In Secrets of a Buccaneer Scholar , Bach states, “Education is important. School is not. I didn’t need school. Neither do you” (page 1). After Bach gave his speech about his perspective of the true meaning of education, one of the teachers referred to his message as “dangerous”. Bach quickly dismissed his statement because he agreed that it may be dangerous, but more so for teachers than the students. It would give the student reasons to challenge their teachers and feel less trapped in institutionalized forms of education. The teacher said that the students “weren’t as smart” as Bach and would likely return to the streets if they took such a route. Bach’s message was not that school is stupid so  just drop out.. he more so emphasized the importance of learning and acknowledged that school wasn’t the only way to do so. Many successful people have chosen alternative routes. Kanye West , for example gave a speech on his decision to drop out of college. Much like Bach, he proved that schooling wasn’t the only way to succeed. However, their views oppose in the sense that Kanye believes in exhausting all of your options before leaving school where as Bach didn’t care for institutionalized education and just knew that school was not for him. It is evident by the text that Kanye does not encourage dropping out of school in the way that Bach does. Kanye encourages people to take advantage of their opportunities, whereas Bach encourages them to make their own opportunities.
Bach refers to himself as a “buccaneer”. I am confused by his usage of this word, which is commonly used as a synonym for pirates. More specifically, (according to Wikipedia), buccaneers were the pirates who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the 17th century. Why Bach views himself as one is still not evident to me. Maybe due to the level of “danger” in his ideology?

James Marcus Bach expresses his ideas about school and education in his book, Secrets of a Buccaneer Scholar. Bach says, “Education is important. School is not. ” (1). According to Bach, school is not necessary, but education is vital. If you feel like school isn’t helping with your education, don’t go. There are other ways and other places to educate yourself because education is way more than school. Bach promotes the idea of self educating, “If you want to prosper in life: find something that fascinates you and jump all over it. Don’t wait for someone to teach you; your enthusiasm will attract teachers to you” (2).  He is encouraging students to find something that they are “hungry” and passionate for. Bach is trying to tell us to pursue our passion and work hard. Self educating is different and may be more helpful than institutional educating for certain people. After Bach’s lecture, the teacher comments that his speech was “dangerous.” The teacher believes that the students need to stay in school. Bach disagrees and disregards what the teacher says because he doesn’t believe in schoolism. Bach tells the teacher, “Your job is not to make them huddle quietly in a corral, but to help them get out there and seek their fortunes” (6). Bach is only trying to open up a path for these special students. These special students could some day become successful.

At the Santa Monica High School concert, Kanye West promotes the idea of staying in school and the importance of higher education. Kanye says, “Life is hard. Take advantage of your opportunities” (Moss). He believes that students should stay in school and do as much as they can. Kanye also says, “It is true you can be successful without [college], but this is a hard world, a real world, and you want every advantage you can have” (Moss). It takes a lot of work to be successful after you drop out. There will be tons of struggles along the risky path. Kanye encourages students to not walk the same path he did.

Although Bach and Kanye have different viewpoints on school, they’re some overlaps between the men. Bach and Kanye pursed their passion. Bach was interested in software engineering and Kanye was interested in music. Both of them were motivated by their passion, which led them to be successful. Bach became software test manager and Kanye became a rapper. Bach and Kanye also believe that education itself is very important and is the key to success.

In The Buccaneer Scholar, Bach dismissed the teachers comment because as he says, “It was dangerous, what I said – dangerous for her” (Bach), so in my opinion I think Bach was trying to say that these teachers were afraid that these kids will be nothing in the world without education. It was a mindset that people couldn’t be successful without going to school and getting a college degree. So I think Bach was trying to say that dropping out of school isn’t dangerous, but being forced to do what the school “requires” of you and following their curriculum can be dangerous because it can drive you away from your education. It takes away your attention from education, which according to Bach is more important than going to school.

Both West and Bach have one particular idea in common is that you can be successful even without going to college, but that road might not be as smooth as it could have been if you had chosen to go to college. West stated that, “… And when I wasn’t successful and Columbia said, ’We’ll call you,’ I had to go back and work a telemarketing job, go back to the real world” (Moss 2005: 1), this explains that even though West is a successful person today being a drop-out his road wasn’t smooth. He chose the “rough” path in his life, which was bumpy, but at the end of the day he did accomplish what he wanted and maybe that is why he’s encouraging school because he knows that path is smoother than the path he chose. So he’s promoting school because it will make people’s life easier. Bach states, “If they don’t care about education, they may be forced to work at low- skilled jobs they won’t enjoy, such as fast food or house cleaning” (Bach), showing that without school they may end up doing odd jobs, which will require hard work and that it wont be easy so maybe some may turn back to going to school one day and educate themselves because that path might will be easy.

