Do entrepreneurs need to attend college? As a successful entrepreneur, I often get asked if it would be beneficial for a teenager who shows a strong interest in starting a business to attend college. I have asked this question often of other successful entrepreneurs, as well, and the answer tends to go like this: “College can open up doors for young people, and it provides great networking opportunities.” In other words, a vague, unsubstantiated “yes”.
My answer is totally different: I don’t think college is beneficial for teenagers who already have a good idea of what they want to do with their lives, especially if they want to start a business.
Here’s my story…and some tips on whether college will be right for you:
My Background
My parents both have Master’s degrees. My father runs a law firm and my mom is a former school teacher. She raised me as a stay-at-home mom and then opened a title company when I was in grade school.
My mom was mortified when I slacked off in school, but school bored me. I am an extreme visual/hands-on learner; I have difficulty picking up information when it’s delivered in auditory format. I was often bored in school because I couldn’t pick up the information when someone spoke it to me, but I could read faster than everyone else, so while most people were sounding out words, I was already finishing the book.
I hated authority and constantly challenged my teachers. In first grade, I asked my teacher at lunch, “If the universe contains everything we know, and it’s constantly expanding, what is it expanding into?” She looked at me helplessly and tried her best to explain.
It was around that time that they seriously considered advancing me a grade. Persuaded by my mom, the principal put me in the third-grade reading class. I was testing at an eighth-grade reading level, but my social skills were woefully underdeveloped. I was not well-liked by the other kids.
Mom was constantly searching for other school options. We lived in a rural part of Indiana, with only one high school for the entire county, so my local options were limited. My parents considered sending me off to boarding school.
Attending a Different School
In the meantime, the state of Indiana was using its gifted-and-talented funding to start up a residential high school for juniors and seniors: the Indiana Academy. After touring it, I decided to go.
Living with other kids was a challenge, but I identified with many of them. I found more deep friendships there than I have in any other environment. It was there that I got introduced to computers and networking. (When I first got there, I tried to plug my dial-up modem into the Ethernet jack on the wall–I had never been exposed to networks before!)
I quickly became the de facto female computer geek. I managed 14 computers on the girls’ side of the school. I set up a web hosting company by colocating my old 486 desktop computer at an ISP; one of the teachers paid me to host his personal website. I ran several websites, one of which was a shareware ranking site that received a good deal of publicity.
When summer of my junior year came up, many of my classmates got jobs at local retail stores. I did something different: I went on Yahoo! and found the listings for local web design companies in Cincinnati, Ohio. I sent all of them (I think there were 20 or 30 at the time) an email asking if they needed a web person, and showing them several websites that I had coded myself. I landed two interviews and got a paying summer job at a web design company coding HTML and Perl.
By the time I was ready to graduate high school, I knew three things:
- I wanted to go to Silicon Valley and seek my fortune.
- I wanted to run a web hosting company and design/develop websites–the opportunity for “passive” income (I can confirm that’s a myth after 6 years of running one, but I didn’t know that then!) was hugely appealing to me.
- I wasn’t going to graduate from college.
Of course, I wasn’t afraid to tell everyone who would listen about these three things. I remember most clearly telling the female computer science instructor that I would go to college because my parents wanted me to, but I wouldn’t graduate.
She was devastated. Then she started yelling. “You don’t understand the opportunities you have been given!” she said. “You’re throwing it all away. The women of my generation had to work so hard to even be in college, and you just want to give it up?”
I shrugged. It was pretty normal for teachers to be upset with me.
I mostly didn’t talk about it with my parents. My mom would get angry, which would cause my dad to leave the room. It was not a pleasant experience. I would go to college, and that was that.
No one could really tell me why college would be great for me. They all assumed I had to go. That there wouldn’t be any questions. That it was necessary to “open doors” for my future.
But was it necessary for someone who wanted to start her own business and who didn’t want a job? No one could answer that question.
Applying to College
I applied to only two colleges: San Jose State and Santa Clara University. Santa Clara University required an entrance essay. My dad encouraged me to write an essay that said I would donate to their alumni association when I became a millionaire CEO. (I didn’t quite put it that way, but I dropped some broad hints about how going to SCU would help me become more successful.)
Santa Clara sent me an acceptance letter. So did San Jose State.
My parents were willing to pay for Santa Clara, but I decided I wouldn’t go there because they didn’t let freshmen choose the hours for their classes. I wanted a part-time job while I was there (this was Silicon Valley in 1999, after all!), so I opted for San Jose State. I took a small class load and applied for a job.
Finding A Job
I scored a job without going in for an interview. I cattily left out the fact that I was 18 years old in the phone interviews, and was hired as a part-time Marketing Director for a small web company. When they found out I was 18, had no marketing experience, and was a college student, they were not amused. They fired me.
I found another job “being the helpdesk” and fixing computers for a small company, Cobalt Networks, that later became one of the largest IPOs in history. Sun Microsystems bought us out in 2000 for $2 billion, then killed the product line.
In the meantime, one of my college professors told me I should drop out of school and “seek my fortune” in Silicon Valley. It took me a year to follow his advice, but after 3 semesters of college, I dropped out.
My mom said it was the worst decision I had ever made. My boss at Cobalt, who treated me like one of his kids (his oldest was only a couple years younger than me), said I would regret it.
My boyfriend at the time, a well-paid techie “whiz kid” who was a high school dropout, congratulated me. (Interesting side note: The vast majority of the guys I have dated have not graduated from college. Several were high school dropouts. This wasn’t intentional; it’s just what happened.)
You probably know the rest of my story (if not, you can read it here, where I go into details of how I created a million-dollar business at a young age.)
How Can You Tell Whether You Should Go To College?
Let’s look at some facts:
- I knew what I wanted from a young age. I knew I wanted to start a web hosting company and do Web development. I went out and got summer jobs in that area to gain experience.
- I wasn’t waiting to be taught by classes. I was a self-taught computer whiz; infinitely curious, a voracious reader, and not afraid to ask questions. I didn’t seek permission to take over those 14 computers in my high school; I simply did it.
- School didn’t suit me well. I didn’t learn well from lectures, and I didn’t enjoy school. I did most of my learning from books and the Web. The Web, being 100% visual, was a miracle for me.
When I look at most high school kids, I understand why college is necessary. They don’t know what they want. They have a vague idea of the future, and college helps them clarify what they want to do with the rest of their lives.
I was totally different. I was goal-oriented, and more importantly, I had a goal (starting a business) that didn’t require a degree.
I will concede that I was different from most teenagers, but by no means do I think I am unique. I think there’s a good percentage of teenagers out there who want to start a business but who, like me, are pressured into going to college by their parents and teachers.
And really, what is that pressure but simple fear?
My Mom Concedes
After several years of not speaking to my mom much (but before I sold my business and would be considered a success), I finally called her and told her I was really upset with her. I mentioned the comment she had made about dropping out of college being the worst decision I had ever made.
She started crying, and told me that she was proud of me for taking the path she never had the courage to take. That conversation meant a lot to me, and it helped heal our relationship. And that’s honestly when I should have written this post, but I didn’t have the courage until now.
