What are the best subjects to learn for business – and life – success? If anyone sat down to identify the perfect secondary (and maybe college) education, I doubt they would come up with today’s average American curriculum. While there are plenty of courses in basic skills (reading, writing, mathematics, and so on) many other [...] Read more »
knowledge versus credentials, and links
A few links below got me thinking. I’ve written about this before, but it’s amazing how much our society – particularly corporate society – values credentials, versus knowledge. I have done enough phone interviews with clients to realize that they are far more interested in my credentials than what I actually know. They want to [...] Read more »
teaching and being taught, and links
I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this on this blog or not, but I spent a fair amount of time as a part-time schoolteacher for both middle school and college freshmen as a substitute teacher and later as a graduate assistant. I taught intro to calculus and accounting in grad school and substituted for [...] Read more »
how to build a love of learning
Why don’t Americans like to read? And they don’t. You’re reading blogs, so you obviously enjoy reading, but many people don’t. You think other people ought to like to read. But books don’t hold much sway anymore. From bookstatistics.com: 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school. 42% of college [...] Read more »
rebuilding the idea of elitism in America
Elitism has earned an ugly name over the past decade or so. A sure way to accuse someone of having poor judgment or lacking real-world experience is to tar them with the “elite” label. The use of “elite” as a derogatory term has been most pronounced in politics. Political leaders sneer at elites – holding [...] Read more »
have MBAs been devalued by the crisis?
When I went to graduate school, an MBA was still an achievement – it almost guaranteed getting the job you wanted and conferred an impressive status (at least in the business world) on anyone who held one. Consequently, the popularity of the MBA grew and grew over the last couple of decades. In today’s corporate [...] Read more »
when does intellectual curiosity stop?
From bookstatistics.com: 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school. 42% of college graduates never read another book. 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year. 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years. If you’re like me, [...] Read more »
college student finance tips
This post is part of The Money Writers‘ college student finance tips group writing project. Everyone likes to think that with the passage of time they become an expert. Simply by virtue of their own experience, they become an expert in an area that could be the subject of full-time study. That’s what giving financial [...] Read more »
Guest Post: Education – a curse or a cushion?
The following is a guest post from AJC of 7million7years.com. He only recently started blogging but he’s already one of my favorite daily reads. If you’re the type who likes RSS, you can subscribe to his blog here. People often ask me what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Probably the best book that I [...] Read more »
10 things to tell a graduating high school senior
Oh, young mind, how we envy you! The world is your oyster, and who doesn’t like oysters? Here you are, venturing out into the world. Freedom, independence, adventure are all just around the corner! Mom’s not there to do the laundry anymore, but who cares! Nobody will yell at you when you sleep til 2pm [...] Read more »
best financial move in college, part 2
Patrick, of Cash Money Life fame, has tagged me to give my best financial move in college. This “organically growing” meme was started by plonkee. The first part was posted yesterday. Best Financial Move In College #2: Learning an “exotic” foreign language. If you read this blog, you probably know that I’m a Russophile. I [...] Read more »
best financial move in college, part 1
Patrick, of Cash Money Life fame, has tagged me to give my best financial move in college. This “organically growing” meme was started by plonkee. This will be a two-parter because I didn’t want a post that looked like a short novel… I have what might be an “unallowed” answer, so I’ll give both of [...] Read more »