Lesson 13: Summer Vacations
Gary North
YESTERDAY'S ASSIGNMENT Did you speak with the teacher of
your killer class, to drop it and take it in
summer school?
Lesson 13 SUMMER VACATIONS You want to have a good time next summer. You want to
lounge around, watch TV, wander aimlessly, and generally
goof off. Forget about it. No more. Childhood ends now. An adult goes to work every day, five days a week,
eight hours a day, 50 weeks a year. A company owner goes
to work five or six days a week, 12 hours a day, 50 weeks a
year. Kids play in summer. Get used to thinking like as adult. This is crucial
for your long-term academic success. The Bible says: When I was a child, I spake as a
child, I understood as a child, I thought as a
child: but when I became a man, I put away
childish things. (Paul's first letter to the
Corinthians, 13:11) It's time to begin making your transition to
adulthood.
SUMMER SCHOOL Summer school allows you to do several things. 1. Take a class,
such as
typing, that
you don't have
time for in
the school
year. 2. Take a make-up class in which you
are doing poorly and should drop
immediately. 3. Take a make-up class that you
flunked or did poorly in,
which you could not (or did
not) drop. 4. Take a class early, such as
algebra II, so you can get into a
class where you need it, such as
chemistry. When you are not in a summer school class, you should
be doing one of these things: 1. Doing
homework. 2. Working full-time. 3. Relaxing after a full 8-hour
work day. You will lose two hours in class, plus two hours of
homework. That's for one class. Double this if you take
two. That means a full 8-hour day. If you take a typing class, don't worry about
homework. Note: if you want to type really fast
without getting tired, don't learn to type on the
standard QWERTY layout. Learn on a Dvorak (ASK)
layout. The Dvorak keyboard option is in
Microsoft Windows. You can easily select it.
Dvorak reduces the movement of your fingers by
90%. No one has set a world speed record on
anything but a Dvorak-type keyboard in two
generations. For more information, click here: http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak For instructional material, visit
http://www.gigliwood.com/abcd
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PASS A CLEP Study for a CLEP exam in the same course as your
summer school course. This way, your study time does
double work. You will get a higher grade in the course,
and you will pass the CLEP with a higher score. If you pass two CLEP exams for a full year's course,
you have just saved your parents (or yourself) the tuition
cost of that course. Typical tuition for a state
university is $400 per semester credit for in-state residents.
Multiply this times six. That's $2,400. Some schools
charge more. At an Ivy League university, it's $800 per
semester unit. If you spend three hours a day for 30 days studying
for CLEPs, you probably can pass a two-semester CLEP (two
CLEPs). If you do this for three months, you can probably
pass three one-year college courses by CLEP. Three six-
credit hour CLEPS are the equivalent of over half of the
freshman year. Do this for two summers, and you will walk
into college as a sophomore. You have just saved tuition
($5,000+), room and board ($5,000), and incidentals (????). There is no job you can get in summer that will pay
you after taxes what passing three CLEPs will save you. Or you can study for one CLEP and work full-time.
GET A JOB If you decide to get a job, get a job with a local
business that isn't a franchise. Your goal is to learn how
that kind of business operates. Don't settle for flipping
hamburgers unless you are willing to learn all about the
franchise. It's far better to work at some job where you can
learn about business. Do the grunt jobs, but keep your
eyes open. Take notes. Show up 15 minutes early. Leave
15 minutes after your shift ends. Don't charge for the
extra work. When the manager or owner sees that you work
really hard, start asking questions about how the business
operates. Never work at a job where you aren't able to
learn about the business. The extra money isn't worth the
time wasted by not getting an education. If you get a job you can work at during the school
year on a part-time basis, that's best.
SUMMARY Forget about summer vacation. It's
time to start converting summer into money. Go to summer school to make up a class, take a
class in advance, or learn a skill like typing. Study for at least one full-year CLEP. Try to
make it two full-year CLEPs. Get a job if you aren't in summer school. Try to
get one that will teach you about running a
business. Try to get one where you can work
part-time during the school year.
ASSIGNMENT Find out which courses will be
offered next summer. If you're not taking a
make-up course, see if there is anything you can
take for which there is also a CLEP exam. I
recommend U.S. history or English. Better yet,
take both, back to back. Don't forget to lecture to the wall: one page,
one class.
PREVIEW OF TOMORROW'S LESSON: Used textbooks Any time you want to ask me specific questions regarding your plans for college, you can find out where to contact me by clicking this link: Answers.
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