Going on a different path takes courage, but the rewards can be huge. Whatever you think you don’t have enough of–money, time, college degrees?–to start your own business, let me tell you right now: You have everything you need to succeed.
Was It Worth It?
I started my web hosting company when I was 20 years old. I had no clue what I was doing. I made huge mistakes. I underbilled my customers, overworked my employees, and pissed off a whole lotta people.
But I also made close friends, learned a whole heck of a lot, and oh yeah, made well over a million dollars.
I had the worst day of my life and the best day of my life in my office, with my employees. And I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
The people who tell you you need to go to college–they want the best for you. They want you to have the best chance of success. But sometimes, the real path to success lies in doing what no one else is doing. While everyone else is in school, you’re out there knocking down doors and closing deals, signing contracts, and trying to figure out who’s screwing you over and who’s investing in your success.
There’s nothing like it. And if you read this post and, like me as a teenager, are a self-starter, motivated to succeed, and ready to start your business, don’t let college stand in your way. Go out there and get your hands dirty. Yep, you’ll probably fail; most businesses do. But it will all be worth it, and you’ll have learned dramatically more in the process than you ever will sitting in a lecture hall waiting for class to end.
Recommended Reading:
- Hiring is Obsolete by Paul Graham. “While I stand by our responsible advice to finish college and then go work for a while before starting a startup, I have to admit it’s one of those things the old tell the young, but don’t expect them to listen to.”
- 15 Successful Entrepreneurs Who Didn’t Need College. Includes Michael Dell, Richard Branson, and Mary Kay Ash.
- One Thing You Don’t Need to Be An Entrepreneur: A College Degree by Fred Wilson (a venture capitalist.) His point of view: “I have learned that where someone went to college (or even if they didn’t go to college) has absolutely no correlation to whether they will be a good entrepreneur or not.”
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1. December 2009 at 11:24 pm
Wow, very impressive and encouraging story! Great
1. December 2009 at 11:44 pm
going to college is risk management. you have a fallback plan if you fail. think of it like an insurance policy, some may not want to put in the effort, but its only 4 years.
1. December 2009 at 11:55 pm
The reason this post is controversial is that there are a lot of people who think they don’t need to go to college (or just plain don’t want to) that probably should go. Not going to college is high risk and that makes most people really uncomfortable. Like many big risks there can be big payoffs.
Our society likes the simple answers… the thing that works for everyone. A college degree will never hurt your career, per se.
1. December 2009 at 11:57 pm
Hi Erica!
I’ve been following you for some time, and I am just fascinated by your posts. I love stories of young successful women, as I consider myself to be one too! This article is so great…in fact, it is so funny that I just wrote one today called “Why I think school is a waste of time” but it was from my perspective as a mom, thinking about my 8 year old son’s education. Totally controversial, I agree (in fact I think my mom would hang me just for suggesting it.) I think school is right for some, but not everyone. I think they should just have an “entrepreneurs” school and separate us from the rest! Maybe we should make one?
2. December 2009 at 12:00 am
This is a tough one, I’ve thought about whether I’ll try and steer our son towards a college degree or encourage him to strike out on his own. It will really depend on what he wants, if he’s interested in becoming something that requires a very specific and technical skillset, like an engineer or physician, then college will make the most sense. But if he has an entrepreneurial itch I think I’ll support his efforts.
One thing that you do gain from going to college is a good network of close friends and acquaintances that can benefit you for the rest of your life. Not that you can’t build that without college but there’s something about living together for 4 years and going through similar shared experiences that builds lifelong bonds. Kind of like Army bootcamp or war, just without all the shooting and killing
2. December 2009 at 12:01 am
Couldn’t agree more. Well said.If it lifts you, be there. If not move on.
2. December 2009 at 12:01 am
Erica,
I graduated college last month with a BA in Organizational Management two weeks before my 50th birthday
I used to think like you but thirty years of being denied opportunities because I wasn’t a graduate changed my mind about college. Before I went back to school to get my degree I was constantly denied even interviews because I was not a graduate. Prospects would not do business with me because I was not a graduate and this was despite my many accomplishments technically and in business.
The way I finished up was by attending school on line. i didn’t have to sit in any boring classes, hearing the instructor explain the same thing 20 times! I read the stuff the instructor told me to, commented in discussion forums, which was very similar to blogging, wrote papers, some of which I later posted on my blog and e-mailed any questions to the instructor.
Quite an effective way to get an eduction!
Jeff
2. December 2009 at 12:05 am
Very interesting read, Erica. I loved college. But also like you I love continual learning and making my own path.
College for me was a necessary social experience. It gave me confidence, social skills, and it eased me into the real world. I can see how some people don’t need college for those things though.
2. December 2009 at 12:09 am
I have a question for anyone who wishes to reply. Who decided that a 4 year university degree was the defacto “best thing for you” and that every single 18 year old should go and spend the next four years there?
Looking back, I can honestly say I’m not getting much for my money. I went and now I’ve got a really big framed sheet of paper and nothing else. 9 out of 10 contacts I made were useless for anything other than grad school applications and the other is a lawyer. Don’t get me wrong, there are people that will benefit from going to university. It is not, however, the right choice for everyone. It’s probably not the right choice for a lot of people.
Something that stuck out to me in your post, was the company that fired you after they learned you were 18. I’ve got to ask, why not take a chance on an 18 year old with no experience (especially one you previously saw fit to hire)? Is there some reason why someone can’t just be good at something and be paid to do it exclusive of their age or educational background?
2. December 2009 at 12:33 am
Loved it Erica…really inspirational. You truly have succeeded.
Question for you, being that we have similar backgrounds…Do you think attaining certifications in our field is worth it? I’m considering it for validation and credibility. Especially if I take the speaker route.
What do you think?
2. December 2009 at 12:37 am
I have to agree with PT. College was one of the best experiences of my life, and I think it teaches us more than just the stuff we learn in the classroom.
College is what you make it to be, and if you just go to class everyday and that’s it, well then that’s all you’re going to get out of it. If you join clubs, compete, tutor others, run for ASB, become an RA, march in the band, go to social events with like-minded people, and everything else similar to that, you’ll learn so much more that will actually apply to the real world and how to deal with people, which is what business is all about.
It may not be for everyone, but for me, even though I’m an entrepreneur now in fields that are only slightly related to what I studied in college, I still have to attribute my success to it, because it made me who I am today.
11. December 2009 at 6:12 am
Whole-heartedly agree! College teaches you more than just the obvious. Sure, you know you’ll earn your degree, but it’s that journey and what you experience. I know, for myself, it taught me that I CAN do anything I want, no matter how hard it is. Earning a degree isn’t as easy as it sounds and takes years of determination. Even when you fail a test, a class… you have to get right back up and do it all over again.
It can teach you leadership, comradery, and how to get up time after time. I know that if I fail at my current ventures, I can always get a 9-5 somewhere, and I have my college education to thank for that.
Great post!
