As a young child my parents have always instilled it into me that I needed to finish high school and then go on to college. Which I did finish high school in 1994 form the best high school in Columbia, South Carolina. I then went off to college to find my calling. While in school I changed colleges a few times going form The Citadel to Clemson University and a few other smaller community schools as well. My parents were very helpful in my education and wanted me to use what I had learned out in the real world. I first started out with a degree in Animal Science and an almost completed degree in Microbiology with a minor in Agricultural Business all from Clemson University. I left before graduating with one course left and then moved to North Carolina to finish and to take a farming job. I was not happy working on this particular farm and went back to school to finish my degrees from Clemson University. While finishing up this degree I started to realize that I wanted to teach and went back to school for a Secondary Biological Education degree at Fayetteville State University.
I finally used my degree in my work taking a teaching position at a nearby high school in Sumter, South Carolina. I taught here for three years and during this time I had obtained yet another degree this time a Master’s in Technology and Education from Lesley University. My Master’s required reflections of what I had done and where I was going along with a development of a philosophy of my teaching style. When doing these exercises that were required for each class I started to understand where my parents were coming from. The key to success is education and they knew that without a good education the opportunities for a good job would be slim to none. Without a good education they knew that a blue collar job would be the only thing I would ever achieve and they wanted better than that for me.
If you told me during high school that I would still be in school when I was thirty years old and only have two years off I would have laughed at you so hard that I could have died. When going to college and taking part time jobs I started to see that the more education that I had the better my job became. That is not to say that if could obtain five or six more degrees then I would be a CEO of a multibillion dollar company. What I am saying is that with the right education one could obtain the job that they desire in life.
The more education I received the broader my mind was able to grasps concepts which resulted in quicker understanding of new concepts. The understanding of new concepts is very important in running not just a home-based business, but any business. All the time I am bombarded with new concepts to understand in a moments notice to make an informed decision about that I may only understand a part of until later when I can go back and add time to research the subject.
The more education I could obtain on a certain subjects allowed me to make better informed decisions that would result in increased income or better equipment. College showed me how to do research that allows me to take a topic that I have no idea of what it is and how it works to a working knowledge then finally to mastery of the subject matter. At the stage of mastery of the subject matter only then can I speak intellectually on the subject to make a decision for or against a business opportunity. Without this education poor decisions can be made which in turn can cause a spiraling trend and ultimately end in the folding of my business.