Monday, November 29, 2010

The Order Of Importance

Today I was in a super gloomy mood. The reason is I broke up with my boyfriend yesterday because of his ex-girlfriend.

To take my mind off things, I went to Wink Beauty Lounge to attend Wink Beauty Lounge Friends and Family Night. Everything was so cute!!! The main colors at the shop are white and pink. Displayed were various cosmetics and jewellery! There was also finger food going around: bite-sized hamburgers, cupcakes and more! It was too pretty to eat but of course I ate it! Yummy!

Wink Beauty Lounge also gave out complimentary make-up, nail art decorations, and hair styling services. One of the hair stylist made my hair gorgeous and curly. Since Wink specializes in eyelashes, they were also applying false lashes on everyone!  Of course I had to try it. After the hair and eyelashes, I felt like an actress or a princess so dolled up!

At the end of the night, I left with bronze eye shadow and some blush. I can’t wait to use them tomorrow! The staff was very kind and energetic. Their attitude cheered me up, I almost forgot about the boyfriend!

Today I realized two important things-At first, I should not to rely on a boyfriend especially accommodation. The second, the object I’m most interested in is not boyfriend but myself!!

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Vancouver Street Vendors

Have you ever wanted to try all the different street vendors in one day? Today, Minna, Yvonne and I gave ourselves a tour around downtown Vancouver to at the various street vendors. We picked some stands and headed towards the drool-worthy aroma!

Located on Granville at West Georgia.

The company has its own philosophy – healthy living, liciously easy. They have other services like meal delivery and suggesting fitness and diet programs.  They work closely with their nutritionists to create meals, snacks and beverages.

At the stand, salads, sandwiches and smoothies were available. And they serve from 8am-6pm Monday to Friday! The salesperson is so energetic and it definitely rubbed off on her customers!

We ordered the “Very Berry smoothie” ($5.09+tax).  She took it straight from the fridge; already prepared (this didn’t make it seem as fresh!). It was strong in the yogurt taste and it had a berry seed texture.

  • Kimono Koi  Crepe

Located on West Georgia at Granville.

The stands use lots of cute pink color! We ate “Tuna eggs crepe” ($6.75). It’s like a tuna egg sandwich in thin and soft wrap. Surprisingly they put seaweed on the crepe! I’ve never seen it in Japan, so this was very interesting! I liked the texture – soft with a bit of crunch from the lettuce. When you want to eat something different from a pizza or hamburger for lunch, it’s a great choice!

Located on Burrard at West  Hastings.

There are 4 different types of skewers: Pork, Lamb, Tofu, Vegetables (Each $2.5). We all ordered the pork skewer with spices. After 5 minutes, it smelt delicious! It was soft but well cooked with the pork capturing all the flavours. If you come to this stand on your lunch break, watch out, the smell will have you drooling!

They also sell toasted bread ($1.00) and combos are also available from $5.50!

  • Dim Sum Express

Located on Howe and north of Cordova.

We ate shrimp dumplings ($3.50, 4pcs) and “Xiao Long Bao” – pork dumplings ($3.50, 5pcs). The stand is noticeably larger than others – a big station wagon with a whole kitchen. The complimentary hot sauce is pretty intense. So, for people who can’t eat anything spicy, like Yvonne, I recommend that you stay away from it! My favourite was the “Xiao Long Bao”. When you bite into it, watch out the soup that’s inside! It’s delicious but don’t get it on yourself!

Combos were also available.

We ate Japadog at a stand in front of Waterfront station.

Do you know the last year’s top 3 japadogs? Spicy Cheese Terimayo,  Oroshi,  and Okonomi.

The president,Tamura Noriki had a job in Japan and after coming to Vancouver, he launched  Japadog in 2005. Now they have a store (530 Robson St) and 3 stands (Burrad and Smithe St, Burrard and Pender St, in front of Waterfront Station).

Today we ordered “Ebichili”($ 6.75). It had a shrimp sausage that was sprinkled with baby shrimp. The baby shrimp color was so vivid, it made me even more hungry!

