Critical Essay on Scott Adams's Article "How to Get a Real Education"

It is undisputedly true that the vast majority of students are average. It is because we do not understand ourselves that we might be misguided on where we think we belong. Students, just like a Statistician will say, exists in a bell curve. In the curve, we have the vast majority in the middle and a small proportion in the outliers on both ends; the exceptional at one end and the low performers at the other end (Adams, 2011). This curve not only applies to students but tons of things in a population. Indeed, it is very evident that today's world has taken an entrepreneurial direction, and it is a good idea to acquire the skills for future relevance. For this reason, I concur with Scott Adams in his support for entrepreneurship for the average students in his article "How to Get a Real Education."

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I can boldly argue that entrepreneurship is a valuable skill that at least all of us should have and use at a certain point in life. Everyone is inevitably born with a different aptitude and potential even though that which we accomplish in life depends on efforts we put and the decisions we make in life. Adams, in his article, recalls the skills he gained while majoring in entrepreneurship at Hartwick College in Oneonta, and the crucial role they have played in his life (Adams, 2011).

Firstly, he tells us of the Minister of Finance opening he applied for in a small business on their campus called "The Coffee House." He made the application because the business was in a weak financial status, and he felt he could make a difference. He proposed to his accounting professor, who allowed him to build and operate a proper accounting system for three-course credits. It was his first learning experience, which consequently initiated the desire for more. Entrepreneurship skills, unlike art, doesn't require high academic learning aptitudes to capture. On the contrary, we learn by merely making decisions and accepting the consequences of our made decisions (Adams, 2011).

Today's society has made us believe that education is the key and more so we are at a relatively higher level when we study arts. The mentality has misguided majority of average students. It is an exciting facet of our nature that we try to prove that we are exceptional at technical issues. Adams tells us of his friend he reluctantly voted to be fired as the worst bartender they have ever seen; on the ground that he lacked both the will and the mastery of bartender arts (Adams, 2011). He further persuaded the same firing group to elect the fired friend as their leader because of his physical appearance.

Although the friend did a terrific job in the position, I don't support the reasons Adams gave out for his selection. A leader to my perspective should be identified by their vision, ideologies, and not physical appearance. In many scenarios, our peers or people we are close to in electing our leaders based on meaningless reasons have convinced us. We need, therefore to have freedom of thought and make independent decisions for the betterment of our future.

Adams utilized every opportunity he saw to learn and become better. It is uncommon with typical college students. We spend most of our time parting and beer taking that we forget to notice opportunities around us. Adams learned within a year everything he knows about management from his friend. Additionally, together with his friends presented to the dean, their hatched entrepreneurial idea of becoming managers of their dormitory and getting paid for that. Entrepreneurial opportunities are not very difficult to spot and are always present in our immediate environment. As initially stated, we are an entrepreneurial world, and it only depends on how smart you are what effort you make to identify an opportunity. Adams identified opportunities and utilized the loophole through dedicating his time and energy to the extent of volunteering to write a constitution during summer break.

It only takes sacrifice and dedication to become an entrepreneur. College presents a lot of entrepreneurial opportunities for students. Indeed, the opportunities, when utilized, are undoubtedly rewarding, and one learns, and the traits acquired become irreplaceable as compared to art knowledge, which quickly fades away from the mind. Adams always thought ahead of the rest, and monetary and skills rewards were evident on all the actions he took (Adams, 2011). By just volunteering to take a daunting task, he was able to learn about getting buy-in. Moreover, he had a private room in the dorm for no cost, a base salary, and some nights he was paid to do overnight security and cleaning the laundry.

The training Adams got while in his college enabled him to master the art of transforming nothing into something. He acknowledges everything good that has happened to him as an adult to his college experience. Adams college experience gives the right way for an average student to learn how to become an entrepreneur. He gives average students a starter list of essential secrets of becoming an entrepreneur. An average student becomes valuable by combining different skills, taking risks, and learning irrespective of the outcome.

Moreover, Adams advice for finding action and moving where it is to ensure you are committed. Together with his friends, they conquered fear, became confident in themselves, and combined different skills. Though an entrepreneur needs more than the list he gave out, the above has helped him in his lifetime than the mandatory art classes he attended. Truly, children are our future and majority are average students.

Reference

Adams, S. (2011). How to get a real education. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/files/basic/anonymous/api/library/3bbcb358-87b4-43fc-b867-8498f4158269/document/73772284-6bfe-4e33-9f0e-80930a013df1/media