Guest writer Kevin Y. - (01/30/04)
School is not for everybody. Let's face it; the world needs taxi drivers, blockbuster employees, and pizza delivery. Every day I notice people pouring benjamins into Joe Schmoe Community college and struggling to pass economics. Come on, if you can't even grasp the idea of supply and demand then give up. There's no sense in trying to be someone or something you're not - even if it's for a fancy piece of paper with illegible writing on it. Diplomas are overrated. If the glove doesn't fit, take it off. You'll only make a fool of yourself if you tough it out through 8 years of school for a degree in marketing. At this point, you'd be what they call "cream of the crap" so what's the use?
If you learn better on your own, so be it - just suck it up and be a bigger person by doing what you're good at...so if your specialty happens to be basket-weaving or making balloon animals then HEY. The world needs those too. Some people make a respectable living out of it. OR: You may ignore me and go on thinking you're so close to the finish line and you could press on. But just don't be devastated if you're unemployed once you graduate, because there are a million dolts with degrees and no sense of direction - the law of supply and demand puts you on a long waiting list.
You may dry your eyes at this point. All I'm saying is that you should look into the alternatives. You could get an administrative job making coffee and sucking up, and hope for a promotion. Respectable. There is no substitute for hard work, not even a college degree, and everyone has to start at the bottom. Granted you're a hard worker and modestly intelligent you can work your way up to middle management or even an executive role. Just remember to not become "too good at your job" because it means you're not surrounding yourself with knowledgeable people. Do this, keep on learning and you'll find yourself always one step ahead of your peers.
If you're lazy and mediocre and refuse to admit it, then go back to MTV, King of the Hill, Sex in the City, or whatever the hell you watch on TV. If you're like me, and realized you're lazy and mediocre and want to do something with your life, you've already overcome life's biggest obstacle. I'll admit, school is not for me: I hate following directions, I have no respect for authority, and I could care less for academic "excellence". Yesterday it was a gold star and a happy face, and today it's GPA. Please. I found something I enjoy and stuck to it. Now it pays my bills.
Michael Dell and Bill Gates sacrificed school and pursued a dream nobody knew existed. They saw opportunity and they jumped onboard, throwing away their education because they realized bigger things. I'm going out on a limb here, but you probably read "started a computer company in 1984" and skimmed through down to the part where they mentioned some obscene figure like "one billion dollars and change." I'm willing to bet that you or me wont make anything close to that, or maybe even a million, but I'm making "enough" with something I like to do and am skilled with. So why is Bill Gates rich and not you? Because you evaluate Bill Gates for his money and not his contribution to software computing. He's not the smartest man on earth (and he has a less than perfect products), but he's one of the most competitive man alive. The guy doesn't even watch TV, because he thinks it's a waste of time. Now that's dedication.
Come to think of it, I would be a great pizza delivery man, or fantastic balloon artist, but the world has plenty of those. So I chose internet services. Now people need internet just as much as they do water or electricity and I saw the demand and created the supply. I'm not your mom, dad or nanny...just a guy with some advice - if school's not your thing then accept it and move on. Find something you do like, whether it's food services, landscaping, administrative work, management, or entrepreneurship, and the money will come as long as you have the persistence. It's when you're persistent in something you suck at you get screwed.
You can ignore the cliche analogies for success and motivation, as long as you're honest with yourself. I'm not asking you to quit school or start whoring computers for money, but just to realize the alternatives and break free from traditional standards of success. Some people go through 30 years of schooling, cut their teeth in their industry and end up joining Greenpeace or UNICEF. Fantastic, as long as they enjoy what they do and are good at it. Again, it's when you keep cranking at something you're not cut out for you get shafted. So do yourself a favor, sit down, and rethink your career - it's worth your time.