2. December 2009 at 1:01 am
Hi Erica:
I completed four years of college, but never pursued the final credits to earn my degree. But I’ve been blessed to hold positions all during my professional career that required a degree. Somehow, I was never asked if I had a degree because my performance always spoke for itself, and until very recently, I never had to look for a job. I was always being recommended to positions by others of influence, and my success spoke for itself. But jobs are just that — jobs. They seldom allow you enough income to plan for a great retirement plan, where owning a successful business can do that if you persevere. J. C. Penny lost everything, and when he was near 70, decided to not let failure defeat him, got a new lease on operating his stores, and the rest is history.
There came a time when I was in my late thirties that I wanted to start a business of my own. I was always very creative, and wrote my business plan, knowing it would work. I shared it with a significant other, who told me, “It will never work.” Unfortunately, I let that person steal my dream. Suffice it to say, that person became an insignificant other.
I wish I’d had someone to insist that I persevere over 30 years ago with that idea, or that I’d had the guts to forge ahead in spite of anyone’s opinion. All the success gurus advise, don’t let the dream stealers paralyze you. Unfortunately I did, and the great idea I had later was given to someone else in another city who embraced it and became a millionaire!
Kudos to you for your undaunting spirit to go with your dream. You are an inspiration to people of all ages.
2. December 2009 at 1:14 am
Do you need to go to university to become successful in business? No. All the empirical studies and quantitative accounts from successful, shockingly rich people show that a degree is not necessary to become wealthy.
Do you need to go to university to later successfully develop an extremely technical profession like law, science, medicine or engineering? Of course you do. Can doctors, lawyers and engineers become millionaires? Of course they can.
Should you go to university regardless of success, careers and contacts just to continue developing your God-given, wonderful, beautiful mind to a much higher level and broaden your knowledge about an area of life, learning and the history of thought? Yes. Absolutely. 100%. If not, you’ll regret it later on.
Don’t let yourself argue your way into the ‘I’m not going to get a degree’ corner just because it didn’t work for you with your family-relationship-teenager-young adult circumstances. If you can do a million dollars by the time you’re 26, you can get a degree, for fun, in something you enjoy about life. Then do another one in something else you that interests you! Just because you’re worth it.
2. December 2009 at 1:31 am
I went to college twice only because the pressure to get a job was so high. I was a young father who needed to step-up so to speak and bring in a decent income to support my new family. That was the only reason though, as I cannot stand working for someone else. It just isn’t me. Don’t get me wrong, I worked hard, but it wasn’t for my boss, it was for my teammates. Thankfully, I am now working for myself and I couldn’t be happier. The two degrees I earned have nothing to do with my current situation as what I’m doing now is my passion.
I guess my point is that if I didn’t have a family so young, I wouldn’t have went to college and would have ventured out on my own to begin with. I think college is useful to get a higher paying job if a job is what you want. Does one need a college education to be successful? I don’t think so as it’s been proven time and time again…Right Erica? hehe
2. December 2009 at 1:36 am
The degree comes in handy if your venture should fail and you need to regroup and work a job between opportunities.
I also hate working for someone else but when I tell that to my bank instead of paying my mortgage, they are not too pleased!
2. December 2009 at 2:34 am
Great Post Erica,
I concur because I was there. I too was put in advanced classes early on and found I had to pretend to be stupid or get beat up on the playground. My parents told me the only options in life were to either find a trade or go to school. I hated school because I found it so irrelevant to fulfilling my dreams.
I knew time spent in a good library learning what I wanted to know was more fruitful than spending time in a classroom. Nevertheless, I succumbed to the family and societal pressures and did it.
Three degrees later, I finally came to my senses doing my Ph.D. work. School is a business selling the false premise their brand of education will create success. But school is not a place for learning. How many dolts do we know that possess pieces of paper that say they are smart?
I got fed up with the lies, and the cost of pursuing the empty promises, and decided to hold my own commencement ceremony; graduating ABD (all but dissertation). To heck with being a drone or a cog in machine:)
The only bright spot in my education was meeting my biology mentor when I did my masters. He is an iconoclast and lives outside the box. He’s also a fantastically successful author, writing several Peterson field guides and his newest, “Sensuous Seas”. He was a strong encourager telling me to do what I felt I wanted to do…and damn what the world thought.
We still stay in touch and even went to Belize together to work on a rainforest project. He has just asked me to create a website for him. He has found a new species of sea anemone that feeds on fish, which he calls “Morris the monster”.
I still take gruff and abuse from my family (questioning my sanity) for leaving the system but I am much happier struggling to make my own vision of what life could be a reality.
2. December 2009 at 2:37 am
Hi Erica, from Auckland NZ
WOW, thats a great article, i think you have , made every one thing about what they want to do with them selves, and how to go about it.
The Opportunities these days are far and wide, which gives us all
other ways to get where we want to go.
And if its skipping Collegs to fast track you there, then go for it
you can always go back to get the papers that interest you later in life when you have more time or the interest, to do them.
Make it a great week.
Regards Theo
2. December 2009 at 3:37 am
I went to college because it was a requirement be default for the field I wanted to get into (architecture). But like many of the other replies above, I don’t feel like I gained an education in college–it was more of a personal growing experience.
College taught me how to be social, how to plan and take control of my life, and how to be more independent. So although you were ready to get into the real world at 18, I simply needed a few more years to get there.
I think many, many people can be incredibly successful coming out of high school–I completely agree. And yes, coincidentally, the ones we always hear about are entrepreneurs and business owners. And the rest just kind of flop…
I liked what @sheehan said above about college being like an insurance policy to fall back on. It makes a lot of sense, especially if you’re not sure what you want to do with your life yet.
2. December 2009 at 4:39 am
Hi Erica,
I’d recommending people go to college part-time and get a degree slowly. A degree is necessary to get work visa’s in China. In future, many entrepreneurs are going to need to go t China for periods of time. It’s a ticket there, if nothing else.
2. December 2009 at 4:50 am
I have been working in education for 30 years. It has made me a cynic. At school I was one of the bored dreamers,I never misbehaved but was never stretched in any way. As a result I daydreamed through lessons and my grades were lower than they should have been. I delayed going to College – I hated being bored and sat on by authority. When I did go, the same was true…. bored, work was too easy,and I was resented because it was easy for me and hard for my friends. After all this I have two conclusions about education:
1. Education is about perpetuating what we have – preserving class structure and providing society with stability. For this reason it fails the brightest and the least able in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY. Lack of proper differentiation or motivational input.
2. If you are good at something, don’t expect encouragement from those who have not succeeded. Envy prevents it. Don’t expect help from those a rung up on the ladder either. They are fighting to keep their position on top! Human nature provides us with these negative states of jealousy and furtiveness as part of the “survival of the fittest” – you see it in all animals and it’s programmed into our psyches. If you have a special interest or talent, go for it. Don’t expect college to be the route to success. You have to do it yourself!
2. December 2009 at 5:21 am
Although this is a very good post and it clearly states which peopel should go to college and which people shouldn’t, I still have a problem with this post. Smart people will read this and know if they are the ones to drop out or if they should stay and get a degree.
