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What's high school for?

Guest post by: Seth Godin

Article Overview: Perhaps we could endeavor to teach our future the following:

What's high school for?

Perhaps we could endeavor to teach our future the following: •How to focus intently on a problem until it's solved.

•The benefit of postponing short-term satisfaction in exchange for long-term success.

•How to read critically.

•The power of being able to lead groups of peers without receiving clear delegated authority.

•An understanding of the extraordinary power of the scientific method, in just about any situation or endeavor.

•How to persuasively present ideas in multiple forms, especially in writing and before a group.

•Project management. Self-management and the management of ideas, projects and people.

•Personal finance. Understanding the truth about money and debt and leverage.

•An insatiable desire (and the ability) to learn more. Forever.

•Most of all, the self-reliance that comes from understanding that relentless hard work can be applied to solve problems worth solving.

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Article Tags: benefit, insatiable desire, leverage, peers, personal finance, present ideas, project management, scientific method, self management, self reliance, term satisfaction, term success, truth about money



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If only I had known then what I know now... - I know it's a waste of time to think about what might have been, but often times I find myself thinking if only I knew back in high school what I know now. I graduated high school in 1998 when the internet was really just starting to take off. If I could go back I would register a ton of popular one word domain names! There are many of them that I could have gotten that would be worth millions of dollars now. If only...
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Re: Dropped Out Of School To Startup! - After working in high school for 2 years with amazing children I now know the value of school. Like Kevin said, it builds you discipline, it also build your social skills. The children today, have 24/7 access to the internet and they have thousands of friends, on myspace and facebook. Some of them don't know the difference between real friends and online friends. We have many loners in our school, they don't talk to other kids, they don't play, they don't live in the real world, they believe that what they see on TV and in the movies is real, they want results quick, because on TV they see the quick results. The teachers at our school are concerned that some day all kids will stay at home to learn (some already do) and lose all their social skills. A scary thought, but it's happening already.
Re: You don't need a degree to be an Entrepreneur - Very true I got the vocational training I needed to get into carpentry while I was in high school. THen, I went to work in a friend's business for a few years, before starting my own business. I learned much while working in a company and have learned from my own mistakes and from other qualified business people. My sister had similar experiences and she was hired to manage a busy company, just out of high school and she learned on the job and has honed those skills over the years. Those experiences have been very good for both of us. My father has managed businesses for over 40 years and only took a few accounting courses at a local community college. My grandfather owned several businesses and managed divisions in a couple of businesses - with no degrees either. I have a large number of friends, clients and associates that have their own companies and almost none have degrees. Chris


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