Writing Never let School interfere with your education or success!

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#1weavile

I'm still alive =)
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Just my views on school:

Early in our lives, we are taught that if we want to be successful we must go to school. We are taught that we must focus on achieving high grades and that we must go to college all in the hopes of getting a good job and being successful.

“I have never let schooling interfere with my education.” – Mark Twain

Times change and problems change. What we need in this day and age are innovators who can change society for the better. School is training us to be students who think inside the box by memorizing facts and figures.

I believe that school should teach our students to be entrepreneurs since some of most successful people in history were entrepreneurs and because it can be applied to almost every subject. Accounting and public speaking should be available courses, not pointless subjects that require the memorization of facts that mean nothing to us. Innovation combined with entrepreneurship, motivation and passion creates success with time. So the next time you’re in class, brainstorm business ideas, write a business plan or invent a product because, chances are, what you are “learning” in school will not be beneficial to your future. “What about college,” you may ask?

“All greatness of character is dependent on individuality. The man who has no other existence than that which he partakes in common with all around him, will never have any other than an existence of mediocrity.” – James F. Cooper

After high school most high-schoolers are expected to attend college. This is their ticket to success, a good job, and a high-paying salary, right? The truth is, in this recession and in the future, a bachelor’s degree is not sufficient to be a distinguished member of your field of study. People graduate with bachelor’s degrees are not finding jobs and are being laid off. Even college graduates with master’s degrees are having a hard time finding jobs. Also, by the time one graduates (s)he has probably accumulated quite a chunk of debt in student loans for the degree, perhaps more if (s)he has recently purchased a car. That graduate would need to pay off that loan, make monthly payments on the car and put food on the table. If (s)he does not have a job, (s)he will have a hard time getting out of debt. College does have its positives, however. It gives you a chance of making more in our future. College, however, is not the sole path to success. Many successful entrepreneurs dropped out of college, such as Bill Gates, Ralph Lauren, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg. The above people showed the world that they can succeed by making their own opportunities and success. I believe that it is what you do that makes you successful, not what you have. Whether you have a degree or not, YOU determine your own success.

Note: Doctors, lawyers, engineers and other careers basically NEED degrees in order to practice their subject. I am discussing the specific careers that do not such as business and other related careers.

By: Imtiaz Majeed
 
Please make the acknowledgement of your specific audience (pretty much that note of yours that states the argument is "on specific careers that do not such as business and other related careers") in the beginning. People will get perturbed because you're essentially clarifying yourself at the last minute. Avoid the confusion.

Your persuasiveness level is low. You fail to consider that school does more than "[train] us to be students who think inside the box by memorizing facts and figures". You can't label school with just one fatal downside in their curricular focuses, because there are plenty of methods behind the madness we stand for: A good school itself presents challenges that don't teach you specifically skills and knowledge for specific careers, but rather form a general basis of qualities such as teamwork and responsibility that enables us to be successful in careers, period. Doesn't matter what career. From up to college, students can gain important information for what it takes to be successful, to see how well their peers are and encourage them to emulate their classmate's achievements. Don't just think about the negatives of the current system and make a case from just that. You'd end up making as many problems as you would fixing them. Your idea of vocational training in entrepreneurship does exists, but it's no more than what it is simply because the current standard in training and assessment is ridiculously poor. Perhaps the most important flaw in your logic is the following:

I believe that school should teach our students to be entrepreneurs since some of most successful people in history were entrepreneurs and because it can be applied to almost every subject. Accounting and public speaking should be available courses, not pointless subjects that require the memorization of facts that mean nothing to us.
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I might as well say something like: "There are many football players that gets millions of dollars in their career, so I should be one too." See the fallacy? Not all people can get in the wagon: some are too tall or too short and would belong in a better place. And to address the second statement, accounting and public speaking are available courses. In fact, the high school I went to does indeed have an accounting available, but most students go simply because they think it's a fluff class. You missed an important fact: many people aren't interested in entrepreneurship, so focusing the curriculum on it would lead to disaster as many students would have lower performance due to lack of interest. "Useless facts" that we have to memorize have lead to passions in future biologists, chemists, mathematicians, engineers, historians, and many other careers. Just because you think school is leaving out important stuff doesn't mean you can clear the rest of the roads of opportunities for yours.

Granted, it's still up to the person whether he or she is successful in the future, but your viewpoint is far too strong and biased.

Your idea is interesting, but your rhetoric is terrible. Put more thought into it.
 
#1weavile said:
Just my views on school:
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I agree that I should have put the disclaimer in the beginning.

lol they're my views. I am an entrepreneur, so yes I would be biased. I don't want to be any of people you list so yes the subjects related to them mean nothing to me. If I wanted to be a scientist, I would be interested in science subjects. but I'm not. I do agree that this is biased, but this is what I believe. Thanks for the critique though! *hugs Zyflair*
 
Even if they are your views, I'm sure you'd want to be very convincing. :p
 
As I read your argument I could only think of one thing. If everyone becomes entrepreneurs how does anything get done? Entrepreneurs come with the idea, but rarely (at least to my knowledge) do they get everything done themselves. So if we throw away everything except classes that will promote entrepreneurship the world will not have businesses, and the businesses that do succeed (which I doubt there would be many) couldn't even thrive for themselves. If everyone has the idea, who puts it into the effect? Moreover if you get rid of those useless facts you're essentially relying on the world's natural genius to get anything technical done. You referenced some successful entrepreneurs but they were able to do that because NATURALLY they were able to amass knowledge that allowed them to do such amazing things. Just my thought after reading it quickly.
 
Well, I don't think I'll point out anything specific, but I'm proud of you for posting a strong opinion like this, despite the fact that I don't share the opinion itself.
Honestly, I would be a horrible anti-social saleswoman, so your version of school sounds like my nightmare. XD

And while yes, it is possible to be sucessful without school, it isn't common. In this day and age, I think people should grab as much education as they can, yah know? I know I will, at least.
 
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