Unfortunately — as stated by Pat at smartpassiveincome.com — only a very small percentage of the people are really smart. And for those who aren’t, a post like this is the best excuse to be lazy. They don’t read the part where it says that you had to work hard. Some people might think “Well, I don’t like school, so this must be my wakeup call to get out”. However, they might just not be able to understand the difference between not being challened by college classes and just being lazy.
Therefore my standard answer for most people would be: “Go to college”. If you are not challenged, start a business on the side. I did the same thing and I am happy to have some kind of degree in case my business really would collapse.
2. December 2009 at 5:22 am
Great post Erica, thanks for sharing your experience with us.
I must say it arrived to me a little late though. I just finished college yesterday and I was really frustrated because for this past couple of months I’ve realized college has indeed got in my way when I’ve wanted to start a business and is probably why my business has not got the attention it needed leaving it almost dead at this point of the year.
I’ve made good friends in college and it has really helped me network a lot, but that doesn’t say that spending all that money was the right thing to do. If I would’ve got all the money for college and invested it into my business I think it would’ve been better invested.
But it’s not to late. Now that I’m out of college i want to start a business again and now nothing could interfere with it. I wish I had the courage to leave college when I felt that was what I needed,but I guess this is a good time too.
If you are an entrepreneur you don’t need college, just do start your business. And if you got to college at least don’t let that interfere with your dreams!
2. December 2009 at 5:50 am
Speaking from experience, I think people should go to college when they have a good reason to, not when other people want them to. Otherwise, they just take up space on campus. When someone really wants to be there it makes a huge difference.
Meanwhile, I agree with you, one can get far on a goal without college first. In my case I found that I plateaued around my mid- to late-twenties, THEN went to college, and had a blast! I wouldn’t have if I’d gone when I didn’t have a good reason for being there.
2. December 2009 at 6:00 am
Erica,
I don’t think this post is that controversial. There isn’t just one answer for everyone, people are different. Even choosing between two different colleges could make a huge difference. I think the key is to understand yourself- your goals, your strengths and your weaknesses. Then try to figure out which environment you will thrive in.
-Rick Francis
2. December 2009 at 6:00 am
I’m an English major. I taught high-school English for four years, and just launched my own writing business. The latest initiative in public schools is the move to make all kids “college ready.” Guess where this is coming from? The Springboard program, which is created by none other than the College Board (originators of SATs, Advanced Placement tests…), a company that clearly has vested interest in getting more kids to consider college.
Even as a college graduate whose degree directly complemented my career goals, I bristled against that one-size-fits-all approach. It just doesn’t work. Some kids need vocational training, and some kids need nothing but their own self-generated experiences. That said, both the Springboard program and attending college help students develop the ability to actually think. Furthermore, college is an exercise in hoop jumping: it shows prospective employers that you can do all the little things you’re supposed to do (like show up to class regularly, complete assigned tasks, etc) and finish something that requires time management, goal setting, and all those other business buzzwords that are actually rather important for keeping a job.
2. December 2009 at 6:10 am
I work at a prestigious university working as a administrative assistant – what they called a secretary in the olden days – and I needed a 4 year degree in order to have this job. Took me some time to get the fact that it’s a dead-end job. So I am kind of inclined to think that the college degree thing (only kinda?) is over-hyped…for those people who have a burning desire to consciously structure their own lives as you did Erica. Kudos to you for that.
College is sort of like prom in high school. Everyone is socially pressured to go, even if you don’t have someone you want to go with. You go. Those who go with someone they’re crazy about can have a sweet time. Those of us who went with people not so suited for us may have … played cards at the table rather than dance with their dates.
2. December 2009 at 6:16 am
College was necessary for what I wanted to be “when I grew up” lol a lawyer. Now that I am here, I feel the need to create additional streams of income and am DRAWN to sites like your’s that speak of an alternative route to money.
Great Story.
You did what worked for you!
2. December 2009 at 6:34 am
Definitely! Nothing in life is a guarantee, so go to college and get some insurance.
It all depends what you define SUCCESS to be. Erica start’s off saying “I’m a successful entrepreneur” b/c she thinks she’s successful. That’s great!
Some, who’ve made $10 million or $100 million might find making Erica’s $1.1 million (is this pre tax or after) not successful.
Some may think getting as much education as possible is the true meaning of success, and not money.
It all depends on one’s definition.
Best,
Sam-urai
2. December 2009 at 6:51 am
Here’s the deal- if you’re 18 years old and have no vision in life then your ass better take some courses and learn something. If you know what you want to do in life at the age of 18 then congrats because you are ahead of everyone else at your age group!
At 18 I wanted to go out and go have fun. My parents forced me to go to college because I really had no real direction in life. A few years later I’m full of ideas and ready to apply them once I graduate.
Here’s what I learned in school:
- You can write a really fancy business case or pass a tricky finance exam but it doesn’t prove shit until you make a dollar.
- Being a student is a convenient excuse when you do something stupid.
- You learn how to turn complete strangers into friends and family.
- You learn how to present in front of large numbers of people.
2. December 2009 at 6:52 am
I have two masters degrees and built a career as an academic librarian on the basis of one of those degrees. Not only were the credentials necessary, I found that my degree program gave me a broad look at my profession not shared by other people who happen to work in libraries sans degree. I love learning for its own sake and got a second masters degree in fine arts – no money in it, but spending time taking classes with instructors and students passionate about painting was just great! I’ve continued to take courses off and on. The last course I took was on Latin American music. Sure, I read up on my own and did lots of listening on my own – but being in that college-level course with an excellent instructor who was able to bring a lot of personal expertise along with students who had interesting views on the place of Latin American music in their own lives was terrifically interesting! The course provide some short cuts and insights I might not have gained on my own. Great experiences for me – but does everyone need to go to college? I don’t think so! If you have an idea about striking out on your own early on to pursue a dream, do it! You know what? You can always decide to go to college later on in life if you decide that you missed out along the way.
2. December 2009 at 6:59 am
I ask graduating high school seniors 3 questions, based on my experience:
Do you know what you want to do? (Yes) and will college help? (Yes) Then go to college.
Do you know what you want to do? (Yes) and will college help? (No) Then don’t go to college
Do you know what you want to do? (No) Then don’t go to college.
Two out of three pieces of advice are not to go to college. This is the advice I wish I had before I went to college. I also wish I had been smart enough to listen, then. That’s part of the key, too.
That said, I loved my time in college, and love learning!
2. December 2009 at 7:15 am
This was a very interesting post. I always loved learning so going to college was not a problem for me. Right after college at the age of 21 I started my own video productions business. When the economy went down the tubes, I had to find an additional job, that’s when my degree became handy. I didn’t want to do just any kind of job working less than $10/hr!
A friend of mine is a Project Manager for a construction company. He has over 15 years experience in the field but never finished college, and because of that he’s paid $10,000 LESS than the guy who sits next to him with less experience!
