This week's radio show tackled another major problem

Co-host Tim Cornett and I never realized we lived parallel lives as we both underachieved in yuppie white high schools where we mastered the art of cutting class, went to art school and then got kicked out. A coincidence? We think not. 17 year old Trey called in to give us a real look inside of one of the worst schools in Savannah Georgia which is right across from a McDonalds where students hire each other as 'food ninjas' to get the fast food in a bizarre bartering system much like prison. That discussion prompted Co-host John Wellington's first words on this week's show which were 'So, they get blowjobs for nuggets'. We learned that a lot of Trey's friends want to go to the army so they can shoot people, but he wants to head to college instead. His dream is to be a Bill Gates or a Donald Trump like figure or to just be lazy and invest in a company. I suggested he look into Education Connect like Shannon Dougherty. John suggested he find Trump so that he can follow him around and model himself after the real estate mogul. Tim told young Trey he should totally follow him around and just take his wallet. Here's what I think should be done with education in this country, we need to eliminate anything general, like shitty degrees such as communications and history. We need to teach more about getting in touch with our passions and build specific educational tracts around them. I shouldn't even know chemistry exists unless I'm on a tract that requires it. My wife's journey best illustrates this. She never went to college before, in fact she was told 'college wasn't for her' so she was always discouraged by education. When she wanted to become a make-up artist working in TV and film she researched the best programs and found one in NYC. It was only a 6 month program but she was doing make-up all day, no crappy general classes or time wasters. She learned from the best of the best that had been there and done that. She got great business advice from teachers who were actually in the business. 1 year later she is working for NBC. Best investment of time and money ever spent and she got the laser focused education she needed for exactly what she wanted to do. No more, no less. Our own Tim Cornett recently enrolled in school because he feels it's the only way he can better himself so he can stop eating beans out of a can but then he looks at John who is the most educated person he knows and he's still eating beans out of a can too; they are passing the can back and forth. The problem is we are judged and graded wrong and taught that outside validation is always needed. I need that piece of paper or seal of approval to make me worth something. Wrong message! College degrees are there to make people feel better about themselves. And then John said he doesn't even know where his is. So he made his own copy for job interviews with Crayola markers and construction paper. We also limit ourselves with this belief that the only pattern is to get through high school, go on to college, get a 'real' job and be miserable. We don't even know why we pick majors or degrees, maybe because someone told us that's 'where the jobs are' or 'where the money is'. I've heard the same old arguments 'but it's a fact, college graduates earn more than non-college graduates on average'. Yes, but that is only real because of the people that believe in it. If you believe that the college degree is worth a certain perceived value than it becomes reality and the more people believe it, the truer it becomes. If I believe I can make my own income no matter what and that's been my reality, then I don't have to subscribe to or be a part of that system. It only applies to those playing in that game. John Jones, a relationship and productivity coach at namaste-energetics dot com called in and added how school just becomes 'a race that lowers self-esteem and ends up losing so many kids along the way'. We should be teaching and building up self-esteem not knocking it down, have classes about how to be responsible and how to live a better lifestyle. Tim would like to see this 'You're not a shit bag' class offered. You feel worthless in a system if you aren't good at the subjects we are tested on. For example, if you aren't good at math or English but are a hell of a painter you can be in some cases made to feel less than or sometimes even 'a loser'. I would argue in front of anyone that learning how to make apple crisp in survival for singles when I was a senior in high school has been much more valuable than geometry long term. Even the schedule and structure of school is designed to get our kids ready for the 9 to 5 system, set up around our old beliefs. The educational system's ways of looking at and even grading success are completely opposite of what successful people do. Successful people do more of the things they are really good at and love to do and then surround themselves with people who are really good at the things they hate to do. Instead, we tell our kids to improve on stuff that they aren't good at or aren't even interested in. Ironically, it's completely ass backward from the model of truly successful people. Finally, Jeff called in to say 'Self-education is going to make you rich, not the schools.' and II couldn't agree more based on my experience. You have to listen to this entire show and the FREE 7 Principles of Tim Cornett at the end which is priceless at http://www.itdoesntmatteryouregonnadie.com/idmygd-radio I love you all, Dave Arena