Essays and Harbours

A picture of me on the harbour wall in beautiful Garlieston.

Hi all
Before we get stuck into our tour of the Isle of Whithorn, I thought we'd take a look at a writing issue that came up this week.

A couple of days ago I got an e-mail inviting me to become part of an essay writing team and this cheered me up a bit because invites are usually good, especially those that include nice food and drink. That wasn't the case here though and when I read that they would be pleased to pay me less than 50% of the value of each essay I wrote for them, my heart began to sink. Well to be honest ice burghs and a certain ship of the White Star Line would be more like it.

To add insult to nausea the requirements weren't for any old essay, these needed to be academic essays fit for university students. Therefore each essay would require a considerable amount of research to ensure that it met the standards required. While the normal half of my brain was reading the e-mail, the cynical half was trying to work out what was actually going on here. Suddenly the mist cleared and it was like a ship coming out of the fog.

What these people wanted, was for me to spend my time researching and writing essays for students who can't be bothered to do it for themselves. Shame on them. Why is it that so many people would rather take any rotten short cut than gain the satisfaction that only comes from knowing that you've worked hard and done a good job?

This company made out that the essays would not be passed off as the students own work and that they'd be used for reference purposes only. Give me a break, if they wanted it to aid their studies they could get the same information from the same places that I did and for free. To assume that they wouldn't pass them off as their own work is like like thinking Billy the Kid only bought his guns to shoot at empty bottles that he'd perched on the top of some fence posts.

I guess this sounds as if I've got on my soapbox. Well I'm sorry about that because I was looking forward to going to the Isle of Whithorn and telling you about lovely places like Garlieston, but I don't fancy it now. A journey like that needs to be enjoyed and savoured. Perhaps we can go there tomorrow and in the meanwhile I'll tell you what I think about the upper end of our education system.

Let me make a clear statement. I think education is a great thing and our universities are doing a great job educating thousands of hard working students. However, I also believe that the university system is now as much to do with money as it is with with providing knowledge.

There are universities popping up everywhere and even my own town has produced one. There's nothing wrong with that of course as long as it and others are providing courses that are really needed.It seems to me now that university education is a bit like the chicken and egg scenario.

I'll qualify that by saying that many students seem to look at the university prospectus and then plumb for courses they think they will either enjoy or will be easy when compared with the others (this is especially so if they can buy ready written essays to help them along the way). So they pick a course that suits them and then when they've completed it, they start to look for work. The trouble is they soon discover that there is little call for Bohemian, toe-nail painters in Stoke-on-Trent, so they either languish about on benefits or take a job in the local chippy.

Now before you berate me, I'll tell you that I'm not making it up, that is what happened to three people I actually know. Let's be truthful, many people became students and attended universities with mixed motivations. Now some of you may expect that the main driver would be to increase their knowledge and make it easier for them to get a well paid job in a profession they have chosen. The reality is that they will take any course as long as it means that they can postpone the day when they have to get off their bums and work for a living. The problem is we have too many universities offering Micky-Mouse courses and too many students looking for an easy ride.

Real students do it the other way round and this is the way the system should operate.

The would be student has a proper career in their mind. They find out what qualifications are required to attain a position in this line of work. They then seek out a university who will provide them with the education necessary to achieve their goals. After they leave university they find a well paid job as a reward for all of their hard work and go on to live happily ever after in a nice house with a nice car.

This is how it is for many hard working students and the way it used to be before providing university places turned into a money spinning opportunity.

Anyway that's enough of me beating my gums but you can be assure that this is one writer who won't be providing essays for students either bone idle or otherwise working their balls off.

My next post will be just about the Isle of Whithorn and there won't be a student or univerity in sight. My normal pleasant demeaner will be restored as soon as possible.

By the way if you want to see some of the short stories I have on my website please click on this link to go straight there. You will find several short stories to make comment on and a free sample download of my fishing book.
Click here to go to my website


I couldn't go without letting you see another photo of Garlieston there will be more about this quaint village in my next post.