We don’t have Japadog in Japan so, to me, it’s one of Vancouver’s specialties. It was so good, I wanted to try all different Japadogs!

I love street vendor food and today I got to try different ones around Downtown Vancouver. It was like my taste buds were traveling to different countries!

I have found a new interest. Where should I go and what should I eat next time …

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

November Entrepreneur Meetup!

November 18(Thu) 7:00PM

Location: 422 Richards Street 3rd floor Vancouver, BC V6B 2Z3  

The Network Hub (www.thenetworkhub.ca)

Where has the year gone? We are nearing the end of 2010 and this will be the last Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup of the year! We are going out on a bang with a topic that everyone has been asking for – generating more traffic to your website! I hope to see you all at this last Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup of the year!!!

For many years, a lot of questions have been raised about Search Engine Marketing – How do I get listed on the 1st page of Google? How can I get more targeted traffic to my website? What can I do to increase lead conversion on my website? What is this local marketing or targeted local online marketing?

It is all very dizzying to keep up and get going for entrepreneurs and small business owners. This month we are fortunate to have a leading expert in Search Marketing who will be giving practical tips that you can take and use right away. No lingo, no theory – just useful and practical tips that help you see the impact right away.

Search Marketing is very important for entrepreneurs – it’s an effective method for driving highly targeted visitors to your website. Without search marketing, your website and online store is buried deep in the thousands of results that a search engine produces.

This month, our guest speaker is Adrian Eden. Adrian has experienced a great deal of success in increasing visibility and profitability of his clients thanks to his ability to consistently deliver exceptional results.

Adrian, borned and raised in Salmon Arm is a small town boy who moved to Vancouver after many years in Costa Rica, is the founder of YaletownSEO.ca – an online search marketing company. He spent many years holding key marketing roles in Fiver Media and Riptown Media, executing results for the Bodog Brand. Right now, Adrian is one of the key people behind the Search Marketing and Social Media Strategy for Coleman Heating and Air Conditioning.

If you want to get practical tips to increase traffic to your website, increase engagement online and more importantly, increasing your online profitability – make sure you RSVP to hear Adrian Edenspeak!
The event is FREE but we do appreciate a bottle of wine to share with everyone.

Sign Up!

http://www.meetup.com/vancouver-entrepreneurs-startup-vancouver-office-space/calendar/15383841/?from=list&offset=0

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October Entrepreneur Meetup!

vancouver office space 1808237721 October Entrepreneur Meetup!

October Entrepreneur Meetup!  “Can social media help grow your business?”

On October 21, The Network Hub held the Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup at the office (422 Richards Street, Vancouver).

 We had a guest speaker Yu-kai Chou and over 150 people in attendance. Yu-kai is a Serial Entrepreneur and Social Media Advisor with over 5 years of adventures in the high tech startup world. He is the Founder and CEO of Viralogy Inc., a Social Personalization and Analytics Platform for eCommerce sites. Yu-kai’s team has also run many successful social media campaigns for LG, Levi’s, Los Angeles Lakers, Activision and more.

He spoke about the importance of social media. When he asked the audience if they were using social media, almost everyone raised their hand. Social media is one of biggest marketing tools and strategies out there. So, the audience listened carefully and asked lots of questions.

The meetup was packed with energetic people! There were lots of different business ideas being discussed. I think new connections and resources for business were made!  

I enjoyed meeting, chatting, and wine-ing with cheerful and dedicated people. In addition, Goldies Pizza supplied us with a few tasty pizzas and those were gone instantly! And thank you to Lonsdale Event Rentals for sponsoring us with beautiful glasses and tables!

  The Network Hub is planning a bigger meetup in early December. Don’t miss out!

vancouver office space 1808453361 150x150 October Entrepreneur Meetup! vancouver office space 1808185981 150x150 October Entrepreneur Meetup!

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Salmon Rush-Hour

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When a salmon jumped, I unconsciously said “Go!”

Yesterday, I went to Capilano River hatchery. The facility is operated by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to protect important and rare fish species.