So in reality it all depends on what you want to do with your life. I have a lot of hope and I fight for my dreams everyday. But I wanted to make sure I had “insurance” like some of the other people mentioned in this post. Am not suggesting am not going to make it, because that’s not an option for me. But life is so unpredictable, one day you have everything and the next you can lose everything. You want to have something to fall back on.
2. December 2009 at 7:18 am
Awesome post, Erica. My background is similar to yours. In my early years of school (Grade 1 and up), I was always ahead of the others, especially in my reading level (Grade 8, no joke).
Now I’m almost 18 (couple months), and finishing high school. My parents keep telling me I’m going to college, but I have no idea what I want to do. The idea of picking a course to take for 4+ years only to find out it’s not for me is pretty daunting.
Aside from not knowing what I really want to do, my current obsession is starting a web hosting business. I already run a small free hosting service, but I’d like to see it grow. But, as has been said – should that fail (and it probably will
), I’ll need something to fall back on. Just wish deciding about college wasn’t such a hard decision.
2. December 2009 at 7:40 am
Good post, Erica. You are right, college is definitely not necessary – if you know what you want to do and if what you want to do does not require a degree. I find it aggravating that many careers require a degree even though the graduate will earn less than what their education cost. Possession of a college degree, especially post-grad, used to represent expertise in your field; now it is a basic requirement for entry level positions. In that respect, youth need to be very aware of the expectations in their chosen field.
With or without a degree, you can fail. Identifying a goal and establishing logical, obtainable tasks toward that goal can greatly influence your chances for success.
2. December 2009 at 8:07 am
Some great comments here! (Offtopic: I’m working on getting my WordPress theme to enable nested comments. Should be functional soon.)
@Matthew Bennett: “If not, you’ll regret it later on.”
That’s the thing. I don’t regret it. I’ve had a blast starting and running businesses. School was never as fun for me as starting a business has been. I don’t regret it, and if I did, I’d simply go back to school.
When I sold my business and didn’t need to work for money, a lot of people asked me if I planned to go back and finish my degree. I thought about it, but ultimately decided I didn’t want to. This doesn’t mean I won’t pay for education–I’ve attended tons of seminars and bought a lot of information products. It just means that, for a teenager who knows what he/she wants to do, a degree may not be useful. The best way to learn about running a business is to run one, plain and simple.
To all the folks who talked about a degree being a sort of insurance policy: I tend to rely on my past experience and skills as an insurance policy. I know I can sell the pants off of anything I’m passionate about. Knowing sales is a great insurance policy; it’s pretty recession-proof.
A degree is one form of insurance policy, but there are many others that cost less in both time and money.
I also know that if I wanted a CxO job in the web hosting industry paying 6 figures, I could make some calls and land one in a couple weeks. I have to provably demonstrate that I can deliver more profit to the company than they pay me. No problem. I know how to add a lot of bottom-line revenue to most web hosting companies. It’s just not something I want to do.
Demonstrating that you can run a business–even if it fails–is an insurance policy. Understanding the numbers and being able to show in a job interview that you can make the company more than they pay you will help you get a job no matter what the economy looks like.
I wanted to cite this last night when I was writing the post, but I couldn’t find the link: Paul Graham wrote a good article where he interviewed hiring managers at several large tech companies, and asked them whether they would prefer hiring someone who didn’t go to college and started a business that later failed, or someone who had just graduated from college with no work experience. All of them said they’d take the failed startup person. So, running your own business, whether it succeeds or not, is a rather good insurance policy as well.
-Erica
2. December 2009 at 8:50 am
I like the post.
I studied sociology in undergrad and one of my professors would always say that the reason we go to school was to keep the job market from being saturated.
Degrees does not equal financial success, but I enjoyed getting mine.
2. December 2009 at 9:07 am
Great post Erica. I have a 16 year old who doesn’t know what he wants to do yet in 11th grade, so he may be the one of three sons who may need to go to college just to find himself and his dream. I heard an interview with Bill Gates not too long ago and he said that he was fortunate enough to know what he wanted to do at an early age (before college) but many others don’t start down any significant path to that until they get some broad exposure in college. That being said, with the internet what it is today, one can get vast exposure at the click of a mouse (sometimes even the wrong exposure!). So I am becoming of the opinion that college is not necessary but rather having a curious mind and pursuing knowledge in any field of endeavor. Eventually, it will pay off with the right, like-minded relationships and education enough for one to become an expert in a field. That expertise and the relationships one develops from those circles in blogs, forums, etc. will give one a fulfilling work life.
2. December 2009 at 9:32 am
Erica – There is another option: go to college AND be an entrepreneur at the same time. I know several people who opted to start their businesses while they completed their Bachelors degrees and in one case, their MBA. The tradeoff? No partying. All of their spare time was spent on their businesses. More then one had a six figure income during college, and none of them had to worry about interviewing for a job when they graduated.
I’m not trying to take anything away from your accomplishments. They are most impressive. However, I believe with your drive you could have done both.
2. December 2009 at 9:59 am
Hi Erica,
So well done, and I’m glad you and your mom have made peace. I too didn’t do the college thing right away, and was fine for it. I did have to go to certificate programs, that’s what my passion called for. So, it’s more about how to get what you want that will steer your way.
As for those who claim the “social” experience, you’re one of the reasons I didn’t want to go to college. Do you think you aren’t social when you work? You can’t join clubs, can’t have experiences? Sounds more like four years of more high school hi-jinks. And as for the “fall back” argument, there’s a lot of degree holders who are out of work today. You can’t fall back on a paper, you step up to the task at hand.
Today, there are circumstances where you can only go so far without a degree. My wife hit that ceiling, and did her degree on line; it was tough but she did wonderfully. It was the best way for her, she had a definite sense of the courses she needed for her career, and she was able to learn what she would need down the road. When we were younger, she wouldn’t have known that.
Controversial? Nah, just your honest self as usual. Thanks Erica.
2. December 2009 at 10:31 am
Wow…great story! I am currently weighing the options my set of 12 yo twins have and one of them, I am encouraging not to attend college in the traditional manner. At first he paid me no mind and even stated that “no one” was doing what I had suggested he try once he completes high school. THEN, as he sat watching a basketball game on t.v. and heard a commercial, which essentially encouraged the “path” I introduced to him and gave the benefits of that particular course of actions….He came to me, told me about the tv ad and how it had randomly worked for someone else. I added, with some “solid planning”, he would not only achieve his goal, but do it with the option to attend college anyway, if he liked! He has now bought in to the idea and is now planning his future with the new lesson that ” sometimes, the real path to success lies in doing what no one else is doing. “
2. December 2009 at 10:34 am
Hello Erica,
Great post. I went to university, but doing so turned me into a big-time entrepreneur, so sometimes I believe it pays off to go to school a bit longer if you’re still unsure.
Great post, very educative! They should teach THAT in schools! Real-life success examples
2. December 2009 at 11:19 am
I actually agree with you 100%. I don’t have a college degree, and I consider myself successful as an entrepreneur.
But do I have to admit this to my 17 year old son?
