lessons I learned from school

Betsy and I were talking last night about whether she had learned anything from her self-funded MBA degree she is about to receive. This made me think about what I really learned from school and what I still remember today. Here's what I've come up with:

• The compounding affect of mutual funds. The sooner you invest, the better off you'll be in the long run. (This is really the only thing I remember from Econ 101).
• People behave differently in groups than they do individually (Psych ### Collective Behavior).
• Try to use action verbs not be verbs. (English classes throughout my schooling).
• Classes that make you work through all hours of the day and night really bond you to your classmates for life--or for at least ten years after high school when you are meeting up with them in their city on a different coast to hang out. (AP American Studies junior year of high school).
• Many words and phrases in Spanish but really the basic understanding that a smile, wave and laugh is the universal language. (Spanish middle school through college).
• Speaking of Spanish, I learned through studying abroad that if your host family doesn't let you drink their "Pepsi light" when you're paying them to live there, it's time to move to a different family.
• The class that taught the most useful things was Investigative Journalism with visiting instructor (LA Times reporter) Ron Ostrow. Without this class I would have never been able to track down the naked photographer, find deadbeat residents or uncover useful knowledge about the people I'm interested in. And, really, those are the most exciting things to me : )

Okay, next time we'll go through what I've learned from work.