What they don’t Teach Geologists on Campus

Rebecca Barber
P.O. Box 1409, Spring, Texas 77389

Not everything can be learned at school…on campus…from a professor. In fact, there are some things that are learned the hard way. Back at school, they don’t teach you that lighter fluid can mimic an oil show. There is no “Oil Show Look-A-Likes 101” to warn you of tricks of the trade. Nor is there any way to learn about the multicultural aspects of a “roughneck.” Who are they? Where do they come from? What language are they speaking? And most importantly, what will they do to me next?

Long before cell phones were glued to one’s side, “who ya gonna call” when you realize the one-day trip to run logs turns to a week-long survival challenge to find suitable toothbrush material? Roughnecks either don’t have one or won’t share theirs. Privacy? Only exists in the mind. Urgency overcomes all inhibitions when you’re on a rig…in the bush…out in the middle of nowhere.

These are only some of the things learned in on-the-job training. Beginning well-site geologists are “weevils” too, just under a different name and not fit for print. The things one learns about mud reserve pits, the hallowed toolpusher’s shack, and what can happen when you’re late would fill a whole semester’s worth of stories and warnings.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90069©2007 GCAGS 57th Annual Convention, Corpus Christi, Texas