After seeing the salmon exhibition and reading about the facility, I went to see the fish ladder. Amazingly, salmons jumped up the ladders against the rapid stream. The ladders were almost the same length as their body! If I were a salmon, I would need to jump about 160cm (my height). And even though they were able to get over, the next step was packed with other salmon – it was like a crowded Skytrain at rush-hour. So, lots of salmon slipped down to the previous step due to the rapid stream. The numbers of salmon going down were much more than ones going up. After all that jumping and dropping, they had injuries; I could see it in the meat. I thought to myself, if I were a salmon, “After the first jump, don’t swim to the surface. There is no space. At first, I need to take a rest and try the next ladder after recovering!”

I love salmon and ikura so much! However, today I witnessed a page of their life. So I won’t eat them…maybe for one week.

 vancouver office space P1010677 150x150 Salmon rush hour

Capilano River Hatchery

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/sep-pmvs/projects-projets/capilano/capilano-eng.htm

Best Times

Chinook AdultsOctober – November
Coho AdultsJune – November
Steelhead Adults March – April
Coho JuvenilesAll Year
Chinook JuvenilesMarch – May

 

There is no charge!

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An Arresting Experience

vancouver office space P10106481 150x150 An arresting experience

No, I didn’t run into any trouble. It’s just an exhibition at The Vancouver Police Museum. It’s a small museum but it collects, preserves and interprets the history of the Vancouver Police Department. Visitors can learn how to detect counterfeit bills and other crime related topics- like forensic entomology to determine the time of death from the flies’ growing speed. I also saw an autopsy room with many specimens. On top of that, I learned how to mark cards for gambling. I’ll try it when I meet with my sister!

They also have various public programs- “Halloween at the Police Museum”-“An Evening at the Morgue” and “Haunted Trolley Tours”. Or if you have small children, you can have “Birthday Parties at the Museum (for ages 4-12)”.

It will be an arresting experience!

vancouver office space P10106431 150x150 An arresting experience

Hours

Monday – Saturday
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Closed Sundays and Statutory Holidays

Admission

Adults: $7.00
Seniors and Students: $5.00
Family: $20.00 (two adults, two youth under 17)
Children under 6: Free
Historical Society Members: Free

vancouver office space P10106421 150x150 An arresting experience

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Beautiful Yaletown

vancouver office space P1010631 150x150 Beautiful Yaletown

My favourite singer/actor, Akihiro Miwa, said “Humans are made up of body and mind. Now we can easily buy enough food or nutritional supplements. So, do you know what the food for our mind is? It is culture – beautiful music, art or scenery can make our mind calm and stable.”

Today I visited Yaletown – formerly a heavy industrial area dominated by warehouses and rail yards but since Expo’86, it has been transformed into an attractive urban area.

vancouver office space P1010622 150x150 Beautiful Yaletown

At Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, I said hello to Engine 374- the CPR Engine that pulled the first transcontinental train into the city. After a quick visit to Roundhouse, I walked along the seawall. It was calming and the water was so clear, I could see to the bottom.

vancouver office space P1010625 150x150 Beautiful Yaletown

I kept walking and I got into lovely interior shop with gorgeous chandeliers, glittered tableware and European furniture. It was like walking into a romantic honeymoon suite! I thought, what do I need to change in my room in order to be like this shop? … Unfortunately, everything was different. I needed to make a huge effort to get a beautiful room like theirs. Of course, I can’t buy this beautiful furniture easily but this furniture inspired me. I’m going to clean up my room and work at it. And I’m coming back this shop in Yaletown! 

  vancouver office space P1010628 150x150 Beautiful Yaletown

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Small Business BC

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There was never a business figure around me. So, I had in mind that applying at a company or working for the public was the only way to go. I always thought of business women and businessmen as strong, powerful individuals. They have to study tax law, municipal licensing requirements, think about insurance and accounting, marketing plans and publicity, etc. These issues put me in confusion!

