If you want to be cool, stay in school!

[LSN80]

Or so it is said. Anywhooo.

Academic qualifications are commonly felt to give a person the best chance of success in life. How far is this true?

Whether one is proposing marriage, applying for a job or looking for a new business partner, the first thing people ask is, "what do you do?" In other words, they judge you by your academic qualifications. No bio-data résumé or curriculum vitae is acceptable without the inclusion of education qualifications. Therefore it is an unannounced rule of both the corporate world and the social world that a man's acquisition of academic qualifications is a giant leap towards opportunities in every walk of life. How much is this logic founded in reality?

The definition of success differs from person to person and field to field. One could take economic success as a touchstone to label a person successful in life, ignoring his of her other failures, like divorce, health, inefficiency, etc. Others may look at a capacity for overcoming challenges, irrespective of what someone earns and the nature of their private life. Soooooo....

Who is a successful person and who is a failure? Do school and college grades and examination results provide a way of predicting or ensuring future success? If that is true, then we should encourage as many young people as possible to go to university and work hard to gain formal qualifications. But is it true? After all, some college drop-outs like Bill Gates and Richard Branson are hugely successful icons of success. Should we automatically consider the millions of young people who have not had the opportunity to gain academic certificates to be failures in life?

You dont have to answer all of the questions, but you get the idea. Have fun.

 

[Ultra Awesome]

In the world of today, most if not all the people who face economic/financial struggles in their life will not make it very far. Regardless of how intelligent they are, if they don't have some kind of degree in their specified career, then they won't be taken seriously. While I'm not all to certain how this all goes as I have yet to experience such ordeal first hand, I can say that to the naked eye, if you do not have some kind of educational background, chances are, said company will not want to hire you.

Sure, one can give the argument that it's not fair--that they didn't have the money to support themselves to partake in a career of their choosing; but in reality, no one cares about the sturggles they indure. "If they ain't got the goods, then fuck off." Tis a saying one of my teachers one told me.

However, there are an exceptional few that manage to get into a good career even though they did not have the educational background required. The only thing I can say about them is that they are extremely lucky to have had such an oppurtunity. Most of the people struggle alot; and for them to get breakthroughs like that are really something that should be envyed.

I believe it should all be pinned down to whether the guy (or girl) can do the job and how well they can do it. If, for example, I was running a company where I was in need of a technician and had two people walk in for interviews, I would choose my new technician based upon which of the two was 1. More reliable and 2. Did a better job. In that way, I have a better chance of having less problems in my company when it comes to the technological aspects of it. I would not consider whether one had a degree or not. Simply, the better one gets the job. End. Of.

Sadly, that's not the way the world works. Nowadays, everything is about the green; and if you ain't got no green, you ain't got no college; if you ain't got no college, you ain't got no degree; if you ain't got no degree, then you ain't got no career. Simple as that. (I know, I annoyed myself as well with the "ain'ts") If you're lucky enough to have a successful career without going through the process of college, then hats off to you as you are one lucky mo'fucker.

 

[Ferbian]

Who is a successful person and who is a failure?

It's a tough thing to say. I think it depends in what sort of aspect you take the whole thing of being a success or a failure. You mention the marriage aspect of the whole thing, which certainly can be both a successful experience of 20 years of marriage, beautiful children etc. But it can also be a failure of 2 months with arguments and nothing more. It all depends on how you look at it. And the same goes for every single aspect of success / failure rates. It depends on how well it has progressed, and there's no right or wrong answer in terms of who is the successful person or the failure. Because in the end of the day, one can be a success at one thing, but an utter failure elsewhere as you noted.

Do school and college grades and examination results provide a way of predicting or ensuring future success?

Absolutely not. I've had a friend who finished his IT support exams with top grades, and is a really smart guy. He went about a year unemployed, and the same thing can happen to more or less anybody. Being good in school does jack shit for you if you can't get a job. Because you cannot be guaranteed that you're even needed on the business marked. Especially for an IT Supporter, at least in Denmark, where hundreds, maybe even thousands of them go unemployed because of the demand for them doesn't match up to the numbers available.

If that is true, then we should encourage as many young people as possible to go to university and work hard to gain formal qualifications. But is it true?

Not necessarily. Sure it's always great to have something to fall back on. It's always gonna be great that you have something to rely on, or to have as a safety net when you go on to live your dreams. Parents always encourage their children to get an education before they go out to run their horns off and to live their life. Because then they have something to rely on when everything crumbles around them in their dreams.

Personally, I'm 18 years old. I'll be a fully educated IT Supporter by the day I turn 19. I'll have YEARS of time to truly experience the life on an IT Supporter, and let's say in 5 years time I get tired of it, I'll only be 24, and I will be able to do it all over again with another education. It's always nice to have something to work with, while you go on to live your life afterwards.

But certainly, I can see the point where someone decides "Nah, fuck it, I'm not gonna bother with school". Look at some of the major success "stories" of the world. The majority of the WWE wrestlers doesn't have any extended career to the point where they could make a major living out of it, or make the same sort of pay that they do now. Bill Gates as you noted is a college drop out, and is a billionaire. It says a lot, that if you're smart enough, or able to make it work with something that you truly burn for.. Then who gives a damn about education? One of my best friends is a self learned Linux administrator, and earns a good pay, so obviously if you're able to get in somewhere without the resume of a genius, or someone who has years of experience - Well, good for you, and I'd say go for it.

 

[Freddy4190]

Going to college, even graduating school don't necessarily guarantee anything. Does it improve your chances tenfold? Damn skippy it does. I dropped out of school in the 9th grade, got my GED. Not because i'm not smart or anything, my IQ is pretty decent, 134. I just hated school. Eminem failed the 9th grade four times and then dropped out, but he's a genius. The man is incredibly intelligent. In today's society, with everything fucked up like it is, there's no guaranteeing anything just because you are educated. There's people with college degrees asking people if they'd like to Super Size it for their daily job. I don't think that years and years of constant education is necessary, but it certainly helps.