My boy celebrated his seventeenth birthday a couple of nights ago, and it felt unlike other birthdays. Seventeen seems much greater than sixteen. It feels much farther away from home.
He surprised me by foregoing the recent tradition of eating out at a reasonable restaurant of his choice. For seventeen, he wanted simply to follow a good evening of kung fu training with a pineapple upside down cake. I asked as we were leaving school if his training had been satisfying, and he told me with a smile how many forms he’d done and how achy he was feeling. He was happy.
“You know we’re crazy to think that serious achiness is a good thing,” I told him.
“Yep, I know.” His smile was even broader.
On the way home from training a few days earlier, probably under the influence of too much Gatorade, I told my high school junior, “Why don’t you forget about college and start a kung fu school with me?” He looked at me as if an alien had taken over my body.
“Forget college? You are suggesting that I forget college?”
“Yeah, I can’t believe I said that, too. Never mind. Crank call,” I answered with both of us laughing.
Looking past the cake to the face of the baby boy turned young man, I remembered my so-called crank call. And I was no longer sure any part of me had been kidding.
Middle-Aged Martial Arts Mom 
January 22nd, 2014 at 4:24 am
Do it. Do it do it do it. It’s what I want to do (see my article on Macaw on my blog). If you want to read any literature about following business enterprise instead of traditional school – college pathway, read the first few chapters of Rich Dad Poor Dad. Traditional schooling is not the only way of course, and whilst its true that crying in a Mercedes is more comfortable than crying on a rusty old bike, seeking financial wealth will not actually please an aching heart, as I am sure you know. After 17 years as a software developer, I want to pack it in and follow my NEW dreams before its too late. I have a 3 year self imposed deadline.
DO IT, DO IT, DO IT – find a way.
January 22nd, 2014 at 10:01 am
Thank you SO much for this encouraging comment and info. Financial security definitely doesn’t please an aching heart.
January 22nd, 2014 at 4:34 am
Opening a kung fu school would be awesome. What a wonderful career to have.
January 22nd, 2014 at 10:15 am
I’d be in heaven, honestly.
January 22nd, 2014 at 8:26 am
Start it and the lover of Kung Fu will follow in your steps — with or without college. It seems such a natural.
January 22nd, 2014 at 10:58 am
The thing is: I think I’d really need him (the young, injury-free, arthritis-free martial artist) for it to be as successful as possible. I.e. at least pay for itself. 🙂
January 22nd, 2014 at 4:21 pm
Hmm….Food for thought for sure.
January 22nd, 2014 at 10:46 am
I’d also recommend Hacking Your Education by Dale Stephens for a great perspective on the value of college etc etc
January 22nd, 2014 at 10:55 am
Thanks. My opinion on that value has changed over the years.
January 23rd, 2014 at 4:22 am
Look at this way….its the ultimate practical laboratory experiment for business, real life training on the job with a proper motivator to succeed. If he works for someone else, he will take years before he earns great cash, but this way, he is immediately a junior partner with a vested interest in success, which is directly linked to the amount of money he makes (unlike most jobs, where you just get paid to make others wealthy). During the downtime, he will be learning book keeping and administration duties, and if it doesn’t work out, employers are more likely to favour him for his courage and on the job learning – its a modern day apprenticeship!
January 23rd, 2014 at 9:11 am
Excellent argument. I’ll make sure he sees it. Thank you!
January 23rd, 2014 at 12:08 pm
What a great post! He sounds like a great kid. 🙂
January 23rd, 2014 at 12:20 pm
Thank you – and he is! I’m very lucky. Thanks for reading.