However, I recently heard that my cousin started her own business. She is 4 years older than me and now she has her own dog grooming shop. To me, she was that strong, powerful businesswoman! She is very kind and loves running her business. She’s one of my role models. I knew that she planned this for a while and she did her research. She’s always busy but she looks happier than ever!

Learning is always interesting. Starting a new experience is a challenging treasure in life and we can have good opportunity to study about starting business at Small Business BC .

There are many seminars, for example“Start Smart- Resources and Registrations”- it covers basic small business start-up information and is designated for the client in the thinking stage of starting a business.

Wednesday, October 6th , 2010-9:00am-12:00pm
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010-5:00pm-8:00pm
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010-1:00pm-4:00pm
Thursday, December 2nd ,2010-9:00pm-12:00pm

Cost: $49.00 plus taxes

In addition, there is “Young Entrepreneurship Day-September”. It is a seminar for those between 18 and 35 and interested in business planning and financing.

To register:  http://www.smallbusinessbc.ca/seminars or visit your local office.

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Korean Pork BBQ

vancouver office space 31740 116145128426318 100000924945303 84174 6566782 n1 150x150 Korean Pork BBQ

I can’t stop talking about how amazing Korean pork BBQ is. I’ve been eating it for the past few weekends at Westender Korean Restaurant (854 Denman St.). And the flavours deepen my love for Korean BBQ every time!  When I smell it, I keep wanting more even if I’m not hungry.

With Korean BBQ, you cook the meat yourself on the grill that’s on the table. The food isn’t as greasy as other places because you use a sloped hot plate so the excess oil is drained away. Another plus is the Korean side dishes – Kimchi, spicy soup, two kinds of salads, lettuce with mayonnaise, potato, garlic, peppers and some lettuce leaves to wrap the pork. I can finish two bowls of rice with only these side dishes! Whenever I eat there, I always make different flavours using the side dishes, so it’s always a new flavour and I get my intake of vegetables while I’m at it.

In the restaurant, you can watch Korean music videos. Their music groups on TV are always so fit. I always think “I’m very envious of her style. However, if I want to be like her, I may need to stop eating but I can’t stop eating Korean BBQ!”

I’m always talking about it so one of my Korean friends had a Korean BBQ party at her place. And she recommended a Korean grocery store – KIM’S Mart (519 E Broadway). You can get every kind of BBQ ingredients! I want this market in next to my room!

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What Does A CEO Do?

vancouver office space images 1 What does a CEO do? I have often pondered this early in my university years. In one of my business classes the professor pulled out the graph to demonstrate the hierarchy and with it role descriptions were so long I could hardly understand.  That is also one of the reasons why when we started The Network Hub our business cards did not bear any titles. We figured since we didn’t know what they really mean or what it all entail – we didn’t bother with it.

Fred Wilson a respected investor wrote a great simple post on “What a CEO does” and I had to make sure I share it because I’m not even certain all CEOs know what their job entails.

A CEO does only three things. Sets the overall vision and strategy of the company and communicates it to all stakeholders. Recruits, hires, and retains the very best talent for the company. Makes sure there is always enough cash in the bank.

Read the full entry here, “What a CEO does”

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Stage Earth

vancouver office space P1010616 150x150 Stage Earthvancouver office space P1010585 150x150 Stage Earth

Yesterday I watched ‘Stage Earth’ at the Nikkei Place in Burnaby. It’s a performance by psychiatrist Dr. Norihiko Kuwayama where he shares his experience as a volunteer medical doctor in developing countries and in conflict areas. He is striving to connect with children worldwide through visuals and music. Over 2,000 performances have been held since its launch in January 1996 in Japan. This concert was at the high school in North Delta too this year.

Through his thoughtful narration and slideshow accompanied with original songs, he shared his experience. I was impressed with his courage and modest attitude. I knew these disasters happened but I couldn’t think about people who live on the site like him.

He had many stories to tell but the most impressive one for me was when he was in Palestine. He visited Rafah in the Gaza in January 2009 in the midst of air raids. Right after entering Gaza through border control, a bomb blasted close by, but he managed to enter Rafah and started working at the emergency at a city hospital. At that time, his Palestinian friend commented, “What we most fear is not bombing, but to feel despair that we have been abandoned by all the people in the world.”

