The High School Days

Today I had an opportunity to volunteer at a high school as a part of my internship experience at EY. A group of interns and I went to a high school and help kids learn how to develop a business plan for their ideas. And it was pretty amazing seeing these kids starting something like this at such a young age. What these high school freshmen are learning now is what I learned my freshman year of college. But I was more awestruck at their ideas.

Let me first explain one thing. See - these kids aren't "well-off". I could tell even before I arrived at the school. After driving for about 30 minutes past downtown Dallas, the environment changed completely. I could see the houses and buildings progressively worsen as I drove towards the school. In the neighborhood around the school I could see so much disparity. Some houses were completely torn down with the windows boarded up. Other houses were suburban looking and seemed like they didn't fit in with the others. I kid you not, I saw one nice suburban literally touching fences next to a, what seemed to be, crackhouse. I was more surprised when I saw metal detectors stationed at every school door entrance.

One of the teachers explained how many kids don't even believe they have a chance in going to college. It doesn't exist in their minds. They expect to "do what their parents do" after they graduate high school. Many of these kids haven't gone more than 20 to 30 miles from their home. Now here's where I felt beyond amazed at some of these kids. Two girls I met had an idea to make an app to help prevent bullying. My first question was why? "Because I see it almost everyday here at school."

So we begin going through the business plan template - answering all the questions. Many of these questions became difficult to answer because they ask about profitability. What data have you collected that proves your business's profitability? How will you increase profits? What is the buying pattern of your customers?

As we continued the conversation, they didn't think there was a realistic way to make enough money to make this happen. I tried to explain the idea of using ads and whatnot, but it didn't seem to convince them. They said things like: I don't know. I want to do this, BUT I don't know if I can. I'm not sure. I don't know how. I don't think I can. What's the use.

What kid already has self-doubt, self-defeat by the age of 14? I really wish I could have told them about the only one who can give hope. But I couldn't because I was in a "work" setting. I guess the least (and most) I can do is pray for kids like these.