Most of my good friends are, like me, academically-inclined. Over the past several years many of these talented young Canadians have sought bigger and better opportunities at American schools, which often leads to interesting, prestigious and well-paid American jobs. I find this so-called brain drain very troubling for personal and patriotic reasons, so I am thrilled to report that the past month has been good for me and for Canada.
Roger (second-from-left) turned down a fascinating job with Google to live in his father's basement while he searchers for a condo and a niche for mathematical consulting in Vancouver. Cydney (second-from-right) extricated herself from the cutthroat world of genomics at MIT to pursue her interest in data visualization at the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Center. Peter (far left) has switched from being the artificial intelligence lead at Rockstar Games in New England to an as-yet-undefined position at Rockstar in Vancouver. Russell will probably never come home, but three out of four ain't bad.
In celebration of this happy repatriation Cydney's mother Bev invited the gang to her lovely new home in Sechelt for a few days this week. David and I left Farcical Farm in the capable hands of Melissa while we spent some time in the lap of luxury. When luxury woke up it was dismayed to find rabble like us aboard, so we headed back to the old routine comfortable in the knowledge that some close friends are now close at hand.
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2 comments:
My Oregonian nephew chose to attend UBC in Vancouver. He's recently graduated with a degree in microbiology and working with UBC research regarding new cell utilization. He really loves Vancouver.
Medical research needs brains like my nephew's where ever they might be.
A recent news report on Fox stated that Microsoft was increasingly hiring foreign expats because the American candidates were...ah...er....not as well qualified.
Even with the above tidbit as a national news item, money in the public schools marked for education of gifted children has been shuffled to special education for autistic children.
Canadians...get ready for some really good job offers.
Oh, but the Wings are keeping Stanley!
We'll get our cup back...just you wait.
I was placed in Ontario's gifted program from grade 3 onwards and I honestly feel that specialized education is responsible for where I am today. Being in a high school environment where it's cool to be a nerd makes it OK to love learning and to have academic aspirations. That program was canceled some years ago now, and it made me very sad. Our bright students need support and encouragement for the sake of our collective future.
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