College Success Motivator #9 - Sometimes, doing the things your family or friends expect you to...

COLLEGE SUCCESS MOTIVATOR

#9

Sometimes, doing the things your family or friends expect you to achieve in your career might be the wrong path for you.

College Success Motivator #8 - The most important thing for deciding on a major or career path is to...

COLLEGE SUCCESS MOTIVATOR

#8

The most important thing for deciding on a major or career path is to get out of the classroom and into an internship which exposes you to the day-to-day ups and downs of that profession.  Learning by doing will give you a better appreciation of the job than learning through textbooks.

College Success Motivator #7 - Make sure your dream job is not an avocation...

COLLEGE SUCCESS MOTIVATOR

#7

Make sure your dream job is not an avocation. (a hobby)  An avocation is a vacation from a vocation, because the pay ranges from little to nothing.

College Success Motivator #6 - There is a huge difference between a childhood dream and a dream job...

COLLEGE SUCCESS MOTIVATOR

#6

There is a huge difference between a childhood dream and a dream job.  If you dreamed of being a lawyer since the age of twelve, you better make sure you know exactly what attorneys do on a given twelve hour work day.

Did You Know… In a 2007 survey of 800 attorneys, only 55 percent reported being satisfied with their career.

College Success Motivator #5 - If you have no backup plan in a career...

COLLEGE SUCCESS MOTIVATOR

#5

If you have no backup plan in a career like acting, you not only need a fervent belief in your talent – you better have the talent to stay on a tight rope with no safety net beneath you.  For more traditional fields, you will likely have an easier time transitioning into your dream job. (For example, Chemistry majors who didn’t get accepted into a medical school can hopefully work for a year in that field and reapply to medical schools the following year.)

College Success Motivator #4 - Don’t let anyone crush your dreams. However...

COLLEGE SUCCESS MOTIVATOR

#4

Don’t let anyone crush your dreams.  However, the riskier your dream, the better your backup plan must be.

College Success Motivator #3 - Every Career has an Arc

COLLEGE SUCCESS MOTIVATOR

#3

Every career has an arc, and you are at the beginning of the curve.  Don’t be surprised if your career direction changes significantly a few times before and after you reach the peak.

Did You Know… The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has not attempted to estimate the number of times people change careers in the course of their working lives.  However, in September 2010, the Bureau found that from age 18 to age 44, individuals held an average of 11 jobs. 

College Success Motivator #2 - Picking a career path

COLLEGE SUCCESS MOTIVATOR

#2

Picking a career path boils down to a cost benefit analysis and a gut check.  It is a game of reality versus passion, and hopefully you can start blazing a meaningful path in college.  Check your gut instinct first and then assess your career options.

College Success Motivator #1 - As a Freshman...

COLLEGE SUCCESS MOTIVATOR

#1

As a Freshman, it is not only okay to have no idea what to major in, it’s also a sign of an open mind to the diverse menu that college has to offer.  Choose classes which seem interesting to you rather than classes that parents or peers say you have to take immediately.

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied in Jesse Friedman case

It is now almost three months since my story appeared about the Friedman case.  No details have been released on when a panel recommendation will be made to the Nassau DA's Office.  Jesse Friedman served thirteen years in prison for crimes he claims that he did not commit.  He is presently registered as a Level 3 sex offender.

Is Actual Innocence “Capturing the Friedmans,” 25 Years Later?
by Perry Binder
The Huffington Post 

On November 25, 1987, I was sprawled out on my parents’ couch, when my favorite high school teacher appeared on the TV news.  Arnold Friedman was a retired NYC instructor who taught computer classes in his home for local kids.  I watched as he and his 17-year old son, Jesse, were handcuffed and hauled away for horrific child molestation crimes occurring in their basement.  I fell off that couch in disbelief.
Continued below...

Bayside High School yearbook picture of Arnold Friedman

(Perry Binder, student, is pictured in the background, on the left)

The author took Organic Chemistry and Nuclear Chemistry high school courses with Arnold Friedman.  The latter class included a discussion of the effects of radiation on human and animal life.  With that fact in mind, Mr. Friedman wrote the following beside the above yearbook photo:

Article continued:

Arnold and Jesse Friedman each pled guilty to avoid a trial, and Jesse learned of his father’s prison suicide in 1995.  Since his release in 2001, Jesse has attempted to clear his name, so he no longer must register as a Level 3 violent sexual predator.  In 2003, new facts about his case emerged in the Oscar-nominated documentary, Capturing the Friedmans, which examined the evidence against the Friedmans and questioned whether any of the allegations against them were truthful.

On August 16, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found "a reasonable likelihood that Jesse Friedman was wrongfully convicted" and that "the police, prosecutors and the [trial] judge did everything they could to coerce a guilty plea and avoid a trial."  That November, the Nassau County District Attorney appointed a panel of four experts to review the evidence against Jesse.  To date, the panel has not released its findings.  On November 18, 2012, a Great Neck, N.Y. town hall was convened to present a 75-minute new evidence reel, with Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling, director and producer respectively of Capturing the Friedmans, civil rights attorney Ronald Kuby, and Jesse Friedman in attendance.  (I previewed the video for this article.)

Continue Reading in The Huffington Post:

Is Actual Innocence “Capturing the Friedmans,” 25 Years Later?
by Perry Binder