Most of the things we do require that we are qualified. For example, to vote in elections, we must first register at our county clerk’s office and be issued a card identifying us and designating our precinct.
To continue driving, older applicants like Ken and me must exhibit our proficiency behind the wheel to an employee of the Illinois Secretary of State’s office before our licenses are renewed.
If we consult a professional such as an attorney, we’re aware that the person spent four years in college, three years in law school and passed the state bar examination.
When we have a household problem and need a plumber or an electrician, we know the person who answers our call has completed an apprenticeship with an expert and received state approval.
All professionals who are licensed in Illinois from a hair stylist to a doctor must annually participate in a continuing education program to extend that piece of paper.
There are a few things that don’t require qualifications. As a freelance journalist, many of the area newspapers and national magazines that bought and published my articles wouldn’t have hired me on a fulltime basis because I don’t have a college degree. When I graduated from high school in the fifties, most girls who continued their education became teachers or nurses. Neither occupation appealed to me.
The most demanding work in the world, a parent, doesn’t have any qualifications or I wouldn’t have three children. I grew up as an only child and I never babysat when I was a teenager. I was rarely around babies–actually, they scared me and I didn’t want anything to do with them until they were at least two years old. When I became a mom, my instructors were my doctor, my mother and my sister-in-law who was raising six kids. Dr. Benjamin Spock’s book, “Baby and Child Care,” was my manual.
What qualifications do you have?
Well, I have a Bachelor’s of Science from the U.W.which qualified me to teach Physical Education & also health. I also have a Master’s Degree in Library Science so I could have worked in a school library. I never did. I have had the hobby of genealogy for over 60 years, & I have compiled five family books, so I am qualified to do genealogical research though I have no degree in it. I too had to wing it with raising children & since most of the early years I was living with a military man who took me far & wide, I only had friends to consult with. It is a wonder they turned out as well as they did.