98° : Smart, Savvy and Schooled!
Sometimes term papers, book reports and exams seem too much to bear when teachers expect them all at once. Back when Justin Jeffre, Jeff Timmons, Nick and Drew Lachey of 98° were still in school, they, too, felt like throwing in the towel, but they persisted, knowing that school was necessary to their future. Today, they credit their education as a key to their success with songs like "Invisble Man" from their self-titled debut album.
"School is very important to me." says Nick, 24. "You can't do anything without your High School Diploma. I wouldn't be here today unless I had school."
Nick tells BB that he went on to study Sports Medicine in College and feels lucky to have been able to attend. "To me, College was such a great social time in addition to being a great academic time." He continues, "I wish everybody had the opportunity to do it."
His brother, Drew, 21, agrees with Nick about the importance of staying in School. "High School is just a given," he says. "You have to get your Diploma or your G.E.D., regardless, or you'll be flipping burgers for the rest of your life. I don't even know if they let you flip burgers these days with a High School Diploma."
Don't get stuck in a rut
Unlike Nick, Drew didn't go to College, but he trained professionally and got a job as an emergency medical technician, at which he drove an ambulance and helped save lives. "You definitely need some sort of skilled training or higher learning other than High School so that you can provide for yourself or your family down the road," he recommends. "Otherwise you're going to be stuck in a rut and you'll never get out. You'll spend all your time working so hard just to make ends meet. You'll never advance yourself."
Justin feels that it's what you learn in class that has an effect on your future. "Just to have the knowledge of things, like knowing your history," the 24-year-old tells BB. "I don't think you can really have an understanding of what is going on in the world today unless you know something about history."
It comes as no surprise that Justin graduated from High School and went on to become a History Major at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. He feels it's important to "know what is going on in other countries, why things are the way they are and why people act the way they do."
Why people act the way they do is precisely why Jeff, 24, enjoyed the Psychology classes he took in High School. Understanding human nature is important in life, so he decided to study it in College. And it definitely helped Jeff and his Bandmates greet music that touches people's souls.
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