James Marcus Bach is a high school dropout who becomes very successful in his life. He is invited to perform a speech to the “at risk” high school kids to explain the importance of education. During his speech, Bach talks about how important is education in one’s life, but he emphasizes that school is not the only way to get a good education. “Education is important. School is not” (pg. 1). When the teacher responds to Bach’s speech, she comments that Bach’s speech is “dangerous” to her students because it encourages students to not work hard in school and don’t care about school at all. Bach replies, “I think any of your students can do what I did – in high tech, journalism, business, art, or any number of different fields. And they have a lifetime to develop their talents” (pg. 5). Bach means that her students can possibly be somebody who will surprise her one day if they are not restraint to what they can do and do what interest them. For example, Bach finds something that is fun for him, and he learn all about it, and now he gets paid for the fun things he does with his mind (pg. 4) When people do what they like and learn about the things they want, they have motivation to learn more and try more. Bach also points out that people can actually learn from life, not just in school. In his own words, “perhaps they will accidentally educate themselves by starting a new business, building things, or doing theatre, music, or sports… They will learn and grow from anything that happens, unless they believe there is no hope” (pg. 6). Bach believes everything in life can teach you something. And what you are interested in and want to know more about it you should seek out to look for the answer. School is not the only place to attain knowledge and most likely school cannot provide the knowledge that you wish to learn about. If that is the case, school means nothing.

On the other hand, in the article about rapper/artist, Kanye West believes school is the place for higher education. West says, “It is true you can be successful without [college], but this is a hard world, a real world, and you want every advantage you can have” (Para.3). He thinks college can provide people the necessary opportunity to be successful and people should grab it tight. West says, “There’s poetry classes, but why aren’t there rap curriculums?” (para. 7). Although Bach and West have different ideas about school, they do have some overlaps. Both Bach and West believe people should learn about what they like and develop from there. The interest in that field will motivate people to work harder and go deeper into it and that’s what makes people to be successful.

Bach’s speech emphasizes on how school doesn’t define oneself. He accentuates that learning doesn’t equal school and that you can learn on your own if you have the right mindset. School isn’t essential in becoming successful nevertheless, learning is. He also explains that laziness doesn’t exist and that if you are hungry, you would do anything to satisfy that hunger. Therefore, if you want to learn something, you would do whatever it takes to learn it. While Bach talks about his life experience and how education isn’t all that, the teacher seemed skeptical and didn’t like Bach’s ideology. Schools and the teachers are brainwashing the students that education=schools, so when Bach didn’t agree with this idea, the teacher told him that the speech was “dangerous” for the children. She considered it “dangerous” because she believed that what Bach said doesn’t apply to the students. Some students aren’t eager to learn and wouldn’t do the extra work to learn. Bach dismisses the teacher’s comment that his speech was “dangerous” because he was honest and used life experiences. He wasn’t just saying things. He has been through it and feels what the students feel. He understands what they are going through and why they might believe that school isn’t necessary. What Bach had to say wasn’t wrong but it wasn’t conventional and what schools have taught kids for ages. Bach and the teacher’s mentality aren’t the same. Bach thought school doesn’t help students learn but the teachers think otherwise. He believes that the school system is corrupted and all they want is tests scores to be high so the school looks good instead of actually teaching the kids about real life and what they need to know to help them succeed. School is temporary but education is forever.

Kanye West’s approach on school and education is different from Bach. Kanye believes that school is everything. Schools provide opportunities and resources to help one be successful. He believes that not everyone has it easy but school can help you do well. For Kanye, school is an important resource for education. Kanye is being more realistic and saying that yes you can drop out but once you do, its hard work to bring yourself up, do well and become successful. Not everyone can drop out and become successful. In order to dropout and become successful, one must have drive and do whatever it takes to be successful (extra reading, experimenting, networking, etc.) Kanye said, “It is true you can be successful without [college], but this is a hard world, a real world, and you want every advantage you can have” (Moss). West recommends that students should not take his approach but to stay in school to get every opportunity possible.

Even though West and Bach’s beliefs about school is different, there are some overlaps. The first one is that they both believe that education (in general) is the key factor in becoming successful. Another similarity is that they are both successful because they had something that excited them therefore they pushed themselves to learn more about it and do something about it. They both had a drive and passion to something that interests them and motivates them. Bach studied software engineering and became a software test manager at Apple Computer and West studied music and became a rap artist. Although they both have different career paths, they both had ambition and aspirations that pushed them to their limits.

In The Buccaneer Scholar, Bach discussed about his college drop out experience to “at risk” students at a special school. Bach believed that going to school is not equivalent to being successful because he stated, “Education is important. School is not. I didn’t need school. Neither do you” (1).  School is temporary while education lasts for a lifetime. Everywhere you go, there is an opportunity to learn and grow. Therefore, Bach is emphasizing that if you feel going to school does not benefit you in any way, do not feel like you are trapped. You have the option of leaving school and pursuing your own methods to achieve a higher education. After his speech concluded, the teacher claimed that his message was dangerous for children to hear but Bach merely dismissed her concerns. Bach stated, “Your job is not to make them huddle quietly in a corral, but to help them get out there and seek their fortunes” (6).  I agree because I believe that students should be given more options in order to grow and learn, rather than be cooped up inside school. In school you memorize facts while in the outside world, you watch, observe, and learn.

Concerning rapper/artist Kanye West, another successful college drop-out, he proposed a completely different approach from Bach. West stated, “It is true you can be successful without [college], but this is a hard world, a real world, and you want every advantage you can have” (Moss). West advised students to not take his approach and stay in school in order to get every opportunity possible. Although West and Bach’s ideas seem to oppose, there are some overlaps. The first one is that they both believe that education (whether or not it comes from school) is the key beneficial factor to your success. Another similarity they have is that the reason why they are both so successful is because they are pursuing their passion, something that interests them, drives them, and motivates them. While Bach studied software engineering and became a software test manager at Apple Computer, West studied music and became a rap artist. Therefore, although they have opposing viewpoints, they are similar in some ways.