2. December 2009 at 11:25 am
Hey Erica! Your post reminds me of the original premise of the TV show The Apprentice, which fleshes out this concept – pit the college educated team against the street smart, non-degreed team. A degree would be necessary for some careers (college professor, surgeon for example), but for many it just isn’t. If you’re going into business, you’re ability to give the customer what they want, when they want it, is what matters most.
2. December 2009 at 11:34 am
Hey Erica,
Thanks for sharing your story and it’s certainly one that’s got spirit to it. I’m not sure I would have liked to argue with you back in those early days about the virtues of going to college.
Education and learning is something we all need but the simple truth is that there are so many ways of getting it these days.
A question that’s in my mind is this:- In the future will there be opportunities for people to learn completely without going to school. Reading writing and arithmentic were what you went to school for but are they the big three for living in a world that is dominated by choice and niches of special interest?
2. December 2009 at 12:38 pm
Hello Erica !!!
Thanks for sharing your story. You are authentic and you are my Hero !!!
2. December 2009 at 1:13 pm
Wow, I don’t feel alone anymore. I struggled with college and never finished. Yet I am a very smart person (not an ego trip – lol). But I became bored with school. I’ve always had the entrepreneurial spirit in me and plan to capitalize on it when my debt is much lower. I like the rush it gives you and I like to do things in a radical, spontaneous way.
I told my son, who wants to run his own business, that school is not necessary and i will help you with the down payment instead of paying for college. Am I taking a risk? Sure, but one that I think is worthy.
I am not knocking school. There are some worthy doors that open because of college. But if its not the route for you why fight it (took me many years to learn that lesson and school loans to show for it).
Erica, great post. And again, glad that I don’t feel alone in my thoughts.
2. December 2009 at 1:36 pm
I can’t agree more. College can just be debt if you don’t use your degree. I think that college should be a tool used to get where you want to be, not a given.
2. December 2009 at 3:16 pm
I understand the course that you took. Naturally, college isn’t for everyone, no matter what level you study at. Whether you use your degree is also a good question. But it’s not just a matter of earning a degree for a chosen career.
Further education is not meant as a qualification, but as an education to be used no matter which route you end up taking. There is more to a degree or diploma than the major (or core) subjects. While studying art, I was also exposed to psychology, literary studies, history and women’s studies that I would not have normally had any exposure too. Much of what I learned has become useful in all types of situations.
Then there were the debates and methods of study and research that I value every day.
Had I studied just design and art, I would not have had the exposure or rounded experience that I now enjoy. High school does not prepare students for a bigger world. Watching my own children in elementary, middle and high schools it is evident that the K-12 system is meant as a conveyor belt to rush kids through so that the local board can hand out diplomas and congratulate themselves with more positive statistics, and enjoy the ensuing funding. The school system is a healthy employer but a very poor educator.
Now I’m probably done all my post secondary education, I am still learning. In graphic design there is an endless stream of new technology to be grasped and I keep myself on a steady learning curve.
No, you don’t need college to get a job. However, you may need the broader education to survive the several career changes you are likely to encounter.
2. December 2009 at 6:09 pm
Right on, Erica. I’m with you 100%. I took all of one semester at community college before quitting to go it on my own. Now I have a profitable business of my own.
I can learn much better attending seminars, buying books and courses then I could in a classroom.
-Logan
2. December 2009 at 7:28 pm
Hey Erica!
As a teacher (and someone who has known you for a while), I think that a couple of points are interesting in your story, and this makes you an exception to the college rule (in comparison to the average high school student):
1) You were an avid reader (and smart!) — this gave you a chance to see and learn, much like Will Hunting and his famous speech to “Michael Bolton.”
2) You have successful parents — in low-income families, students who finish high school, for the most part, only know what they grew up with (which is why we have families that become notoriously poor every generation). You were exposed to success, and you saw what success looks like, and that it can be attained.
3) You are from a different generation — recent administration has given so many “freebies” that kids and parents can get by without a job, and still have material possessions like cell phones, video game systems, decent cars, junk food, etc. This has nearly destroyed the will of middle- and lower-class students to do strive to rise up and work to be innovative and create business.
However, in a case against college, it is very interesting to point out that for a 4-year degree the average graduate will accumulate $100,000 in costs!
On a side note, my father does own the largest transportation company in the Cincinnati Tri-State area, and he did not attend college.
2. December 2009 at 9:18 pm
“… don’t let college stand in your way. Go out there and get your hands dirty. Yep, you’ll probably fail; most businesses do. But it will all be worth it, and you’ll have learned dramatically more in the process than you ever will sitting in a lecture hall waiting for class to end.”
As http://www.college-startup.com/college/15-successful-entrepreneurs-who-didnt-need-college/ aptly puts it
“Of course, just because these people made it does not of course mean that most people can do without a college degree. If you’ve got an entrepreneurial spirit, the degree is just a backup.”
Read some statistics that people with a degree earn on average more, not a surprise here, but also they have a better health and they are more content.
However, statistics.
2. December 2009 at 11:21 pm
@Erica:
Let’s see. I agree that running a business and getting an education are not necessarily related, depending on the type of business. I agree that you can have a successful business with little formal education and that the best way to learn about your business is to dive in and get on with it.
I don’t argue that a degree is an insurance policy either, nor that you should go to university for the contacts and parties. These things are ancillary if you want to enjoy them while you’re there, but not what I was getting at. I would also agree that owning your own business and being great at sales are better insurance policies.
Reading business books and paying for marketing conferences are great business things to do and, while they are a certain type of applied education which is very relevant to your business, they’re not a degree.
A degree is useful, interesting and a good idea regardless of whether someone knows or doesn’t know what they want to do in the business area of their life because it expands your mind and teaches you to think properly: in a broader way which expands your life horizons and intellectual capacity.
Clearly each person is free to choose their own path though.
Saludos from Murcia!
3. December 2009 at 11:00 am
Hi, Erica.
I’d read the first paragraph and was in agreement. College is NOT for everyone, especially for those who actually do know what they want and doubly so for those who don’t learn well in the normal verbally linear educational system.
I did not want to go to college right out of high school. I wanted to learn to work with my hands. I gave several choices to my mother; but nothing would do but I attend the university. And you’re right, nobody could tell me why. I didn’t even get to find out what the difference was between a university and a college until just before I was asked to ‘take a semester off’.
Yes, I learned a lot those 3 semesters at university. I learned how to live dishonorably, how to avoid the things I wanted most because I didn’t know how to do the social interaction thing. I learned I loved geology with it’s rocks and timelines and the connection with old civilizations. I loved geology almost as much as I wanted to teach kids how to talk (being what is now called autistic, I knew the importance of learning clear speaking). The most heart rending thing I learned in university was that counselors laugh at students. Mine laughed at me when he did not understand that I was not asking for classes that would encompass both speech therapy and geology. Rather I was looking for counsel on these diverse careers. He could only gasp that ‘they’re in different colleges’. H. I thought I was in college. Even if the counselor had not laughed, there’s no guarantee I would have stayed to graduate, but I might have, maybe.
If I’d graduated certainly my life would be different than it is. But there’s been a dream in my heart since I sold my first line of products at age 6. I wanted a business of my own.
