The Best Extracurricular Activity for a College-Bound Student by Gary North

July 11, 2011

The best extracurricular activity is debate.

Debate teaches skills that stay with a person for the rest of his life. These include:

1. Comprehensive preparation
2. Thinking fast under pressure
3. Mastery of both sides of a question
4. Forecasting what the opponent will say
5. Focusing on a single issue for eight months
6. Sticking to a timetable
7. Learning how to impress the judges
8. Cooperating with a partner (team debate)
9. Spotting an opponent's weakness
10. Mastering the skill of rhetoric (persuasion)
11. Learning that practice works
12. Competing within a framework of rules
13. Learning not to make excuses for poor performance
14. Memorization
15. Note-taking
16. Recognizing poor documentation in researching
17. Courage under fire
18. Dealing with ever-stronger competition

I don't think there is anything on a high school campus to match debate as a teaching tool.

Debate on college campuses these days seems more geared to technique than content. This is the fate of anything that academia touches. Recognizing this early in life is also important.

High school students waste a lot of time. They are not Asians. They do not do four hours of homework per day.

I think debate is better than homework. It is a far better way of training your mind than reading high school textbooks and working on carefully constructed problems in math -- problems that are not related to industry or science.

Not every student is good enough to get into a debate program, any more than he can make an athletic team. There are fewer slots available. There is probably no junior varsity program. So, debate is for elite students. But if your child has any skills here, you should encourage him.

Public speaking is a second-best program. It is more formal, more geared to a structured performance. To develop this skill is very useful. I did it early: age 16. But the pressure of debate forces a person to improve his skills 

rapidly. There is greater pressure to improve.

The only movie I have seen on debating is The Great Debaters.

A 10th Grader Advertises for His Own Business

Look At What This Sophomore is Willing To Do For Work and To Earn Extra Money.

I'm a soon to be sophomore and I'm hoping to get a summer job to get some cash for school this year. I'm available most of the week and can work long hours. I don't really care about the pay rate but really just hoping to earn some cash. I'm a straight A student and I have the report card to show it, And I promise I WILL NOT be and trouble. I'm a little on the small side but I'm NOT A LITTLE KID. I can handle my own and you will find that out if you hire me.

DON'T LIKE DOING THESE JOBS?  THEN LET ME . . .

1.  TO DO HOUSEHOLD CHORES.
2.  WASH YOUR CAR IN THE SUMMER SUN.
3.  DO YOUR LAUNDRY.
4.  RUN SMALL ERRANDS AROUND TOWN.
5.  DO A PAPER ROUTE.
6.  PASS FLYERS OUT ON CARS.
7.  BE YOUR MYSTERY SHOPPER.
8.  HELP YOU MOVE.
9.  CLEAN YOUR GARAGES.
10.WALK YOUR DOG.
11.PICK FRUIT OFF YOUR TREES.
12.PICK UP THOSE OLD PIECES OF METAL LAYING AROUND YOUR HOUSE.
13.TAKE YOUR RECYCLABLES AWAY.
14.DOG SIT FOR A WHILE.
15.PULL WEEDS OUT OF YOUR DIRT.
16.CLEAN YOUR WALK WAYS & DRIVE WAYS.
17.DO ANY OTHER TYPE OF ODD JOBS.

CALL ME @

Business Ideas From Bill Myers @ bmyers.com

As I mentioned in last weeks tip, my wife and I just got back from spending ten days in Florida.

While there, we caught up on all the local news, especially related to real estate.

Among the more interesting stories was the one about the real estate salesperson who had accumulated twenty million dollars worth of property, only to lose it all when the real estate market tanked, and he was unable to make payments because his real estate sales commissions went to zero.

But not to worry, things actually turned out well for him.

See, instead of bemoaning the sorry state of the market, he decided to open a new business catering to the super wealthy clients who owned ocean-front property in the area.

He knew from experience that all these ocean-front properties had huge windows to take in the view. And every day, the ocean spray would deposit a layer of salt on those windows - hindering the view.

His solution was to offer a window cleaning service catering exclusively to well-to-do property owners, on a subscription basis.

It took him less than six months to build his little window cleaning business up to a $400,000 a year business - doing the job others didn't want to do.

Moral: There's always a way to make money. Especially if you choose as your customers, people who have money.

Interviewing Tip: Don't Waste A Buyer's Time

 The Question That Traps Job Candidates, and How Your Answer Can Get You the Job . . . If You Rehearse by Gary North

Sometime in the interview, probably early, the interviewer says, "Tell me about yourself." You had better have a well-prepared answer.

Underlying the question is a strategy: to see if you are a good salesman. The interviewer wants to see if you have business sense. What he is after is a short answer that reveals what you bring to the table. If you can give him what he is looking for in 60 seconds, you move to the top of the list.

If you have followed my advice, you have prepared to get the interview. You know about what the company is after. You know something about its niche. You have spent time researching the firm. You should therefore know how you will fit. Even if you are not sure, give an answer that says, "This guy knows what he can do."

Your answer should offer two examples from your employment past that support your #1 benefit. Follow the rule of direct-response advertising: Lead with the benefit. Follow with the proof. Tell the person what your #1 strength is, which means your #1 benefit as an employee from the point of view of the company. Then give an illustration of how you demonstrated this strength in the past, preferably to an employer. If you can give two examples, you have met the challenge.

You need to think this through carefully before the interview. What is the company after that you can supply? Presumably, you asked this before you started researching the firm. Once you identify it, you need a couple of good examples that prove your case. If you don't have any, you should probably not begin the process of contacting the company for an interview.

Keep the answer to 60 seconds. The person doing the interview uses the question to assess your likelihood of being valuable enough to hire. It's more of an ice=breaker. He is not interested in a verbal summary of your life history.

A good job candidate will know this before the interview. He will not waste any time on peripheral matters. He will get right to the point.

If your answer produces "tell me more," you are over the hump. But still keep your follow-up response to two minutes. Give more examples.

Don't give three minutes up front. Be in a position to give three minutes.

The interview is your chance to sell yourself to a buyer. Selling is about providing benefits. So is working.

I hope the two will match: sales presentation and subsequent performance.

Economic Principle #4

Economic Principle #4
It takes capital to fund any transition. It may take mostly time, but this surely is capital. If you are not allocating it today in terms of what you want tomorrow then you suffer from what Mises called high time preference. Those who have high time preference much prefer present consumption to future consumption. They buy what they want. They pay for present consumption with reduced future consumption.

Economic Principle #3

Economic Principle #3
The free market rewards service. It is a social order based on service to customers or donors. To participate in the market order is to gain the habits of service.

Economic Principle #2

Economic Principle #2
Plans for a comfortable retirement are smashed by the reality of low economic growth, low returns from the stock market, their own insufficient savings programs for decades, and inflation.