BIBLE THOUGHT

“AND we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 AKJV) This is a wonderful promise. Our part is to love the Lord and He will take care of the rest. track, “mum and dad, why did you name me Oliver?” The reply is going to be, “because everyone else was doing it.” Where’s the originality and uniqueness? How bad is it when little Oliver starts prep and there are three other Olivers in his class?

Then there’s the inevitable abbreviations that Oliver is going to get stuck with throughout life... parents need to consider this “Olive” (a girl’s name), “Ollie” (sounds like a dog’s name) or “Liver”... no, he’s not going to get bullied at all (insert sarcasm here).

As for Charlotte for a girl, I couldn’t think of anything worse... “Charlie” or “Charles.”

Back in the 90s when I was in school, I never ever knew an Oliver or Charlotte. The top three names for boys were Christopher, Matthew and Daniel and the top three for girls were Amy, Sarah and Jessica. Just goes to show how things have changed.

The most common names you’d think would be the first ones ruled out by pending parents today. After all, aren’t we trying to teach our kids to be first-rate versions of themselves and not second-rate versions of someone else, or are we really just that caught up in what everyone else is doing that we can’t even give them an original name of their own?

KEV McKAY, Harristown

SETTING SUN

TO MANY people living in Queensland it may seem like a poor excuse for Prince Philip to say that he was dazzled by the sun at about 3pm. In Queensland the sun never goes down that early, but in winter in the UK it does and the further north you are, the earlier the sun sets.

About five years ago while on an extended visit to the UK, I was driving from Witney in Oxfordshire to Chichester in West Sussex. It was January, and I actually missed a turning because I was driving into a sunset and did not see the road sign. I ended up making a large detour. So I can understand exactly what Prince Philip meant when he made that comment. BRIAN IRELAND, Oakey

TERTIARY EDUCATION

THE tertiary education system is broken. About three decades ago a university degree practically guaranteed a well-paid career, mainly because it was a rarity.

But fast forward to today and we see people with three or more degrees with top grades still unemployed several years after they graduate. In fact recent statistics show that about half of graduates are unemployed or underemployed three years after graduating.

There are no guarantees with a university degree. Let me correct that. There is one guarantee: you will come out with a massive student loan debt which you have to pay off to qualify for a mortgage or personal loan for a car.

But when it comes to a well-paid job and success in life: no guarantee. I believe that for the vast majority of people coming out of high school, university is overrated. What absolutely sickens me is the way parents, teachers and the media push it onto kids these days, like they have no other options in life to be a success.

I am not saying to hell with university and go become an entrepreneur. The Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerbergs of this world are rare. But seriously kids, look at your options. TAFE is generally considered to be a place where you will learn more practical job skills than university, but now with the internet and information being so cheap and available, there is absolutely no need to pay through the nose for an education.

The most successful people are lifelong learners who know where to find the information they need for their chosen profession, and then apply it. All the knowledge in the world is useless if you don’t put it to practical use. DAVE FREDERICKS, Toowoomba