Summary of what I thought.

I personlay did not like this book. I thought that the main audience was older then a sophmore in high school. Some of what Friedman had to say I found interesting, such as the McDonalds who sends their drive thru orders to other places to be taken and then the order is sent back completed in a matter of seconds. This book has shown me that the flat world will effect me and my generation in many ways. First, the flat world will cause us to have to compete with people from all over the world for our jobs/careers. We will have to find and pursue a job that will not be outsourced or offshored, the jobs that Friedman calls untouchables. To achieve these jobs we will have to have the right knowledge, skills, ideas and the self-motovation to seize and keep these jobs. Also because of the flat world, we will have to be very flexible workers and have good people skills. We will have to fit in somebody's supply chain and have the skills to do so. We will have to be collabotators, orchestrators, synthesizers, explainers, leveragers, adaptors, personalizers and localizers. Friedman says that to be these things we will have to "learn how to learn", bring curiosity and passion to our work , play well with others and improve our right-brain skills. Those are just some ways in which the flat world effects me and my generation.

To realize my goals there are certain things I will need from my teachers and parents. First, parents in the US will have to place more value and importance in their children acquiring a serious education. They should insist on a good educational program in which I/we am learning the right skills. They will have to make education a priority over sports and social life and they will have to set high expectaions for grades. Secondly, from teachers I will need an educational system in which I will be ready for the jobs that actualy exist in my society. My teachers will have to interest me in the subject that I will be needing such as math, science and engineering. Teachers will have to reorient what they are teaching to embed the tools and concepts of colaboration into the curriculum. They will also have to transform the educational systems to produce workers for new and different jobs that will actually exist. Since I am only 15 years old I am not completly sure what job I will choose or if my future will be "untouchable". I am sure that the job I choose will be like the lemonade guy, personalized with my own little touch. From Friedmans descriptions, I have some natural skills of an explainer, therefore I will choose a future which will incorporate and build on these skills. I believe that I embrace the flat world much more then the generation before me. I have been part of a generation who have used technology and am comfortable with the technology of the flat world. I believe that the only challange to the flat world would be getting the right education to be successful in a flat world and continueing to be flexible, open minded and to learn.