Bill Gates' speech at Mount Whitney High School in Visalia California is worthwhile reading for anyone. To anyone with kids of any age, and to all of us who were kids once, here is some advice Mr. Gates recently dished out at a speech to the Mount Whitney Assembly. He talked about how feel-good and politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality, and how this method was setting them up for failure in the real world. He concluded by outlining the following 11 rules.
Rule 1 : Life is not fair. Get used to it.
Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. However , the world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you start feeling good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $40,000 dollars a year right out of hight school, and you won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers at McDonalds should not be beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping...they called it OPPORTUNITY.
Rule 6 : If you mess up, Its not your parents7 fault, so don't whine.
Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are.
Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with recognizing that there are winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools, they have even abolished failing grades, and they'll give you as much time as you want to get the right answer on an exam. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Your are supposed to do that on your own time.
Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop, and go out and find a job.
Rule 11 : Be nice to NERDS. Chances are, you will end up working for one. I would add one more rule. The one Karl's dad taught him after he graduated from college with the wind in his face and the world by the tail. Ingle Sr. pulled him aside and said to him, "Son, there is only one job that you start out at the top, and that's digging a hole!"
Rule 1 : Life is not fair. Get used to it.
Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. However , the world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you start feeling good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $40,000 dollars a year right out of hight school, and you won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers at McDonalds should not be beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping...they called it OPPORTUNITY.
Rule 6 : If you mess up, Its not your parents7 fault, so don't whine.
Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are.
Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with recognizing that there are winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools, they have even abolished failing grades, and they'll give you as much time as you want to get the right answer on an exam. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Your are supposed to do that on your own time.
Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop, and go out and find a job.
Rule 11 : Be nice to NERDS. Chances are, you will end up working for one. I would add one more rule. The one Karl's dad taught him after he graduated from college with the wind in his face and the world by the tail. Ingle Sr. pulled him aside and said to him, "Son, there is only one job that you start out at the top, and that's digging a hole!"
