Getting the Next Generation Ready to Take the Reins

I had a professor in college tell me that from the many years of training I would get in college, only 5% will ever be used.  Shockingly I asked him then why go to college and his reply was that the world has certain standards and a college degree tells the world that you are measured to a standard that in  having a college degree you adapted to what new things were presented and performed to a given level (grades).

He went on to say that 85% of what I knew coming to college would only be honed in college and the rest of my life would be from experience training in the job market.  So when I got a position at General Electric, a senior management individual said, "There is the Right Way, The Wrong Way, and The GE Way.  Learn to do it the GE Way and you will be successful."

Do you know how hard a task that is for a person like me?  Yet Jack Welsh required us to get at least 30 hours of new training and education EVERY year that impacted my professional growth.  Couple that with day to day experiences, I now see the value of my college professor's wisdom.

So in today's world, we have almost everything at our fingertips and our children seem to be advanced at younger and younger ages.  With our technology simulations and games take up a child's time but at the same time separates the children from real face to face interaction.

Mentoring from an older adult seems not acceptable today just as it was not acceptable in my generation.  Yet most of my experiences and understandings of life itself has come from my grandparents, parents, and older adults from whom I learned.

While Director of a Christian Camp and Resort, we established a grandparent program each week for retirees.  They would come for a week at a time and live with the students.  We set aside time each evening after dinner for them to tell life stories about the good old days.  The first day only a few students would sit and listen, but by the end of the week all the campers would sit on the grass as these adults prepared the next generation to take the reins.

Not only did these adults give wisdom to the youth, but also thanked us each week for allowing them to be a part of a child's future. 

Never think you are too old to pass your experiences and wisdom off to the next generation.  Help them to shape our future by understanding the past.  This is a WIN-WIN for you and our future leaders. 

Just keep in mind we are one generation from extension.   Not telling your story sends us on our way to not understand our freedoms and the  life we have enjoyed for over 235 years.