Formal Education is Fashionable

This post is brought to you by any college dropout you may know in your life...Allow me to drill down further...I made many friends in my undergrad years and a few more in my grad years and it's always an interesting exercise when I reflect on those who I kept in touch with who never finished the program that they started with me. I have an interesting perspective on formal education. I am all for it, but unless you are in school for the simple "love of learning", you have a goal in mind and typically that goal includes being able to put food on your table and a roof over your head. Degrees do not impress me in any way. I have a BS, MS and a post-grad certificate and will be working on a 2nd MS in January. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy learning and building my professional network, but in no way do I think college dropouts are "dumb" if they find other ways to provide for themselves and their families. A friend I work with and I were discussing a crack on his windshield. I said, "I went to school with a guy who owns a windshield repair business. Should I call him and ask if he can take care of you?" My friend says, "Ok." I called the guy, some logistics were worked out and my friend ended up going there and getting this taken care of. My friend shows me the business card of the guy who took care of his windshield and says, "Look at how many of these shops he owns." The owner is a college dropout, but he lives in a better area than I do, drives a nicer car and his business is growing. Small business ownership is where it's at kids. Degrees are nice to hang on the wall, but the risk/reward of jumping out of the "expected path" to enlightenment can also work. It's been said that people hate working 80-100hrs a week for someone else, but are willing to do that for themselves trying to establish/grow a business.

Here are some famous college dropouts to cogitate on:
Bill Gates
Steve Jobs
Michael Dell
Tom Hanks

My point is that the US pushes formal education as if that is the ONLY option to self-sufficiency and although EDUCATION is definitely the key, formal education in respect to a University setting is not and should not be the only way to be a productive member of society and a "well-rounded" citizen.

I keep leaning over and staring into the entrepreneurial pool and one day I will jump in....

Oprah's School

I am sure all of you have heard about the school for girls in South Africa that Oprah opened. What's a billionaire to do when the criticisms start falling from the sky? I mean, is a school with great intentions anywhere on earth a bad thing? Mix in extremely disadvantaged (monetarily) kids and we still have a problem? People in that country were complaining because the school's campus is said to resemble a luxury hotel rather than the rundown schools most of the girls know. It contains state-of-the-art classrooms, computer and science labs, a library and theater as well as a wellness center. Grant it, a "wellness center" may be a bit much, but again, when a billionaire like Oprah puts her stamp on something, I am sure she is trying to do it real big. I don't see the problem with this at all....I also read that people in the US were pissed because she did not open something like that school in a hood in Chicago, New York or Detroit. Well, Oprah said that she visited several middle schools in the US and when she asked the kids what they really wanted in life, answers like iPod, Wii, Xbox kind of rubbed her the wrong way. When she asked the same kids in South Africa, they mentioned uniforms and supplies to go to school. I am really disturbed at the mentality of the spoiled and distracted American youth. Consumerism is in full force in this country. Poor people here are rich compared to many parts of the world. Education is but a bother for many children due to a crumbling family structure and "parents" who are more concerned with what they drive and what clothes they have on then if little Juan or Maria has extra homework on the weekend. It's absolute BS. This post is not about me actually agreeing with Oprah's talk show because I think she is all about appealing to middle-aged white women and is not well-respected in the African-American community. I don't care about her show...I just wanted to post about the importance of a school that will impact young lives and don't see the problem in her country of choice and hope the girls who earned their way into this opportunity will make the most of it and make positive contributions to this world and possibly create an opportunity for a future young person.