Do College Dropouts Really Succeed in Life? Truth Behind the Most Successful People

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Wednesday — May 03, 2017

By:Study Abroad

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Often when I hear that college dropouts are more successful than those who graduate by burning mid night oil and that education does not really matter, I feel insulted. Do they mean I have been studying my whole life for nothing. I am spending most of resources, time and finances on my education and that all is in vain. So, should we just close all schools, colleges and universities. No one should educate their child. Or you should just stop studying and fail otherwise you can’t succeed in life.

I am a teacher and educational counselor, when I say that education is important, people give me the example of Mark Zuckerburg (founder of Facebook) and Bill Gates (Founder of Microsoft). They are both one of richest man on the planet, rich enough to buy whole countries. Both were once studying at Harvard University. Both were dropped or in other words failed. In addition, I have heard stories of Newton how he failed in school and that teacher didn’t like him.

There are also many other stories like that. I also read about a young Indian, Trishneet Arora, who became a multi-millionaire at the age of 21 and he was also failed in school. I am myself very impressed Trishneet and his story but he did not become multi-millionaire because he failed in school. Now coming to prove my point that education is important and how these people succeeded enormously, we must answer a few questions to understand my arguments.

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What is Success?

We call Bill Gates successful, the most successful one can become. Same with everyone who is very rich like Steve Jobs,

founder of Apple Computer, and Mark Zuckerburg. How people define success is based on how much one earns. If you earn more than me people will call you more successful than me. But you are the one who should decide what is success for you. Is earning more money success to you. Do you want spend all your energy in just earning as much money as possible, will that make you happy? It will certainly raise your standard in society, but it means your life goal depends on other’s opinions.

These people undoubtedly made a lot of money so world calls them rich. Do they call earning more money success? Let’s hear it from the Steve Jobs, 110^th richest man, and very famous all around the world. The IPhone you use, he is one of its inventor and called father of IPhone and Apple. Here are his last inspiring words explaining how “Money is not the Answer”.

“I have come to the pinnacle of success in business.

In the eyes of others, my life has been the symbol of success.

However, apart from work, I have little joy. 
Finally, my wealth is simply a fact to which I am accustomed.

At this time, lying on the hospital bed and remembering all my life, 
I realize that all the accolades and riches of which I was once so proud, 
have become insignificant with my imminent death… 

No, stop pursuing wealth, it can only make a person into a twisted being, just like me.” – Steve Jobs

If you have gotten my point, your success is not just earning money. No doubt earning money is an important need but it is not the only thing in your life, just a part of your life. You decide what your goal is, what makes you happy, what is worth all your efforts and achieving that goal is your success not what other think of you. Otherwise you are just a puppet of bunch of people for the rest of your life who don’t even care about you.

Why Were They Failure?

These very rich and successful people failed in schools or colleges. Why is that? First you must understand that

examination system of our current world only tests how well we memorized the specified syllabus. If you have a good memory, and you work hard to remember all that was taught to you, you will score good. It does not test our intelligence.

I once read a quote, said to be Albert Einstein’s, that if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. What you are taught in school and college is not necessarily your cup of tea. May be that is not what you are good at. Newton failed in school because it was not meant for him. He was a very capable intelligent boy and he also proved it in future. When he had time to do what he actually liked, he proved his mettle to the whole world.

Likewise, Mark was dropped from Harvard because he was not concentrating on his studies, he was busy in doing what he enjoyed doing. He created Facebook and again worked really hard on it. It was his struggle that made him achieve his goal. But to be the richest man, there definitely has to be luck. I won’t deny his efforts but there was a great deal of luck too in his voyage. They were all really talented from birth and strong enough rebel what they didn’t thought was for them. Picture on right is of Isaac Newton, he also failed in school but you know him centuries after his death.

Why Education in Important?

First you must understand that education is not acquired to get a job or earn money. There are different types of education and give you knowledge. You learn a language, that is education, you learn history, politics, computer sciences, mathematics, medical etc. that is knowledge. You become scholar of a field what you study your whole life. The effort you

put in your studies is not so you can get a job that pays hardly to manage your basic life needs. I have seen uneducated people, earning a lot more than me and I have seen people more educated than me, earning less than me. If you really just want to study to earn money then I suggest you study Commerce and Business related fields, that is also education.

Education actually gives you knowledge and the ability to think. With knowledge, you see world with a different view, you understand things differently on a different level. You see how you are limited by your thoughts and knowledge and how break those barriers. This is education. Newton became Newton when he started studying in Cambridge. How did Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates knew how to do programming. How were they able to get their business to the highest of level? It is because they had the knowledge. Knowledge is education. They learned and they applied and they succeed.

Another example is of Trishneet Arora, he failed in school but still he learned ethical hacking. Education is the training of mind to think. When he had the knowledge, he started thinking and implementing that his knowledge transcended beyond what is discovered and found in books. Then he wrote books of his own at young age of under 20. Scholars were impressed by his knowledge. Then he started his own Network Securities firm and became a multi-millionaire by the age of 21 with his own 3 books published in market.

First you must get education to be able to think and implement.

Written By Usama Ahmed Awan

The Editor of StudyAbroad.pk, Usama is a BZU studied Software Engineer, now a Teacher, Article Writer, Educational Counselor and Journalist. He has been writing to assist students selecting the right career path.

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