By, Larry Potash
Many years ago, I read this somewhere and included in our show---viewers all wanted copies of it for their children. It's been floating around the internet in various forms on various blogs but it may be new to you. THE THINGS YOUR KIDS WON'T LEARN IN SCHOOL
Fact: Life is not fair. The sad reality is that you won't get everything you want. The best thing, though, is to realize that you can make the best of it. You can also make yourself have a different focus or negotiate to make things angle a little better for you. And sometimes, that just won't cut it, but at least you know that you've made a good faith effort towards it.
Fact: Your school will care about your self esteem. The real world won't. Bottom line: schools want their students to be mentally healthy and well. They don't want to have the reputation of giving their students a hard time. It would make their ratings falter if they were known as schools that didn't address your issues. When you're out of school, you're on your own. Watch out for yourself. Take responsibility when it's needed. Learn from your mistakes and don't let them eat at you.
Fact: Money doesn't come from going to school. I know someone who graduated from an Ivy League university. His first job out of school was in
Fact: Most bosses are tougher than your teachers. Put it this way: your teachers aren't making money off of your successes and failures. They have a base salary and they're just helping you when you get a boss. Your boss is making money off of your successes and losing it off of your mistakes. You'll need to be a lot more disciplined out of school.
Fact: Don't knock others' opportunities. I've seen so many college students who have these high aspirations of jumping out of school and expecting the world when they graduate. Listen up: that barely happens. I speak for myself when I say that I was sadly disappointed when I graduated. I didn't have the job I wanted nor did I have the salary I wanted. And I'm still working towards it. Take every little moneymaking stint and savor it. It's what some people call opportunity. If you live in a populated city and see a homeless guy walking buy, realize that you're better off than him, but realize that if you don't work towards your goals, you might be just like him in a few years.
Fact: Your parents might have created you, but you're your own person. Don't blame your faults on your parents. You're an adult now, and you're a responsible one at that. It's time that you actually take responsibility for your actions and use it to better yourself. Heck, maybe in a few years, you'll be more successful than Mom and Dad. Wouldn't that feel just great?
Fact: You can become boring if you don't vary it up. As the article states, "before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now." I bet they were just as fun as you were as a college kid. But priorities shift and having fun takes a backseat when you focus on your career successes and your family. Life isn't about partying forever.
Fact: Life isn't divided into semesters. Unless you're going to be teaching for the rest of your life, you're not going to have off for summer break or even for spring break. You might not even get "Election Day Weekend" or "Columbus Day Holidays." You're expected to go to work for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for as long as you're at this job. You won't be able to switch it up every 10 weeks like you did at school. You'll have to deal with this and accept that this is a product of growing up and moving on.
Fact: Television is fiction. Your problems may take a lot longer to solve, and even if you're dying to have these issues resolved, you might just have to wait. Sometimes these things take years. Sometimes things won't get resolved at all. While the plot line of Friends keeps you smiling, real life is different.
Fact: Don't pick on your dorky classmates. If you start working for them, you might be embarrassed that you did.
Fact: School is enjoyable, so suck it in while you can. Believe it or not, you're lucky to be a kid. So take in every moment and bask in the glory of being a student until you're older.
Don't get us wrong. Life is still great beyond college, but don't complain that life isn't fair. You're lucky to have your college years ahead of you, so take advantage of them while you still can, and enjoy it. College is great, and the "real world" is great too.
ill get my name on the scoreboard, get my picture taken, get a signed baseball, and I wouldn't be surprised if Morgana the Kissing Bandit charges the mound. Yeah, right. Who cares? I am just a producer of WGN Morning News. They probably have dozens of first pitches every game anyway. I am probably throwing out the 17th first pitch behind some income tax adjuster from Naperville. 
t ate a lot of Baby Ruths.) 
