You might be just right for the REAL program if you: a) are interested in learning how to become your own boss, instead of working as someone else’s employee; b) hope to earn some money while you’re still in school; c) have been searching for a class that will encourage you to be creative and independent; d) want a chance to prove that you are mature and capable of doing work that makes a difference in the real world; and e) would like to contribute to the improvement of your own community. If most of these five things apply to you - and you’re willing to work hard to make them happen - then please apply to become part of the REAL program.

There are three major things that make this course special. First, it could result in you owning and operating your own “honest to goodness” business - not only while you are still in school, but also after graduation. Second, you will have an unusually large amount of freedom, authority and responsibility in the course itself. You will be treated, and expected to act, as a competent young adult - not as a passive kid who need to be told what to do all the time. Third, you will be evaluated on how well you perform as a budding entrepreneur in the real world. In other words, it’s what you actually do and accomplish that matter.

The closest equivalent to being a REAL student is being on a varsity sports team, being in an orchestra or band, or being the editor of a school newspaper or yearbook. What these have in common with the REAL experience is a lot of individual responsibility, a good deal of time and effort outside of class, the ability to work well in a group situation, and the talent and personality to be an effective doer, not a spectator.

Being selected for the REAL program is an honor and a privilege. At the same time, the success of the program depends heavily upon the quality of the students involved (the same is true, of course, for an AP Physics class or the varsity basketball team). The application helps to separate those students who are serious about REAL from those who are just filling a gap in their schedule. It also helps the REAL teacher(s) decide which students are likely to make good use of this opportunity. The application is demanding because it is the equivalent of asking students to try out for the orchestra, or to audition for a play.

Absolutely not! One of the great things about the REAL program is that participating students will have access to business loans and other sources of start-up financing for their enterprises. This means that coming from a wealthy family is not a pre-requisite for becoming a REAL student. Instead, REAL teachers are searching for students who are doers, not just talkers or dreamers. They are seeking individuals with adequate reading, writing, and math skills to do the work required - but it doesn’t take a genius to succeed in this program. What is does take are students who really want to be part of the REAL course and who can demonstrate they have some entrepreneurial “spark.” Luckily, the entrepreneurial “spark” cuts across all the usual dividing lines in our society. Successful entrepreneurs have come from all racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds. Small business ownership is an area in which women are every bit as likely to succeed as men. Similarly, the REAL program is open to, and equally interested in, all kinds of students. We’re not concerned with how people have labeled you in the past. All REAL cares about is who you are, what you are capable of doing, and who much of yourself you’re willing to invest in becoming a REAL student.

Every rural community, no matter how poor or depressed it may seem, has within it untapped economic opportunities. REAL students learn how to identify, evaluate and develop a wide range of promising business ideas. Sometimes this involves creating a business that provides a product or service people previously couldn’t purchase conveniently. For example, if everyone has to travel thirty miles to get anything mechanical fixed, that may indicate an opportunity for REAL students to set up a local repair shop. At other times, it makes sense to create a business that “exports” a local product. For instance, REAL students might create a business by harvesting a local natural resource and the selling it to customers located far away. REAL students learn how to see, and seize, these hidden economic opportunities.

It’s also worth remembering that most of America’s millionaires aren’t famous entertainers, star athletes, Wall Street tycoons or people who’ve inherited their wealth. Instead, they operate “ordinary” enterprises providing the products and services people use all the time (from coat hanger manufacturers to dentists). Perhaps you, too, can achieve this part of the American Dream by becoming an entrepreneur.

Yes, if you fit the other characteristics of REAL students described so far. When you sign up for the REAL Entrepreneurship I course - usually as a rising junior - you are making a commitment to seriously explore the entrepreneurial option for yourself during a year-long course. During this first year, you will be expected to research different business opportunities, to work hard both individually and in small groups, to spend a significant amount of time on your REAL activities outside of class, and to produce a first-rate business plan for the enterprise you have chosen. At this point, no one expects you to make long-term commitments to the REAL program, or even to your own enterprise.

If you decide to stick with the REAL program, then the expectation is that you will set up and really run the venture you planned (perhaps starting during the summer and continuing during the next school year). Just as would be true for any other entrepreneur, you will be expected not only to contribute your time and energy, but also to invest a bit of your own money in your own venture. You will have to sign up for the second year course that is part of the REAL program. In this advanced class, you will learn more about the “nitty gritty” of business operations and management - using your own enterprise as the main laboratory in which you carry out your work.

At the end of the second year as a REAL student, which usually coincides with your high school graduation, you will be expected to make some choices. You will have the option of closing your business altogether, hiring a manager and being an absentee owner (should you go away to college); taking the business with you, if you move to another community; or selling it to another student, or interested person. Of course, you also have the option of staying in the community and running it as your own independent enterprise.

It is worth remembering that the kind of entrepreneurial training, work experience, thinking skills and business knowledge you will gain as a REAL student are going to be valuable to you - no matter what you end up doing, or where you end up living. Learning how to think and act entrepreneurially may be one of the best investments you ever make in yourself and in your future.