Blah, blah, education
education, education—that’s all i hear about these days. “get an education, or you are doomed to flip burgers for the rest of your life! ” well, my grandpa quit going to school when he was 12; he started working in a jewelry store in the 1930s. then he grew watermelons in the 1940s and sold them out of the back of his dad’s old ford pickup downtown at the farmers’ market. later, he worked as a construction worker and then as a railroader, making a decent penny. by the time he was 45, he was able to buy his own land and build his own house.

now, i figure that if he could do it, then so can i. sure, there are some differences between then and now. for example, back then, a high school diploma was all you needed for a lot of jobs, and for some jobs you didn’t even need that. back then, factories were common, and they paid well. today a lot of factories just hire people to take care of the machines, and any person with half a brain can flip a switch or tighten a bolt.

my high school counselor told me that it’s harder than i think out there in the working world, but i don’t think he is savvy about entrepreneurs and making money. take my uncle, for example. he finished his classes and got his journeyman’s license. when a company wants to remodel an old building or a mall, they pay my uncle to come in and tear down the walls and haul all the debris away so that the other crews can come in and remodel. another person who has a sweet and easy job is my cousin, who is a computer freak. he reassembles and fixes computers for people and small businesses. i don’t know what they pay him, but he only has a two-year degree in computer science from the community college.

my plan is to refurbish cars and then turn around and sell them to people. there are a million cars that are dumped at wreckage lots, and i can use the money i get from my summer job to buy a car and the parts i need for it. junkyards are a gold mine for parts, and they are cheap there. i can spend my free time putting the car back together, and then i can sell the car to someone for a lot more than it cost me to fix it.

my dad says it’s a good plan, and i know it is, because it’s what i am good at. but my counselor told me that if i have my own mechanics shop, i will still need to understand how to manage it, because i will need to make sure that i pay taxes, have insurance, and am licensed to do the work in a place that is approved for that kind of work. i think he is just nitpicking and trying to discourage me from my dream.

finally, if these arguments haven’t convinced you that education isn’t all that important, then this surely will. i was surfing the internet the other day, looking at some cool spinners for the ride i want to buy next summer, and i saw this advertisement about how a person can make $500,000 a month working from home. it said, “pay only $99.99 for your road to riches! no education? no computer skills? no problem! this starter kit is for you! buy, sell, and trade on the internet, and become a millionaire overnight! call now, and begin your journey tomorrow! ”

so even if the car refurbishing business doesn’t work out, i can surely make good money doing whatever it is you do with the kit, and i’ll be laughing all the way to the bank!
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what is the writer trying to convince people of in this passage?

a. all his relatives are hardworking individuals.

b. his counselor wants to discourage him from pursuing his dreams.

c. he dreams of starting a business refurbishing cars.

d. he does not need an education to be successful in life.