Your editorial “In any life, an occupation isn’t enough” (Jan. 31) , was very thought-provoking indeed.

Going to school or college to learn an occupation is one thing, but it is the elective courses, the people you meet, the new opportunities, the challenges, a new feeling of self worth, that broadens one’s sense of being.

After high school I worked in a factory, Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut. I didn’t like it, and enrolled in the University of Connecticut, majoring in forestry and entomology. Elective courses included anthropology, government, economics, music appreciation, zoology, ornithology, geology and others. Many of the students during the 1950s were under the GI Bill, a program available today for veterans.

Over my career in forestry, I got into writing, photography, public administration, politics (as a state senator) and public speaking. And, I did meet my wife at the university.

College was good for me. Don’t be afraid of giving it a try.

Walter R. Gooley, Farmington