Bad idea. Youll flunkout.

When Iwas in high school in Kentucky in 1974, I was a dancer, in the drama
club, on the debate team. I was an artist. I had no chemistry, no physics,
and no calculus at all. But one day at a required high school lecture, a civilengineering professor from the University of Kentucky arrived to speak,
showing all these renderings of buildings. I was fascinated with the fact that
I might be able to draw and get paid for it. And according to him, I could
improve the quality of life for people and be a problem solver. Well, I
became so excited, I went home and told my mother, a teacher, that I
wanted to be a civil engineer. My mother had a motto that I have followed to
this day: If you really want to do something, you put your mind to it. Dont
ever let anyone tell you it cant be done. So when I told her, she said,
Great.
Then reality hit when I went back to my guidance counselor the next day
and told him that instead of being a lawyer or an interior decorator, I now
wanted to be an engineer. He looked at me and said, Bad idea. You havent
scored on your aptitude test to be an engineer. Youre not inclined to be an
engineer. Youre not made up to be an engineer. Then I went to my math
teacher, and she said the same thing, Bad idea, youll flunk out.
I went to my grandmother, and her reaction was, Isnt that a mans job?
and thats what really solidified it. I hat two people tell me I wasnt
intelligent enough, which I couldnt understand because I was a straight-A
student, and now I had someone else tell me that it was a mans job. So I
was bound and determined to prove everyone wrong. And I did. In 1978, I
graduated from Purdue University in three years with a B+ average and a
degree in civil engineering.
-

As told to Deirdre van Dyk

C. what do these words and expressions from the article mean?
Choose a or b. how did you guess the meaning? Tell a partner.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Youll flunk out.

Renderings.
According to him.
A motto.
Put your mind to it.
Youre not inclined to be
be
7. Solidified it.
8. I was bound and determined.
B.
B.
B.
B.
B.
B.
B.
B.

youll graduate
drawings.
I said.
a rule to live by.
try hard to do it.
youre not afraid to be.
worried me.
I was very focused.

A. youll fail and leave college.

A. photographs
A. he said.
A. a promise.
A. forget about it
A. youre not the type to
A. convinced me
A. I was very angry

Find the underlined words in the interview. What do you think

Lesley means when she uses those words? What helped you guess
the meaning?
1. Her (clothing) style is eclectic.
A. strange a.
varied.
2. Clothes reflect our personalities.
A. show
a. hide.
3. She is a free spirit.
A. happy
a. sad
4. She doesnt like feminine styles.
a. girlish
a.
unusual
5. She wears every color under the sun.
a.
like
yellow
a. outdoors
c. exciting
c. develop.
c. independent.
c. plain.
c. that exists.