Shaina Carmel Indovino - Russell Simmons: From the Streets to the Music Business (Extraordinary Success with a High School)

Shaina Carmel Indovino is a writer and illustrator living in Nescon-set, New York. She graduated from Binghamton University, where she received degrees in sociology and English.

Of course not everyone who skips college is going to be a celebrity or a millionaire. But there are other more ordinary jobs out there for people who choose to go a different route from college. Heres what you can expect to make in 100 of the top-paying jobs available to someone who has only a high school diploma. (If youre not sure what any of the jobs are, look them up on the Internet to find out more about them.) Keep in mind that these are average salaries; a beginning worker will likely make much less, while someone with many more years of experience could make much more. Also, remember that wages for the same jobs vary somewhat in different parts of the country.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2008.

W ORDS TO K NOW

influential: Influential means having the power to shape opinions and courses of action.

record label: A record label is a company that sells music.

sociology: Sociology is the study of people and culture.

promotion: Promotion means getting the word out about a certain band, artist, or group.

DJ: A DJ plays songs for a crowd. In early hip-hop, the DJ might also rap over the music he was playing.

entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurs are people who start new businesses or taking a leading role in business.

In 2007, USA Today named Russell Simmons one of the top twenty-five most people of the last twenty-five years. Russell shared the list with figures like Bill and Hillary Clinton, Michael Jordan, Nelson Mandela, George W. Bush, Lance Armstrong, Oprah Winfrey, and even Homer Simpson, among many other important people.

Russell had made the list for helping to bring hip-hop to the world. His businesses had been making hip-hop popular since the early 1980s. Russell had helped take hip-hop from New York City clubs to radio, television, movies, fashion, and the Internet.