You could highlight how education was important to you, and how it enabled you to teach yourself how to do things, and in doing so start your own business. I think it’s inspiring, especially for nerds or artsy types that may feel like there aren’t typical career paths out there for them.

Good luck! I’m sure you’ll be fine. You are a great storyteller/speaker.

In short, networking networking networking.

No teenager thinks this is how the world works, and they’ll mostly think that this is “cheating” in some way, but ultimately this is the best lesson you could (at least try to) impart.

money.

I’m guessing these kids come from money and lead a nice lifestyle. I would ask them questions about what they know about making money. Tell them your salary. That’s never talked about, and kids love taboo shit. I wish someone had explained how you need a job to make money. It sounds stupid, but it’s true.

And tell them to never take early morning classes freshman year. BIG mistake. Good luck!

2) If you don’t know what you want to do in life, college will be good for you.

3) If number two is the case, pay attention to the things you like to do. Drawing leads to a career in graphic design, computer nerdery opens all kinds of doors, etc, etc.

4) You can leave college still unsure of what you’d like to do. I thought you were supposed to come firing out of college on a clear career trajectory, and then discovered that your mid-20s are perfect testing grounds for trying out new things.

College is a chance to explore learning for pleasure. In most high schools, students are expected to follow a prescribed path. Rarely is a high school student given the chance to explore their academic interests. This leaves college as the first chance they have to really start exploring their interests without other concerns.

The corollary point to this argument is that locking oneself into a major early is unnecessary and counterproductive. There is no need to be afraid that a degree will lead to nothing.

While your professional career, for example, is tangentially connected to your CS degree, it is your freedom to move beyond and away from your academic background that seems to be the lesson of your experience.

College is about exposing oneself to as much as possible in and out of the classroom, not about aiming at a career. Yes one should study something like biology if one KNOWS that one wants to be a doctor, but this is the exception to the rule.

We all know literature, history, philosophy, politics, and anthropology students who’ve gone on to do a wide range of work seemingly unrelated to their undergraduate degrees. In my case, my background in politics, philosophy, history, and gender studies taught me how to think and articulate my ideas clearly. Few lessons are more valuable than that!

she talked about pranks, she talked about friends she’d made, she talked about how the academics & the degree were of course important, but she also talked about how the social lessons she learned in school really helped her to succeed in her career.

perhaps a bit off topic for you, but it’s just a thought. also, remember that time nikki & i wrote “toilet paper, 5 cents” on every square of a massive roll, and stuck it in the two-blue bathroom? i totally stole that idea from this woman.