The picture above is with Betty Thurman, the assistant principal who organized the Career Day, and Cleve Hendrix, school principal.  Both were outstanding administrators who clearly care about the work they do with students. 

Thank you to both Ms. Thurman and Mr. Hendrix and all the seniors that made Career Day a success!   

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1. I Learned A Valuable Lesson Today…
2. Oklahoma FBLA Rocks!
3. FREE e-Book Now Available For Download!

It is a 21-page e-book with 15 different tips for not only finding extra money to help pay for college, but also tips to decrease the cost of your education.

It’s extremely practical with “now what” steps included with each tip.  In addition, there are several websites and valuable links to help with the process.

Here are a few of the items covered in “How To Go To College For FREE!”:

• Why submitting the FAFSA early gets you more money (page 5)

• How to earn $50 per hour through scholarships (page 7)

• 3 websites you can use to get family and friends help pay for your education (page 11)

• How to save $20k+ per year by starting at a community college (page 15)

• The story of how one student earned 72 college credits through AP & CLEP tests…while still in high school! (page 16)

• How one student earned an additional $10,000 in scholarships with a few simple phone calls (page 19)

You can read the entire e-book online or download a FREE copy at http://www.brokepiggy.com/resources-tools/how-to-go-to-college-for-free/.

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1. 3 Things You Must Know About Your College Tuition Investment…
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In honor of the election tomorrow, I thought I would post a few thoughts about voting. In fact, in my new book Reality Check, there is a chapter about voting. So I’m going to share chapter 34 in its entirety for FREE…just cause I’m a nice guy! Enjoy…

Should I vote? Who should I vote for?

Voting on issues and for political leaders is not only one of your rights but also one of your responsibilities as an American. Many students have legitimate questions about voting that we will address:

• Why? – One of the biggest concerns that students have about the voting process is if their vote even matters. “Does it really make a difference whether or not I vote?” we often ask. But if every person had that mindset and no one voted, then the democratic system that we have no longer works. Your vote will be counted, so why wouldn’t you want to have your say in the process? Many countries around the world don’t have a democratic system. Their governmental leaders and officials are decided for them regardless of viewpoints and belief systems. But by voting, you have the opportunity to let your voice be heard. If you are not happy with the elected officials that are in place, you have as much power as anybody else to do something about it. But if you are not happy with the way things are and you did not vote, then you don’t have any reason to say anything.

• Who? – The next challenge is figuring out who to vote for. In politics, there are two major voting parties you have probably heard about: Republicans and Democrats. Republicans tend to be more conservative on political issues, while Democrats tend to be more liberal. Each of the individuals who make up these political parties has a general set of beliefs and values that they tend to lean towards. In addition, there are some officials who do not associate themselves with either party and are known as Independents. In an election, your responsibility is to figure out, not only who you think would do the best job in that elected role, but also which candidate most closely reflects your beliefs and opinions. If you’re going to vote for someone, wouldn’t you prefer to vote for someone who closely mirrors how you think?

• When? – There are many different types of elections on many different levels. There are local, city, county, state, and national elections. Some elections are an opportunity to vote for a candidate for a certain political position, and other elections are for you to vote on specific issues in the area such as a tax increase for a community development project. Elections can happen throughout the year, but most major elections happen in November. The Presidential election happens in November every four years.

• Where? – Before you can vote anywhere, you have to meet two simple qualifications: 1) You must be at least 18 years old, and 2) you must register to vote. To register to vote, contact your local city or town hall to see what the process is. You may need to go to the city hall to fill out a form, sometimes they can mail you the form, and some areas are going to an online voter registration system. Regardless, in most states you are required to register at least 30 days prior to an election. After you have completed that process you will receive a voter registration card that will show you where you will actually cast your vote. It is normally a community location such as a school or church that is close to where you live.

Every year there is a growing interest in the election process among young people. Candidates, especially in the Presidential elections, are targeting young voters because they make up such a large voting demographic. In addition, more and more young people are getting involved with political campaigns in order to attract more voters for their chosen candidate. This is a great way to get involved with the political process and to encourage others to get involved as well.

Let me provide one additional thought on the issue of voting. While you have the responsibility to vote and help select our nation’s governing officials, it’s important to remember that no one you elect is going to change your life. So often we look to the President or Congress or the government in general to take care of us and solve our problems. And while part of their responsibility is to protect you as an American citizen, very little that they actually do in Washington D.C. will have a direct impact on your day to day life.

Too many people count on the government to fix their lives when in reality; you must learn to take personal responsibility for your own decisions and the outcomes. While some elected officials are certainly better than others in bringing about change, the only person that can truly change your life is you.

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1. A New Way To Vote…
2. 8 Lessons Learned From The Election
3. Why Having The President Speak To Students Is A Good Thing (And I Didn’t Even Vote For Him)

The day I’ve been waiting for has finally arrived! This afternoon a big semi-truck pulled up in front of my house and unloaded a huge pallet of books for me…they sent me 1,099 pounds worth of books to be exact!

I felt like a little kid all day waiting for Santa to show up. I kept going to the window to see if the truck was coming down the street. I called the shipping company multiple times to see what time the books would arrive.

But finally…they’re here!

So now I’m ready to send them to you! If you’ve already pre-ordered a copy of the book, I will be mailing it out to you tomorrow. If you haven’t ordered your copy (or copies!), then what are you waiting for?!? We’re doing a special for one book with free shipping for $10 or two books with free shipping for $15…that’s a steal!

Click here to order ONE copy of Reality Check

Click here to order TWO copies of Reality Check

Thanks for your support of this project!

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So because of that, we are running a pre-order special so you can be one of the first to get your hands on a copy of the book! Here are the deals we have:

1 Copy of Reality Check with FREE Shipping – $10
2 Copies of Reality Check with FREE Shipping – $15 (Pick up a copy for a friend!)

Order Your Copies Here!

This is a crazy good deal for a book!  We’re just doing this price for a limited time, so don’t wait to pick up your copy (or several copies).

Download the sample chapters if you haven’t already and pick yourself up a copy today.

Thanks for your support of this project!

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It was somewhat surreal flipping through the pages and realizing we’re almost at the finish line! I spent some time going through the little details of it and making sure everything looked good. Once I finished, I shipped it back to the printer and now that they have that proof approved, they will start cranking them out!

My birthday is September 23, so I’m shooting for a major book delivery by then!

In the meantime, if you haven’t had a chance to read through a preview of the book, you really should. At the top of the page, click the Reality Check link, or you can download the sample chapters directly from here.

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Cue the Hallelujah chorus…

The book, Reality Check, is nearly complete!

Yesterday, it was one of the greatest feelings in the world to be able to take the completed manuscript proof to put in the mail. I felt like literally hours and hours of work had come together for that moment. I’m so stoked and can’t wait to get the books back!

From here, the printer will get the book by Monday and will check over the files and develop a sample proof to send me, which I should get about a week and a half from now or so. Once I okay that, print time will be about 3-4 weeks and then they’ll ship out after that. So we’re looking at probably late September to have the finished product in hand!

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I have to admit, it’s kind of surreal to see it up there. But it’s very cool!

You can check it out here.

You can certainly go ahead and pre-order it if you would like but actually, I’m going to be doing a special the first week the book is out so you can get the book a little cheaper than what you could on Amazon. Just for one week though so keep an eye out for that!

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I’m also in the process of uploading the book to Amazon.com, so I’ll let you know when it’s up there.

We’re so close!

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