I can make up lots of probably good reasons why I’m not yet a millionaire of my own making. Leaving college is not one of them. With a 4 or 6 year degree, I would be making more money than I am now and it’s remotely possible that I would by now have my own niche in the field that I’d have been employed in all these years. That vision does have it’s attractions.
But I have made my own life. I have had and do have my own businesses. I did go back to college in my late 50′s and received an AAS in Furniture Design. That felt good and went a long way to getting rid of the ‘failure’ stigma from not doing what Mom wanted me to do.
I really and truly did want to be a truck mechanic at one time, but would have settled for becoming a beautician. Go ahead, smile. I can’t picture those two careers working together either, I mean, they are in different colleges.
Live your own life. Enjoy it. Rejoice in being the person you are. Dream your own dreams and never give up reaching for them. You still win if you aim for stars but catch the moon.
Love and Light,
Pat
3. December 2009 at 3:14 pm
Erica – I completely agree. This made me think of an article from the 70′s that I read in my High School AP English Class. College is a Waste of Time & Money – http://www.grossmont.edu/bertdill/docs/CollegeWaste.pdf
3. December 2009 at 4:18 pm
You don’t have to go to college. This isn’t Russia. Is this Russia? This isn’t Russia.
3. December 2009 at 9:14 pm
Hi Erica,
Such an interesting debate. I work with teenagers everyday and most of them will have a hard time coping with college let alone any kind of business or job. Most 18 year olds need college to learn about what they are interested in, how to work, how to learn, how to organize themselves, ie. how to get somewhere on time without their Mom’s help. Very few teenagers have a clue what they want or how to get it. You are quite rare.
I am definitely in the “go to college” camp, but I am finding it difficult to explain why. I believe college exercises your mind in such way that it never quite shrinks back to the purely mundane. Once you have earned a college degree you have learned to learn, acquired critical thinking skills, and been exposed to a myriad of differing ideas. It’s not the only way to do these things, but most of us wouldn’t do them on our own.
A lot of what we learn in college seems irrelevant at the time, but then you experience something and you are able to understand it and put it into context because of what you learned in a college class. We need so many things to cope in this world, and we don’t know what it is we will need. College can provide some experience, knowledge, and skill that you can’t envision until you’ve been there. If you don’t have the kind of clear vision that you have Erica, then you need all the help you can get. Be careful that the what you can see now isn’t obscuring other possibilities that you can’t yet imagine.
4. December 2009 at 1:34 am
Just read this related article in The Times which you will all enjoy. Very relevant to our comments.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6943355.ece
By the Duke of Edinburgh, no less, but saying sensible, interesting things about our subject and not his normal stupid, televised gaffes about becoming slitty-eyed if you study in Japan for too long.
4. December 2009 at 8:23 am
@Matthew Bennett
Love that article. This portion especially resonated with me:
“while our present system of training engineers is fine for those who may have a burning ambition to become professional engineers…”
I am an electrical engineer and to graduate you have to want it. A lot. I knew many students that dropped out… one in his final quarter. Decided he wanted to go into psychology! I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t just push to graduate then go after his career of choice or even one of the many “engineer lite” kind of jobs available. Consider also that I chose Cal Poly, SLO which is known for it’s motto, “Learn by Doing.” It has more lab hours and hands on projects than most schools. I wonder if the drop out rate is higher at schools that are more esoteric…
An example of an engineering school working to change the typical approach to engineering is Olin College.
Also, have you heard the story of the 14 year old from Malawi (Africa) built a windmill from spare parts using information from a library book. Now his family has electricity!
On TED TV: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/william_kamkwamba_on_building_a_windmill.html
5. December 2009 at 3:09 pm
You don’t have to go to college to succeed as an entrepreneur, but you do have to be someone who works hard and diligently to obtain the things you want in life. Most entrepreneurs invest a lot of time and focus on learning and experiencing through trial and error. They’re people who brainstorm and analyze continually. They study hard to turn dreams into realities. They have stick-to-it-ness, not necessarily meaning that they won’t give up if something isn’t working, but they don’t give up on the fight to win out in the end. They’re the turtles that may be slow, but in the end finish the race. So, no college isn’t a requirement, but it is a helpful learning tool that provides more learning experiences (which is never a bad thing) and it certainly does open up more doors and broaden the spectrum for opportunities.
Cathleena
http://www.cathleena.net
5. December 2009 at 3:18 pm
Another relevant article, more for the US this time – but also applicable to the UK and Spain given the current state of affairs over here – by Bob Herbert in the NYT, talking about a new fee-free Educational Leadership PhD programme at Harvard:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/opinion/05herbert.html
“We are turning out new generations of Americans who are whizzes at video games and may be capable of tweeting 24 hours a day but are nowhere near ready to cope with the great challenges of the 21st century.”
6. December 2009 at 12:50 pm
I got in my fair share of trouble during school as well. The best one was around 2nd grade when my teacher said the seasons were caused by earth being closer to the sun in the summer and farther in the winter. I told her she was wrong and the perihelion ( http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perihelion )was in December. Yea, conduct note for me that day. :/
But, for me, college was a place to make some connections and learn “Adulthood lite.” Some people are ready for adulthood earlier than others, but those 4.5 years helped me ease into bigger responsibilities.
7. December 2009 at 9:09 pm
I could debate both sides and depending on the child, probably would win. What makes you unique – is the from an early age – you ‘knew’, a reader! – take charge mentality and you didn’t listen to the tribe telling you what they thought you should do!
you are one in a million! You Go Girl!
by the way – you can still go to college if you feel like it
8. December 2009 at 8:52 am
I am an entrepreneur, and I’m pretty sure I was just born that way. (I think the first thing I tried was selling polished rocks dunked in perfume to the neighborkids when I was about 7.) I also have a Master’s degree that I got for fun.
So I’m kind of coming at this from two perspectives. I did very well in high school despite an (unrecognized) disability, and it was just assumed I would go to college, and so I did. I didn’t enjoy undergraduate school at all, and didn’t do all that well either. But I thought it was necessary, and that it sure wouldn’t hurt. (I had a full scholarship, so it was free anyway.)
But did college actually help me in any other way? Not really. But being able to check “college graduate” did. I think it’s good to go for networking purposes and to help you get a job easier if you ever need to, because let’s face it, most entrepreneurs are not wildly successful with the first thing they ever try.
9. December 2009 at 4:36 am
What I’ve learned at school there didn’t help me for my business (offline or online).
Not very useful when you think about it… I learned more from my martial art classes.
Franck
10. December 2009 at 9:28 am
I think it ultimately comes down to the individual person… if you have a clear idea what you want to do and how to do it (without a college education) then go for it…
Most people start going to college to figure out what they want to do, even then they still might not decide.
It’s true that starting an online business doesn’t require a college education and will cost you a lot less to learn what you need to do to be successful…
Your job is to take it seriously and work at it in order for that to happen
11. December 2009 at 6:04 am
I believe aspiring entrepreneurs are better off NOT going to college. I’ve chewed on this issue a bit in an older post: http://bit.ly/O8z23
Thanks Erica!
s.c.
