I worked in a telly repair shop whilst i was at school (this was back in the days when you could make a living doing that). I later worked as a technician in a small R&D engineering firm for a few years before returning to uni to finish my Bachelors degree in EE. I found my time working as a tech to be a considerable advantage in lab courses, as i could throw circuits together in nothing flat - and, they worked the first time! Me mates were building and re-building them - attempting to get them to work, while i was on the way home, having completed the lab. After working as an engineer for a few years, i returned to grad school to do a MSEE. I found that in order to be trusted running a significant project, i really needed a masters degree. I did mine in communications engineering - estimation of signals in noise, digital modulation schemes, etc. I have encountered numerous students over the years that say: "Oh, i'm no good at maths, i hate it.. etc." Many of these students are female. I think that their first few maths teachers should have been washing cars for a living - rather than teaching. Also, gals are (i think) somewhat more inclined to think that - if they don't understand something - that it's their fault, rather than having a teacher that cannot teach. Sadly, the latter situation is NOT unknown - even in graduate school. As an undergraduate, you don't carry much weight with the uni. Grad students do however. I managed to complain to the dean about one adjunct professor - and ended up causing him to be "sacked". Actually, he deserved it. He was arrogant, and could not teach to boot. Cheers.