At the end of the performance, an audience member asked him a question. “You have a special skill as a doctor. However, I’m not a doctor; I don’t have them. What can I do for people?”  He answered we are the same people. So, if we have an arrogant attitude, we won’t be accepted. We need to be accepted by the people to understand their needs and we need to be flexible. The most important thing is to tell them we are here for you.

There are many ways to support people but first, the most important thing is study and know the problems.

vancouver office space P1010586 150x150 Stage Earth

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The International Buddhist Temple

vancouver office space P1010597 150x150 The International Buddhist Templevancouver office space P1010589 150x150 The International Buddhist Temple

On Sunday, I went to The International Buddhist Temple.  It’s also called ‘Kuan Yin Temple’. It has an amazing building that follows the traditional Chinese imperial style with multiple beautiful Buddhist statues. For example, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Thousand-Hand-Thousand-Eye) who’s each hand and eye symbolizes the Bodhisattva watching over humankind and protecting them from danger. The serene grounds of the temple are adorned with pine trees, spruce, and elegant bonsai, all planted after careful deliberation.

I don’t know Buddhism very well but I was amused when I learned a bit about the religion and culture.

vancouver office space P1010601 150x150 The International Buddhist Temple

Non-Buddhist can also visit there. General hours are 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, seven days a week.  The vegetarian cafeteria is open from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, and the Thousand Buddha Hall is open from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM.  All other areas are open until 5:30 PM. 

General rules: no smoking, no littering, no photography or videotaping inside the buildings, and no non-vegetarian food on the premises.

The homepage   http://buddhisttemple.ca/

vancouver office space P1010591 150x150 The International Buddhist Temple

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GUEST BLOG POST: The Case For Going To School Yesterday And The Case For Not Going To School Today (Not!)

vancouver office space DSCF0343 GUEST BLOG POST: The Case for Going to School Yesterday and the Case for Not Going to School Today (Not!)

This is Bobby himself!

Robert Park is a very good friend of mine who is always very opinionated and his latest blog post is fantastic one that I thought I should share.

You can visit his blog at http://www.pakg1.net/

Seeing that Mark Zuckerberg is the latest billionaire darling of the tech world who dropped out of school (who the heck has multiple books AND a movie made about them while they’re still in their mid-20s?), you have more and more people saying that 

; Bill Gates attended riches and glory without finishing school, so can you! Now it’s Mark Zuckerberg. College dropout failure to worldwide fame! So goes the kool aid, ad nauseum.

Let’s put this into context, OK?

1. School:
The school that Gates and Zuckerberg quit wasn’t your average Joe Schmoe community college. It was Harvard. It’s hard to get into Harvard. You have to be in the 99th percentile of something, or 95th percentile of everything, to be able to get in. Gates and Zuckerberg were that smart, maybe more. If you’re that smart, you might still make it if you drop out. Most people are sadly not that smart. People like Gates and Zuckerberg are 1 in a hundred million.

2. Field of Expertise:
Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg were programmers. But they were hardcore programmers. According to Outliers

, written by Malcolm Gladwell, Gates was able to start learning how to program a computer when he was a teenager, due to special resources in his private school. He had access to a computer at a time in the 60s when most people didn’t even know what a computer was. And he showed that he was good at it at a time when it was still a nascent field. As I read on one really interesting blog post some time ago, Gates didn’t drop out of Harvard because he couldn’t keep up with Harvard. Gates dropped out of Harvard because Harvard couldn’t keep up with him. He went on to found a company that forever changed the face of computing and make those machines into truly general purpose business and consumer devices: Microsoft. As for Zuckerberg? According to The Facebook Effect, he took masters level computer science courses when he was a teenager. Just because he was so good at it. He created a program in high school called Synapse that essentially was an early stage of Pandora. Microsoft offered to buy for $1 million. But he turned them down. I mean… come on. How many of us were able to do anything like that when we were teenagers? I’m talking about the masters level computer science courses. And all the other crazy stuff he programmed while in high school. For both Gates and Zuckerberg, the equivalent would be something like Joe Schmoe’s teenage kid practicing with real NHL players to become a professional hockey player. Except the NHL players also say the kid has the most natural talent they’ve ever seen. And then they all decide to work full-time to help the kid develop the talent into something solid.

