Education is Never Wasted

I had the opportunity Tuesday morning to drive to Peyton, Colorado and present to the high school business class about growing a business. It's a "two blinker" town. Blink twice and you'll miss it. But I guarantee their business program is one of the best in the area. I mean just look at the quality of guest lecturers they get there.

The saying that the teacher learns more than the students was again correct.
What I learned from this experience was:

1. This group of students, ranging from freshman to seniors, had a better grasp on running a small business than most adults already in business. Those adults who come to me for professional advice could take notes off of what these students already know. To those students of Mrs. Simmons' class who are reading this, you have no idea how well prepared you'll be to run your own businesses after school. That doesn't mean you can quit studying and skip the final exam though. Sorry.
   
2. Every person - let me say that again for effect - every person should take a business class such as Mrs. Simmons before graduating from high school. It should be as integrated into public schools as math and science. Why? Because every person is going to work for some sort of a company at some point in their life. Regardless of big business or small start up, you need to know at least the basics of how a business works and how it makes money.
   
   For example, if you run a small business and want a raise, you work harder and smarter and become more profitable. If you work for big business and want a raise, walking in and saying, "Hey, I'm a swell guy can you pay me more?" isn't going to fly very far. But if you say, "Hey, I cut expenses 19% while increasing revenue 31% and have increased the efficiency of the office by 8% this quarter, I think I deserve a raise." I bet your boss would agree because you just spoke the language of business to your boss and that's what they are fluent in.
   
3. One should be prepared when asking a high school girl what the last movie she watched was. Expecting to hear something like How to lose a guy in 10 days or Titanic or even Failure to Launch, I was taken back a little when Dawn of the Dead was the last movie she'd seen.
   
4. Chicks dig the long ball. You'd have to ask Nathan for more clarification on that one. But with softball season coming up and my wife in the stands, I'm definately going to be swinging for the fence more often. Thanks for the tip Nathan.

Thank you Mrs. Simmons for having me.
Thank you class teaching me so much. Also, thanks for staying awake for me and not making fun of me for being so old and out of touch with what goes on in high school... at least to my face anyway.
Thank you to my father who instilled in me the fact that education is never wasted.