By David L. Marcus

Fans of WISE Services gathered in Tarrytown, NY on Oct. 24 to celebrate 40 years of liberating high school kids from senioritis and opening school doors to the real world. The keynote speaker, Andrew Ross Sorkin, spoke about his sense of restlessness at Scarsdale High School in 1995, and the persistence that got him an unpaid, under-the-radar non-internship at The New York Times, which had no internships for high school students. When Sorkin said WISE changed his life, he wasn’t exaggerating.

Fast forward 19 years: Sorkin is a Times editor and columnist, founder of the must-read DealBook website and newsletter, co-anchor of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” a bestselling author, and a co-producer of an HBO movie. He credited WISE – known in Scarsdale as Senior Options – with giving him the experiences and mentoring that started his career.

Sorkin had been giving speeches in Hong Kong and Japan before coming to Tarrytown. At the WISE celebration, he touched on subjects ranging from the direction of the Fed to controversies over internships. His appearance came during a year when several former interns attracted attention for suing media companies that refuse to pay for students’ work. Vic Leviatin, a founder of WISE, suggested that U.S. companies adapt German-style apprenticeships to train young people, but that is a story for another day.

At a previous WISE reunion/celebration, in 2009, I was inspired by keynote speaker Ralph Vasami, my classmate from Woodlands High in Hartsdale, NY, where WISE began. While Ralph said his WISE studies of meteorology encouraged him to go to college, Sorkin had no doubt he would go to college. But thanks to the WISE Senior Options Program, Sorkin was already immersed in his career and racking up Times bylines by the time he started Cornell.

Although I went to high school on the other side of the Metro North tracks from Sorkin, I can claim a few things in common with him: We both did WISE projects on journalism and got bitten by the journalism bug; we both worked as overseas correspondents for an American newspaper; and we both like writing books. Most important, we share a belief that high schools can do more – must do more – to prepare students for a global economy.

On a snowy Saturday, I caught up with Sorkin during a respite from his appearances on MSNBC’s Squawk Box, his Times column writing and plans for his next project, which he cannot reveal right now.

Here are excerpts from our conversation.

Why was WISE Senior Options so important to you? 

It changed my life, fundamentally. I had a passion for media, I wanted to be in the world of journalism, but I never knew or thought I’d have an opportunity to work at the New York Times. It helped me get my foot in the door, and led to greater opportunities.

Why was it more powerful than an after-school or weekend program?

One of the great virtues was the intensity of WISE Senior Options, five days a week. The immersion was so fantastic.

What lessons does 40 years of WISE offer for education in America?

I may sound radical for saying this, but I think we need a year of apprenticeship or service of some sort. It could be after high school or college. An apprenticeship means getting in on the ground floor early and learning not just a trade but hopefully finding a passion. For high school seniors, WISE can offer exactly that.

David Greene, a retired Scarsdale teacher and staff member of WISE Services, introduced you at October’s WISE Celebration in Tarrytown. How did he influence you back then?

David, I felt, was one of the few people I could go to and have a candid discussion about what was going on in my life in high school beyond just academics. As my WISE mentor, he was very supportive. He believed in me at a time when I didn’t believe in myself — and I’d tell you some others didn’t, either.

How do you do it all, from speaking around the world to overseeing 20 DealBook employees? Did you learn time management in high school?

I can compartmentalize; I spend an hour on one project at a time. My mother would tell you I was a kind of procrastinator in high school. My WISE experience also taught me time management.

You have high visibility. Do you have plans to spread the word about WISE and similar programs?

This week on ‘Squawk Box,’ we were talking about internships, and I mentioned my high school WISE Senior Options experience.  I hope to become more of an outspoken advocate.

David L. Marcus (WISE ‘78), a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, recently left journalism to direct communications for the New York Community Trust, a leading foundation.   He’s the author of What It Takes to Pull Me Through, about struggling teens helped by a counselor. His second book, Acceptance, follows a group of students applying to college with the help of a mentor.