I love speaking at colleges. I spoke at the Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity about ten years ago and got hooked! The students are so open and ready to absorb information, they make it such a pleasure to speak with them.
I was asked to speak to St. Mary’s College Basketball team in Moraga. I never thought about how much pressure they were under to meet alumni when they were looking for summer jobs, internships and sponsors to help them get through college. It was a lot of fun teaching these nearly 7′ tall young men the nature of great networking and mingling techniques.
Then about two years ago I had a client ask if I would be willing to speak to the student body. The topic he chose was Be Your Own Boss based on my sixth book which was released in 2007.
When you hear all the negative press on going to college and breaking even in the life of their career for paying for their education.
The premise of the presentation was to encourage the students to get internships every summer in different industries so they could gain real life experience at the corporate world so they would know what they were good at and enjoyed doing by the time they finished college.
Working at a fast food restaurant might be an acceptable means of income for a summer job, but it is a poor replacement for real business experience.
And if a student were to get four summers of solid corporate work experience and started building their businesses simultaneously while going to school, they’d never have to get a job, but would have more than enough income to support themselves by the time they’re 25.
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