College Part II

What to major in? Here's where people's arrogance shows. You will find a lot of elitism when people answer this question. But what I say goes against a lot of them. I say go to college in something you want to learn. Don't go in thinking about how much money you'll make. Go in with the intention of learning.

If you really want to make a lot of money, go to a trade school. Some of these trade schools have job placement programs and most of the teachers know people and if they like you, they'll hook you up.

If you decide to go to college, take at least one speech class. I took three. Take speech because it forces you to confront public speaking. I've had several situations where I had to do roundtable interviews and a good speech teacher will teach you how to relax and look cool in a situation like that.

Take at least one creative writing course. See if you could find out in advance which are good teachers and which are bad. I've had both. I've had one creative writing teacher who was so out of touch with modern styles that she held it against you if you used profanity in your writing. Imagine what she would have done for Quentin Tarantino's scripts.

Learn the scientific method. You should know how a scientist thinks. It's actually quite simple. You make a statement and try to prove it, basing it on previous studies and the work you do to show it's repeatable.

Learn basic economics or accounting. This is one big regret I had is I took neither. You might find yourself suddenly making huge globs of money and if you don't have an economic plan, you'd do what I did and go through it all.

That said, study what you want to study. I've always found a well-rounded education will be better off than a specialized one because you don't want to be specialized. If you're too specialized, you risk becoming obsolete.