A post without meaning

Today is the last day I will work in this year of 2013.

And what does it means? Nothing. Thursday I will be back and it will be 2014 already. And what does it means? Nothing.

People make parties to celebrate a new year, and what does it means? Well of course it means it is a Party, it shouldn't need much more than that. But if you believe it has any meaning? Nah, it does not.

This is but a number, drawn from scientific significance of astrophysics, yadda, yadda blabla. And what does it means? Of course, nothing.

The day has no meaning today. I am just waiting for tomorrow. It looks like a day wasted, lost. It is a waste of time. (I am not particularly happy about this paragraph, I feel miserable now)

So, dear reader, if you feel like me today, what can you do to make today better? Can you make today better? Can you give meaning for today? It can be a shitty day or a good day. It depends (a lot) on you.
Did I ever mention here how much I despise the Brazilian educational system? I believe I never mentioned (this is a post inside a post, you will notice it midway, I hope).

To me most universities are merely money-making schemes, barely worried about giving quality education to its students. Even state and federal universities suffer about this, albeit a little less.

When I was in University, I saw students spending family savings, working two, even three jobs, just to be able to pay for graduation costs and become a bachelor, an engineer, a medic, whatever you name it. That shoud be highly commendable, right?

But there is a curious behavior in Brazilian Universities. University Students as a general rule DO NOT like to study. They create all sorts of workarounds just to be able to skip classes without being penalized for it. They shamelessly cheat on exams, they thoroughly copy previous work without any care about being caught. And worse yet, I have witnessed them paying other students to write their final assignments (that was some years ago - I dropped off university in 2006, so much I despised it). When you study in a state/federal institution this is mitigated a bit, but not much. In the end, they are not really trying to learn a profession or start a career. They simply want to finish University and earn their high salary job that comes with the profession description. Yes, some of them are are this delusional. They believe that simply by being shitty students but with a University Diploma, they will "earn by birthtright" a job. Of course fate proves them wrong. But that is besides the point.

I should now say that I have the feeling this must occur all over the world. Perhaps in some cultures this is different (yes I still see hope in manking), perhaps that's the same everywhere. That does not make it any less shameful. Given all those sacrifices families make to send their sons and daughters to University, I would expect no less than full dedication to study (aye, parties allowed, I am not crazy).

But of course, in this blog, I never speak of one thing meaning to talk of that thing.

What drives me completely crazy, crazy as in "I cannot understand how does one feels that is ok" way, is that this University Behavior grows into the person. That "graduate" spends so much time cheating his student life that when he or she starts working, that behavior is just too strong. Thus the "graduate" simply repeats what he has trained himself so hard to achieve. Easy success, fake achievements.

In my profession we have vendor certifications. Basically it's an exam system where vendors grant certificates to professionals that pass some exams. And as every "graduate" student knows, exams can be cheated.

And cheaters... well, cheaters are cheaters. They will of course look for the easy way out. They will shamelessly cheat on such exams. I can see some of you right now saying "this should be some surprise for me... but it is not".

It is no real surprise such professionals exist, right? When you see that person holding dozens of Vendor and Industy Certifications, and you have that gut instinct about that persons real skill. You may be just right.

Incredibly, they get to the point they are proud of their certifications. That's is the part that drives me crazy. They are proud they withold a certification they really did not deserve. They want to be paid what a true professional gets paid. They want all the benefits they "earned" with their certification. Of course I do not doubt your intelligence, so rhetorically: do you see a pattern?

Some people tell me I should be grateful such cheaters exist. In a way I am. I am more sorry for them than grateful. Working in a high quality team is a immensely rewarding experience. Working in a team full of morons that believe they know something and you have to cover their mistakes so your company does not lose reputation is not really good. It will probably ensure your job, but that is tiresome.

What about your profession? What about the cheaters in your life? Are you this judgemental as I am? Should you be?

(I am judgemental, but I tell you, I may judge, but I give no sentences. My judgements are mine only, and they mean very little outside my mind. And even after much thought, it is rather difficult for me to use such judgements negatively. In the past it was an issue, now I know better)