IPPN

Published: 06 May 2009

Source: independent.ie

Wednesday May 06 2009

In her Transition Year class at Malahide Community School, teacher Susie Hall likes to quote Bill Gates. The Microsoft founder once told a high school the lessons he did not learn in school. They included the following:

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 2 You will NOT make $40,000 a year right out of school.

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 are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' 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; they'll give you as many chances 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 terms. 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.