him from remaining in the US after he turns 18?
If he is eager to remain in the US and pursue academics he needs to find a good ESL (English as second Language) class ASAP.
I had a little experience with MIT admissions some time back and found that while they require excelent language and math skills they also want students with well rounded social skills and activities. If a student has a good mind but no social life he has two strikes already.
Many high schools have programs free for the using for students having problems including language. One of my kids ran such for a few years. While aimed initially at students with dyslexia and ADD, the program ended up with a number of Spanish speaking students because of the struggle with language(BTW, my kid spoke no Spanish). The hardest part of getting into the class was saying to oneself "I need help!"
I wish you both luck.
Griffy
RE: Advise for a 17 year old
RE: Advise for a 17 year old
RE: Advise for a 17 year old