With AI 'Artificial Intelligence' becoming mainstream in 2026 yet still nascent in many industries including within Sports and Entertainment, the education system as we know it has been disrupted. Let me explain 👇🏽

The following is a two-part series, starting with High School and University, covering topics I would consider if I were to attend again starting in 2027. While I'll let you decide if you (or your kids) think attending High School is worth it in the first place, I recognize many families may not have the resources or means for a private tutor / schooling.

Regardless, there are undeniable benefits of attending High School such as the value of playing team sports, learning how to socialize in various situations and positioning yourself with the pre-requisites to attend an accredited University or College. As someone who played 3 varsity sports in High School, I can't imagine what life would've been like without having that experience. In addition, the friends I've made and at the time unknowingly (the network formed) would years later help me land my dream job at WME | IMG (covered in a previous post here). As a parent, one of the most important lessons one can teach their kid early on is the power of choosing your friend group(s) wisely. Those who you associate with will have a major influence as to what College or Universities to apply for and the level or 'standard' at which they will set for themselves to develop the right habits and achieve their goals.

While picking a career path as early as High School may be daunting for many, getting exposed to different professions can save a lot of time and money down the road. One of the best ways to gain that exposure is through parents, teachers, podcasts and friends' networks. I'll never forget a parent I was commuting with on the way to San Francisco who asked me if his son could stop by my office for 30 minutes to see what it's like to work in a sports marketing agency. He prefaced this would be one of many conversations he's set up across professions and industries... years later I was stoked to hear his son ended up choosing a similar career path to mine and now works in Sports and Entertainment!

As you can imagine, High School curriculums and standardized testing these days are OUTDATED. The required textbooks, the endless advanced math equations and calculations, the chemistry / physics experiments, I can go on and on (and I'm sure many can relate), while relevant to a select few (likely less than 1%) there are fundamental life lessons being ignored. Why aren't we teaching kids at that age how to manage money, their credit score, develop a personal brand, build relationships, cross-cultural communication, write in a business context (email etiquette), invest, or simple things like how to cook and the importance of eating healthy? These are basics that would be likely relevant to more than 99% of the youth.

As a parent, if you have the means, one of the most important ways you can set up your kid for financial success is to help them start their own investment accounts and put in the max money allowed each year while benefitting from tax breaks (every country laws are different so do your own research). With the average College graduate in debt of well north of $20,000 USD, this is a great way to get ahead and let compound interest go to work for your kid. If the interest on government student loans (e.g. 3-5%) is half than what you would make investing in an index fund that tracks the S&P 500 (e.g. 10%) then it may be smarter to hold onto the loan, pay off the interest each year and take the capital gains to help pay off the principal. While this is not investment advice, I'm sharing what others have done (including myself) to pay off my student debt as soon as possible (and yes I graduated with $20,000 USD in debt as well).

That leads me to my next point, the importance of formulating criteria to help your kid pick the right College or University (if that is the path they would like to go). For example, here is basic criteria you can consider:

• Cost of Tuition
• Location (Proximity is power in landing your dream job)
• Relevance of Degrees Available
• School Size (Having access to a large alumni group can help with networking)
• Notoriety / Credibility
• Experience (Do they have a strong sports program where you can go to tailgates or games?)

For a more advanced filter, I created one in Sports Entertainment Academy which you can customize specific to applying for your dream school! If your kid is still unsure what they want to study or what degree to get, personality and career tests can be a great resource. Here are a couple of paid and free ones:

Paid Tests

Clifton Strengths - CliftonStrengths is an online assessment tool that identifies an individual's top five talent themes out of 34 possibilities, helping them to develop natural talents into strengths. The first time I took this assessment was in University and the duration was around 30 minutes.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - One of the most famous personality assessments, it categorizes individuals into one of 16 personality types to help them understand their strengths, decision-making styles and work preferences.

Free Tests

Career Explorer - Praised for being insightful and free, it helps match skills and interests to potential careers.

16 Personalities - A popular test based on the MBTI framework that categorizes personality into 16 types to help with career exploration.

Truity - The Career Personality Profiler is a free, 15-minute test that measures interests and traits based on the Holland Code and Big Five systems.

MAPP - Evaluates workplace motivations, preferences and interests to suggest compatible job categories.

To learn more about what I would consider if I were to redo College / University starting in 2027, click here (Part 2)!