3. Background:
These were privileged kids. Gates’ dad was a lawyer. Zuckerberg’s dad was a dentist. They went to private schools. They got opportunity to develop and learn special things that normal kids don’t. Again, Gates got access to a computer when nobody else even had one. These guys weren’t your average Joe Schmoe kids complaining about homework, trying to get girls, and wasting their lives away. If you read about their lives, you see that they were driven, even as teenagers. They had a type of discipline that the average kid (and average adult) does not have. Heck, Zuckerberg didn’t sell Synapse to Microsoft for $1 million because he cared about what he created. He didn’t sell Facebook for $15 billion to Microsoft when he had the chance for the same reason. These guys were about creating, innovating, and changing the world; they refused to let their visions be compromised. Anybody else would care more about making the quick buck. And changing the world they are because they had the guts to stick to their guns in the face of adversity, the intelligence to architect true innovation and disruption, the drive to pull their audacious visions off, and the creativity to actually see those visions in the first place. These people who are telling kids to drop out of university often have no idea which of those kids will have these attributes; fact is, most kids will not. Again, these guys are 1 in a hundred million. Maybe 1 in a billion. And if you don’t have the discipline to even aspire to get that, you have to really wonder if you’re a contender or a pretender. Because pretenders won’t make even 1 dollar, let alone billions.

I was originally going to post on this subject when I first saw that Washington Post article, but unfortunately lacked time. Well, it’s come on my radar again due to this post. And ironically enough, one point in the Washington Post makes me very worried that there is a certain rationality to quitting school (or not even entering in the first place). This comment from the Techcrunch post is the seed:

Most of the people responding are as much in denial as those kids who think they can all be Michael Jordan. Sure, if you are a clueless idiot who has a good idea, and the social skills to get other people to give you money and build it, you can still succeed, it worked for George W Bush.

But you know, sometimes, we as a society need *REAL INNOVATION*, not the 20th dweeb putting up a hacked up PHP website and blowing through investor money like no tomorrow. We need people doing real research, real engineering, producing things which actually make a difference in the world.

The TechCrunch readership is full of wannabees who of course, don’t care about an education, because their idea of entrepreneurship is a half-ass idea, $15k of capital, and 3 months hacking up a prototype. Are you inventing new battery technology? You think you’re going to do that without formal training in Chemistry? Are you devising a new cancer drug? Think you’re going to do that without an education in molecular biology? Was Craig Venter a guy who didn’t attend college? How about a new class of power efficient 3D rendering, or a new power efficient, high yielding WEBM hardware codec for mobile? How many of you are going to build THAT business?

This reminds me of all the people who say they never use algebra. The purpose of teaching you algebra and calculus is to teach you critical thinking, problem solving, and abstraction, not create a new Fields Medal winner. College does not exist to teach you a trade skill, that’s what vocational skills are for, it’s to expose you to a wide array of knowledge, and teach you learning and thinking skills that will help you in every endeavor.

What’s happening here, is smug self-importance of people who fancy themselves entrepreneurs, who create trivial and mundane products, blowing investor money, and most of whom fail, blowing their level of success out of proportion.

With the exception of some lucky few, and some outright thieves and bandits like Marc Pincus, real success and real innovation come from hard work. We need people to go to school to invent the next great product, and not the next great web 2.0 junk site.

