My parents used to always tell me, "Steve, you don't need college to become successful, you just need to be good, and the rest will follow." Great advice. Too bad I was too young and too foolish to appreciate it. I remember rolling my eyes when I heard that "nonsense" when I was 13 years old, because my teachers, my primary educators, had told me something entirely different. My wise teachers preached, "If you don't study hard and don't get into a good college, you're going to be a failure."

Attending a college prep pretty much brainwashed me into thinking that anyone who attended college was a genius, and anyone who didn't was on the road to the poorhouse. Could you imagine how I felt when I made the "disastrous" decision to drop out of college after just one semester. I was so sure I was going to become a failure, so sure that I was going to be begging for coins on the side street, so sure that I was going to amount to nothing, that I began to do...nothing. There was a point in my life that all I wanted to do was to ride my mountain bike all through town, every night. What was the use of trying...I was headed to the poorhouse.

But as time passed, I soon fell into my own. I began to do what I love, to write and to bike. I taught myself to write screenplays, and soon found myself on the cusp of a professional writing career. At the same time, my love for biking, led me to produce an instructional bike video, which ultimately led to the creation of Canoe Girl Productions. Three years passed, and soon Canoe Girl Productions had two Japanese Television shows on Sky Perfect TV, the exclusive to produce commercials for the closed circuit tv shows in hotels, ownership of a non-profit organization, and numerous events under it's belt that it had promoted. Canoe Girl Productions also was on the cutting edge of wedding photography and videography, bringing commercial photo and video quality to the wedding industry.

I don't actually know how it happened, but I had become my father without even trying it. Like him, I was a successful entrepreneur, without a college degree.

September 11th, basically spelled the end of Canoe Girl Productions. Tourism hit an all time low after the cowards known as Al Queda attacked our country. Businesses here started to close down one by one. Every business cut their advertising budget, and consequently affected Canoe Girl Productions since we made most of our money through fulfilling marketing goals of companies. Knowing that Canoe Girl Productions would soon be closing it's doors, I quickly took the wedding portion of the company and spun it off into Dream Weddings Hawaii.

Dream Weddings Hawaii, would be the last leg into fulfilling my life long dream of creating my ultimate wedding business. And it would be different. It would be streamlined, affordable, and consists of outstanding photography/video services. Best of all, Dream Weddings Hawaii consisted of just me!!!! Canoe Girl Productions at one time, housed a staff of 15 persons, talk about a headache of a payroll. That ultimate wedding business idea by the way, it has nothing to do with Dream Weddings Hawaii. It's a little secret that you'll have to ask me about. I won't post it on the web..yet!

I find it ironic these days that I get calls from college students begging to intern under me, a college dropout. One day with me, and their mouth literally drops. Many are surprised that I am not only my company's sole wedding planner, but I am also the photographer, graphic designer, videographer, accountant, receptionist, marketer, custodian, and everything else you can think of in between. I take great pictures, and I know how to scrub my toilets clean, and I know how to advertise my business. They told me, that college never has really taught them all the skills to run a small business. They then and asked me if every small business operated like mine.

I told them, "Yes, they do. We have to do everything."

I remember one arrogant college intern asking me if bricklayers actually knew how to balance their own checkbook.

I told him, "For the most part, most do. And most, make more than college graduates. Brick layers charge $80 an hour boy, they ain't cheap."

At the current moment, I am only 32 years old, and I know I have a lot to learn. But thank God, my parents were right. Now that I think about it, I think we as Americans have been sending the wrong message to our kids. Why must we push 4 year college degrees on our kids when attending a vocational school to learn a/c repair could be just as, or more, financially rewarding. If we keep sending kids to college, what American's will we train to perform all of the hard dirty labor, which by the way....is high paying...

Just something to think about.

Steve