Bill Gates 11 Rules for College Grads

When my son began his senior year, I compiled an up-to-date commencement speech to give him advice when he could really use it - as he began looking for jobs.  I borrowed a bit from a brilliant speech by Steve Jobs, and remember early humorous and poignant speeches by Guy Kawasaki and Kurt Vonnegut (which turned out out to be a hoax, but a good one).   If it had been done back then, I would have also borrowed from a Bill Cosby commencement address.  Now Bill Gates recently gave a speech about 11 things you did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept sets them up for failure in the real world weighs in.  Here is his advice:

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 3
You will not make $80,000 a year right out of college. You won't be a vice president with a Blackberry until you earn both.

Rule 4
If you think your teacher is tough, wait until 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 thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites your parent's generation created, 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 and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This does not bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9
Life is not divided into semesters. 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.

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