So there I was.
Dangling upside down from one foot from The Eiffel Tower on a thin twine weaved by Sub-Saharan African tribesmen. With hungry dogs gathering far below and fourteen angry Parisian Policemen emerging from the lift some 1000 feet above France, I had to think fast. I searched my pockets. I felt the dull prod of a guitar capo and a string of Buddhist prayer beads. I cast my mind about and hatched a plan. And of course, the rest is history.
Ok, so the above paragraph may or may not be fiction. This however, is completely true:
I graduated high school at 17. After 12 years of study I could draw for you the complex atomic structure of various carbon molecules. But when my first boss told me I had to file a tax return, I told him I hadn’t returned any taxes this year, so it probably wasn’t a problem.
I had no idea what a tax return was.
I was embarrassed.
I was supposed to be ‘ready’.
So, I’m now 25. After four years of development, I’ve created Mind the Gap Tax for Teens. Any classroom in Australia (and hopefully one day the Western World) can learn about what it means to be a real adult in the real world.
The program is just beginning, and right now it’s just me. I launched earlier this year. It’s been hard. I’ve launched a GoFundMe campaign, a social media campaign, and the site is now live for the whole world to see. Any help, suggestions, and support are greatly appreciated.
Check me out! I want to see that every high school student in Australia and abroad has a chance at a useful and practical education.
Wish me luck!
Tyler from Perth
Mind the Gap Tax for Teens Academy
Living in Sydney, Australia
PS – Thanks to Glen for introducing me to The Listserve, and to Kieran for introducing him.
Who introduced Kieran? Email me!