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In the business
world, I work in, it is interesting to see the value placed on a college
degree. If you look at studies on income they all come to the same conclusion
that an advanced degree equals higher pay. Yet, when we look at some of the
most successful people throughout history we see many of the most successful
and innovative people are often the ones without the college degree.
Examples:
Orville and Wilbur
Wright - The first to successfully fly using parts from a bicycle shop and a
desire to each human powered flight. Yet at the time many people were
attempting to achieve the same goal. A large number of those people with
advanced degrees in fields that should have set them ahead but didn't.
Henry Ford - Designed the modern production line and founded the car company that now sells
its vehicles worldwide.
Abraham Lincoln - Self-taught lawyer and considered to be the greatest president in American
History.
Maya Angelou - Recently deceased,and dropped out of school at the age of 14, to become a poet, novelist, and awarded
the Medal of Freedom.
John D. Rockefeller
- High school dropout who was the richest man in the world at the time of his
death.
Richard Branson - You might have heard of this person, still
living, and never completing a college class. And if you haven't heard of him, you
have probably been to one of his Virgin Record stores, or flown his Virgin
Airlines, or have seen the video of his company Virgin Galactic sending people
into suborbital flight.
Bill Gates - You are
probably reading this on a Windows computer, through internet explorer, or have used
any of the numerous other products currently on the market thanks to Microsoft
and this college dropout. His company now looks for employees with college
degrees. Makes you wonder if he were to apply, if he would actually get hired
on.
Pete Cashmore - CEO
of Mashable which he founded at 19 and ins now on Time magazine's list of the 100 most
influential people.
Michael Dell - The
founder of Dell, Inc., dropped out of college at 19.
Mark Zuckerberg -
This name that everyone recognizes did attend college but dropped out to work
on a small company called Facebook.
Mary Kay Ash - So that you don't think I'm neglecting the
ladies, Mary Kay used $5,000 dollars to start the company that is now worth
much more - Mary Kay Cosmetics.
This is just a few
by the way, the list goes on and on with other entrepreneurs, actors, writers,
athletes, in every other field available.
So it makes me wonder why as a society we place so much value on a
college degree. The statistics show that people with degrees earn more money.
But, is it because they're more deserving having earned a degree, or the fact
that the employer won't hire them without it? Does a degree equal a quality
employee, or just it just prove one's ability to sit in front of a desk all day
and retain information long enough to regurgitate it later?
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