Bill Gates Speech ...

donna723

Well-Known Member
I "borrowed" this off of another board because I thought it was so GREAT! There's a whole lot of truth in what he says here ...

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Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. 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 till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault , so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

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 thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. 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. 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 to jobs.

Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
Donna, I heard this before.
I printed it out and had it hanging on the refrig for years.
I love it. The message is simple and clear and true.
Wish difficult child would read it but it's good for everyone as a reminder.

I love the idea that flipping burgers is an opportunity. I cleaned house for a woman who was disabled with RA when I was 17. Didn't bother me a bit and certainly wasn't beneath me. Compared to the amount of work I did at home, it was a vacation and I got paid. LOL.
 
N

Nomad

Guest
Awesome stuff!
I too have read it before and wish I had printed it out.
Thank you for reminding me. It is great!
It's getting printed off this time! LOL!
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Somebody else said that it didn't really come from Bill Gates. But whoever wrote it, I think it's great! This puts in to words everything that I've been thinking for years!
 
N

Nomad

Guest
I double checked snopes and it turns out although it is commonly thought to be by Bill Gates, it is originally traced to Charles J Sykes, who has authored books on the watering down of the education system in our country. These rules seem to have come from a book called 50 Rules Kids Wont learn in School: Real World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education.
There are three more:
12 Smoking does not make you look cool
13 You are not immortal
14 Enjoy this while you can

For more information:
http://www.snopes.com/language/document/liferule.asp
 
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