11. December 2009 at 6:11 am
If you know what you want to do, you should get the education that is required for that position. If it’s running a business, perhaps you figure out the information you need by going to the library or taking a college level course on taxes for small business, but business owners don’t need to present a diploma like you might need to gain entry into other fields.
12. December 2009 at 7:17 am
Here’s my thought on this.
I am 40 years old and have 10 years of college under my belt. I have always been self employed and I’m currently UNEMPLOYED. Today, I’m starting from scratch again and starting over in another self employment situation.
Has 10 years of college helped me?
18. December 2009 at 10:49 am
Wow.
Such a naive comment. “I don’t need college”. How do ‘you’ know what you haven’t experienced?
I started out online aged 15 – made a ton of mistakes, but after 10 months I’d built a top 1% traffic website and flipped it for cash. Happily I plunged the money into more website projects – now aged 16, I’ve a strong idea of what internet projects I plan to create and build a prospering online business.
But I still want to go to University…
University life apart from anything, but the opportunity and indulgence in learning. When and why would you ever want to stop learning, and in such great detail. Do you have a hobby or a passion you’d love to know more about?
Young entrepreneurs should develop their businesses throughout their youth and then see them flourish when they’re ready to commit to them full time. That’s what I encourage here: http://www.how-to-build-a-website.co.uk/teenage-part-time-jobs.html
21. December 2009 at 6:47 am
Yes I think a little school will help anyone to get there mind set to the right place to help them to get to there goal, with that being said school ois not a requirment because there are tons of people making ton more of money in any business and didn’t even make it throw high school
23. December 2009 at 3:43 pm
Thanks for the posting. I think any type of education is important. College or otherwise. Is it good to pick up some type of business degree if you’re running a business? well, sure…it certainly wouldn’t hurt.
27. December 2009 at 6:47 pm
I think college is important, and encourage my own children to go for it. But, neither I nor my husband attended college and we’ve been blessed with great careers. I do wonder how our lives would be different if we did go to college.
29. December 2009 at 5:20 am
well erica, i’m inspired by your story, would wanna meet you. I have also read the post from others. I believe life is spiritual more than physical. It’s not what you hear but how you hear…. also, how you see. The bible says,” the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong but TIME and CHANCE happeneth to them ALL. Wisdom is the principal thing. Wisdom is the capital. Time and chance refers to opportunity. Erica believed with her spirit and held the vision. Thank God she undercharged at first becos, it helped her learn more and gain numbers… so many other principles i noticed. Folks, How do you know you are going to be rich, how do u know the future? The anchor for life is the WORD OF GOD. Jesus said, ” all things are possible to him ( ANYONE) that believes.
The point is , if you have a vision that you believe in, talk about it. declare that the materials, finances, people etc are coming to you. create the future with your mouth. Also read biographies, underscore the principles, get knowledge, be the best, give thanks, help many people. The end result is you will know the secrets of that endeavour…. because you did what other people werent doing.
16. January 2010 at 1:50 am
It was a lengthy post but honestly it was worth reading, I was actually touched when you shared your conversation with your mom and continued reading it. It all boils down to one, education could help a lot but there are various ways to learn, it’s more of the character of the person. If you know what you want and you believe you could do it, then go for it.
16. January 2010 at 9:30 am
The post is really worth reading, thanks for sharing your conversation with your mom as it resembles somewhat to my past.
Education is must but it should include much of practical experiences not just mugging up the books.
11. February 2010 at 9:38 am
My dad never went to college but was self taught in his trade and was a successful entrepreneur. I went to college, enjoyed it and have a good job but I have never started a business. My advice is if you want to start a business teach yourself what you need to know and do it. You can always go to college later if you feel there’s anything you missed out on.
16. February 2010 at 1:54 pm
Hi Erica,
I got a little teary-eyed reading your post; I am like that about authentically true stories. I didn’t make it past the first year of college. That first year was filled with angst and I was hiding out from the real world. Well, I continued to hide out for a long time and it took a while to reconcile all the childhood trauma with adulthood.
Whether one goes to college or not has very little to do with success. College is a weigh-station (or way-station), a place to figure stuff out, albeit in today’s MODERN world, a very expensive place to figure stuff out.
The crowning gem of the entrepreneurial universe is having access to start up capital even if you are bootstrapping using credit cards. The great thing about all things digital is that start up costs are very small and full fledge business can be run from a bedroom with a laptop. Testing an idea can be done for $100 or less.
A young person may not be experienced enough with paying the bills to know what it means to undertake such a venture and maturity does come with age for some of us.
So I am not sure whether it’s the right question, whether a young entrepreneur should go to college or not. You and Billy Gates, neither one of you no-goodniks ever finished college.
Ultimately having good parents, good counsellors, and good sense of self will make the decision easier. I have ten kids. Some have college degrees, some don’t. It’s the mindset, the intention, the inner knowing that will bring the answers to this and other sobering questions about life on planet earth.
14. March 2010 at 9:52 pm
Many people out there who were not able to finish their college but they are successful on their business. So, it really depends. Finishing college is vital but if you are very busy with your business then do it later.
21. June 2010 at 6:54 am
Erica, I had the passion and the opportunity to go to college, but if I had gone to college I probably wouldn’t have had all the ‘expertise’ that I have today. I could make this a long story, but it’s your space.
9. July 2010 at 10:40 pm
Just wanted to say thank you for this post. I’ve gone to college, left, gone back and am out again and today was still pondering it (by which I mean surfing college sites) and this post helped soothe my anxiety about it. I am totally pro-college in the liberal arts sense of it but I do think it’s not for everyone and it’s not for everyone on one timetable right after high school.
I really admire your story and hope I can achieve similar results. I find it funny how I pick up new blogs and since I am most definitely going to be a new suscriber to you, here’s the story if you’re interested. Followed a delicious link from Ramit (from I Will Teach You To Be Rich), read a couple more links at the bottom of the post that were interesting and then got to this post and in that time, liked your contact, began to trust you as a source of information/integrity and emotionally connected with your story and words. Always cool to see a female geek too
12. August 2010 at 2:09 pm
Dear Erica,
I love this post, thank you!!! I started reading your blog BECAUSE you were a college drop-out and I liked your story. I’ve been meaning to reach out…
I work with families whose kids are not top students– and help them bring out the full potential of kids who could be amazing successes like you, but it won’t show up in school. Sometimes the kids have high IQs, as you must have, and sometimes they don’t, but they all have gifts and genius. In fact, like you, they have gifts that conflict with school.
Thanks for sharing your story– many kids and parents will benefit from it!
Warmly,
Christine
15. August 2010 at 11:30 am
Is college necessary? Not necessarily, but as someone who places a strong value on education, I am glad I got my B.A. and look forward to getting a masters degree in the future.
I believe everyone should get some sort of education. Sure, that includes college, but people can also opt for a 1 or 2-year associates degree, community college, vocational school or trade school. You gain incredible skills and build a network.