Here’s my worry. The cost of post-secondary education is rising, giving rise to the question whether ROI for post-secondary education is worth the cost. Normally, I’d say yes. But I am increasingly worried that society is more and more short-sighted about what education is and what a job is. And as is normal for free markets, where there is demand, there will eventually be supply. I worry that society no longer cares for giving its children knowledge and the ability to think; rather, they only demand the ability to earn money quickly.  I believe that can have severe unintended consequences as the demand for shallow-earning-potential-first education gets fulfilled. I wrote those posts in 2004 and 2005. My perception of education is even worse now than it was back then. Even university may not be able to provide that amazing foundation in chemistry required to develop a new battery anymore, if things keep declining.

Yes, university is supposed to be about learning how to think, not about getting job skills. Heck, after developing my career some odd number of years, I can see how this is even more true. I see even people with MBAs fail at work because they don’t know the first thing about real work, about getting stuff done, about adding value that matters. It’s the attitude, not the pedigree, that’s the most important, especially if the pedigree is garbage. And unfortunately, education may actually be more akin to garbage now than not these days. If you’re going to learn nothing, then why go? My own experience at university gave me a total of four courses that made me feel like I developed:

PHIL 001 – taught me the basics of logic and reasoning
BUS 437 – taught me about complex decision making
POL 241 – gave me a framework for understanding world events
BUS 468 – ignited my interest in information asymmetry (an unintended consequent, as this was an IT case study course)
BUEC 495 – taught me about transaction costs and the Coase Theorem

The value I saw in my university degree can be summed up right there in 5 courses. Now of course there were calculus, statistics, economics, discrete mathematics, computer science, and other classes that were also valuable. But these five were the cream of the crop. The vast majority of them? Well, the experience is epitomized by two courses:

BUS 207 – applied calculus for business economics. Everyone was saying, “OH MAN, THIS COURSE IS SO HARD, THERE’S SO MUCH CALCULUS IN IT!!!” That’s cool, I rock at calculus, course should be a piece of cake. I go into the course. Guess what, we didn’t do a SINGLE derivative or integral the ENTIRE semester! Which part of this was supposed to be calculus?? Heck, what part of this was supposed to be worth LEARNING??

ENGL 105 – course where we read books. I complained to an older friend (an English major) that my English course was basically just a book club, we read the books and discussed them. My friend thinks I’m crazy, “Isn’t that perfect though??” Chee. I experienced more insightful analysis and discussion during my high school English AP class, thanks. If I wanted to join a simple book club, I should go join a book club. I paid like friggin $300 for this course, and that was back when tuition was cheap.

Now tuition is expensive. Really expensive. If the quality of education declines because of the great demand for cheap framed pieces of paper that can say someone can earn money, quality be damned, then why should one go to school? It used to be that degrees meant something special. But there is an increasingly inflated value placed on a degree. The higher demand has caused an increase in supply, but because the demand is after the piece of paper, not the thirst for knowledge, the increase in supply is actually quite low quality. Volume is the game and pumping more students through the system means more revenue for the system. Quality be damned.

If we don’t try to demand high quality, we will lose out in the end, because we’ll get what we demand; it will be a race to the bottom. And for that reason, perhaps it doesn’t make sense anymore for kids to go to university. BUT if one chooses to make that decision, the important question is then: how the heck are they going to get the quality knowledge and critical thinking ability necessary to become successful? I’m not talking Bill Gates successful. I’m talking Joe Schmoe successful. Because if they aren’t able to get that, the next stop is the trailer park, or worse, the street. Fortunately, humanity is resourceful when the chips are down. Hopefully, we can figure something out.  People are already trying to fix thingsand they’re starting from the foundation. There goes Gates and Zuckerberg again…. Dang, I’m interested in seeing that other movievancouver office space icon smile GUEST BLOG POST: The Case for Going to School Yesterday and the Case for Not Going to School Today (Not!)

For now? Probably a good idea to stay in school. While the value of a university degree is more and more in doubt, I think it’s still worth it. For now. The experience of being in college and growing up with friends you’ll have for life is worth it. And those 5 courses that I cherished were more than worth all the money I spent for getting my degree. Sometimes, something is just so valuable that it’s invaluable, and it makes sense to pay for it and spend time getting it. Especially when you’re not Bill Gates.

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