Originally Posted by blackcat
My family background is 100 percent German and I personally haven't seen this, not in terms of academics at least. Everyone was into farming until the mid twentieth century and there may have been a work ethic there, but not in terms of excelling in school, going to elite colleges, etc.

It's more profession with what I've seen in my family and others.

Engineering, medical school, oral surgeon, etc.

Achieve or fail.

These were also Germans who were most decidedly *not* into farming, but rather they were burghers, for lack of a better word.

One side of my family came from the plain people. There was *no* academic interest there. And the farm was just sold three years ago or so.

Last edited by JonLaw; 04/01/14 08:53 AM. Reason: Added the lack of farming background.